Blue Blogs: Worthy Mentions from the Liberal Blogosphere

Here are what some of the liberal blogs are posting today: Blog Search

TheRaw Story - 'Halliburton shifting focus to the Mideast' DUBAI, UnitedArab Emirates - Halliburton will shift some 70 percent of its capital investmentover the next five years to the Eastern Hemisphere, which includes oil and gaszones in the Middle East, Russia, Africa, the North Sea and East Asia, thecompany’s chief said Tuesday from his new headquarters in Dubai. Dave Lesar,arriving for his first week in United Arab Emirates, said Halliburton Co. wouldquickly expand its Mideast operations as it targets $80 billion in new businessover the next five years — 75 percent of which lies in the eastern hemisphere,mainly the Middle East. Readon...

TPM Muckraker -'DoJ Doc Dump 9: Return of the Dump' Thereyou have it, yetanother pile of emails from the Justice Department.

At first viewing, I don't see any significant new information -- just moreafter-the-fact justifications for the firings, more talking points, morediscussions of PR strategy. But I'm just a humble, human muckraker. So if you dosee anything new, please let us know in the comments. To identify the document,use the number in the lower right-hand corner of the page. Readon...

Treasureof Baghdad - 'Triggers' A bright ray of sun coming inthrough the window shades woke me up. My head was pounding and my mouth was dryas if I was sleeping in the desert. I opened my eyes slowly trying to reduce thelight's unforgiving effect on my pupils. I scanned the room. My full-bookcase,my TV, an empty glass. I peeled the blanket off my chest slowly like a prisonermaking his escape.

I sat on the bed cradling myhead between my palms. What happened? Where was I? Ah! I remembered. It was anightmare. Readon...

The Guardian's Commentis Free - 'America's reputation is in tatters. But afterBush, recovery could be swift' The next US president will inherit a legacyof global mistrust. Restoration of its authority must begin with a painful exitfrom Iraq

Former US president JimmyCarter lambasted Tony Blair over the weekend for participating in George Bush'sIraq adventure. Carter might show a little more gratitude. It is Bush'sachievement to have displaced him from the ignominy of bottom place in the rollcall of modern American chief executives.

Historians will surely judgethat Bush's two terms of office have done much more damage to US interests, andindeed to those of the world, than Carter's blunders a generation ago. A fewmonths ago I heard a British diplomat in Washington bemoan the horrors of thecurrent administration. We must just somehow stagger through to the end, hemuttered. I said that it seemed rash to assume the next US president would beperfectly to the taste of Britain, or the world, because few people elected tothe White House ever are. He said: "Nothing, absolutely nothing, could beworse than what we have got now." Readon...

SFGate - 'Bush could double force by Christmas' TheBush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combattroops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showedMonday. The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 inearly January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagonoverlaps arriving and departing combat brigades. Readon...

Comments

[granny]

On Halliburton: Remember who said, many weeks ago, that they'd all be moving to Dubai? (probably don't do extradition there) ~! :)

The new Halliburton guy, Dave Lesar, is really good at what he does. Here from "reading on" therawstory writes:

“It was purely a commercial decision (getting rid of KBR the delightful services contractor who spent the last 5 years bilking the government in Military overcharges ~that's MY remark inserted) that has been well-reflected in the marketplace,” (of course, with all the cream skimmed off the top now ~me again) Lesar said. “Halliburton is an oilfield services company. That’s where we started 80 years ago and that’s what we’re back to.”

With KBR gone, Halliburton has no current business in Iraq. But Lesar said Halliburton would look to partner with oil firms doing exploration in Iraq once an investment law is in place.

Good boy, Dave. Well done.
Not a lie in any of it. Just a straight forward (straight faced) way of saying. We're an oil business. That's what we're doing in Iraq - in the meantime we thought we'd grab off a couple of billions in carpetbagging. But we don't need to continue there now (now that the place is a wreck, and the fat's in the fire on what we were up to); and we'll be back to Iraq on that oil thing when the congflagration quiets down.

Doesn't he make that all sound so gentlemanly and business like?