Rall: "You'll know you sacrificed for..."

[Mairead]

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. Halliburton's profits up 80%!! See? there IS some good news!

" HOUSTON, United States (AFP) - US oil industry services giant Halliburton said Thursday its Kellogg Brown and Root unit's profits rose four-fold and sales leapt 80 percent, boosted by work in Iraq (Profits from the unit's operations soared to 49 million dollars in the three months to September from 12 million dollars a year earlier, helped by "government services activity in the Middle East," Halliburton said.

KBR, the engineering and construction division that netted a no-bid government contract to help rebuild Iraq's shattered oil industry, also posted an 80-percent jump in sales to 2.3 billion dollars. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031029/bs_afp/us_oil_iraq_halliburton_031029181531

[Divernan]

2. Do the math-almost $1 million profit per 10 US dead soldiers.

An 80 percent increase, i.e., and a $37 million increase for the 3 months "to September" over a year ago? Factor that with the last number I saw of about 380 U.S. soldiers killed. Halliburton made a $974,000 profit per 10 soldiers killed. And unlike having one of their own employees killed on the job, Halliburton doesn't have to pay out any money to survivors, or deal with any pesky lawsuits from those damned trial lawyers for unsafe working conditions.

ON EDIT: Also consider the number of severely wounded US soldiers - probably ratio of six wounded for every one killed. If a Halliburton employee were maimed, they would collect a lifetime of workers comp through Halliburton. Yet another MAJOR cost to Halliburton assumed by the US taxpayers. This is truly the Golden Age of the military industrial capitalists in recorded history! Do they print Chaney's payout on blood red checks?

[tlb]

3. If i did the math right

that's a 2.13 % net profit for KBR global operations including Iraq for the quarter. I'm no industry expert but on its face that doesn't seem out of line.


Correction, although obviously that gasoline deal smells bad. No pun intended :)

[Divernan]

4. The Iraq unit profits soared from 12 mill to 49 mill for 3 month period

That's a 300% INCREASE. So if they only made a 2.13 % profit for global operations, they've been operating with massive losses everywhere else in the world (where they don't have US forces guarding their operations and chauferring their employees around in armored vehicles.) I conclude that Bush and the nobid contracts are all that's keeping this corporation in the black. Remind you of how W made a hefty income while driving his oil company into bankruptcy?