Major donors to US President George W. Bush's election campaigns were the main beneficiaries of an US$8 billion bonanza in government contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq, an investigation published on Thursday said.
In the most comprehensive survey to date of the postwar financial dispensations for Afghanistan and Iraq, the Center for Public Integrity tracked more than 70 US firms and contractors involved in reconstruction, exposing their connections to figures in various administrations, Congress and the Pentagon.
According to the center's report, more than half of the companies -- and nearly every one of the top 10 contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq -- had close ties to Washington's political establishment or to the Pentagon. Company executives had worked in previous administrations -- Democratic as well as Republican -- and cultivated privileged connections with their old workplaces.
The study found a clear tilt toward firms with Republican connections -- especially among the top 10 list of beneficiaries from the postwar era.
Since 1990, the companies and their employees have donated US$49 million to national political campaigns. Republican party committees received US$12.7 million, the report says, compared with US$7.1 million for the Democrats.
Bush alone got US$500,000, more than any other candidate since 1990. The biggest postwar windfall by far -- US$2.3 billion -- went to Kellogg, Brown & Root, or KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the defense contractor under the stewardship of Dick Cheney until he was chosen by Bush as his running mate.
Connections to the Bush administration helped even with the dispensation of relatively low-profile projects, such as the US$38 million contract awarded to Science Applications International Corp for development of representative government and free media in Iraq.
The firm was associated until recently with David Kay, the expert leading Washington's hunt for former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's elusive arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
Kay left his post as vice-president in October last year, six months before the war.
Thursday's study followed more than six months of investigation in which researchers from the center filed 73 petitions with the Pentagon, the State Department and the US agency for international development for information about contracts.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft