The Bush cabal, with the complicity of the "US mainstream news media" and its propapunditgandists, is going to recast the _resident's image.
Be prepared for Rove to pull VICE _resident Cheney
from the ticket, in the summer, and dominate the news
first with speculation and then with the shocker:
Condi Rice, the first woman, and the first black...
I suggest that they may do this for numerous reasons,
including all Cheney's heavy baggage (although the
stated reason will be his health), but most
importantly, it will provide something to distract the
compliant "US mainstream news media" from the rise of
Howard Dean (D-Jeffors), Wesley Clark (D-NATO) or both
men., and Rove can dominate the news with it for
weeks...and yes, it will confuse some of the
guillible...of course, the "US mainstream news media"
will not excoriate her over 9/11 incompetence or her
Iraq malfeasance...
Reuters: Though neglected by major media in the United
States, international news sources report that French
law enforcement authorities have made Vice President
Dick Cheney the target of a criminal investigation for
his role in a massive bribery scandal during his time
as CEO of Halliburton.
End the War-Profiteering of Bush Cabal's Cronies, Show
Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0109-09.htm
Published on Friday, January 9, 2004 by the Center for
American Progress
Cheney Target of Criminal Investigation
by David Sirota
Though neglected by major media in the United States,
international news sources report that French law
enforcement authorities have made Vice President Dick
Cheney the target of a criminal investigation for his
role in a massive bribery scandal during his time as
CEO of Halliburton. Le Figaro, one of France's biggest
(and most conservative) newspapers, reports "an
investigative judge is looking into allegations of
corruption during construction of a natural gas
complex in Nigeria by Halliburton and" a French oil
company. According to a gas and oil trade publication
(picked up by the international AP newswire on October
11, 2003) the judge is "looking into who may have
benefited from nearly $200 million in potentially
illegal commissions allegedly handed out from 1990 to
2002." In May, Halliburton admitted that, under
Cheney's stewardship, it paid "$2.4 million in bribes
to Nigerian officials to get favorable tax treatment."
Halliburton now says it is cooperating with a
simultaneous review by the Security and Exchange
Commission.
The London Financial Times reports the investigation
specifically focuses on the criminal charges of
"misuse of corporate funds" and "corruption of foreign
public agents." The Sydney Australia Morning Herald
reports the investigative judge is specifically
targeting Cheney for his "alleged complicity in the
abuse of corporate assets."
Though the investigation is being spearheaded by
French law enforcement, the UK Guardian notes, it
would be prosecuted under international laws agreed to
by the United States in a 35-nation treaty signed in
1997, meaning the consequences could be very real. The
treaty, "under the auspices of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, aims to fight
corporate attempts to buy the favors of public
authorities abroad." Not coincidentally, the London
Financial Times points out that the Bush
Administration is using similar agreements to
aggressively "seek the extradition and pressing claims
against senior French finance industry executives
connected with the Credit Lyonnais purchase of
Executive Life, the failed Californian insurer."
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