With the ongoing investigation of Halliburton's KBR for contractor fraud in accounting for funds and supplying the troops in Iraq, it is interesting that the Rumsfeld replacement is so close to Halliburton interests. And Gates is coming onto the stage at a time when Halliburton is attempting to jettison KBR, and its potential liabilities, through an IPO.
Take a look:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Gates_and_Question_of_Independence_Part_1114.htmlIntelligence sources question Gates' independence from Cheney, Rumsfeld
"Certainly Gates' business activities might make it difficult for him to push back against the formidable Cheney.
Gates has been on the board of directors for Parker Drilling Company since 2001. A major client-partner of Parker is Halliburton. In 2004, for example, Halliburton landed the Iride-Samaria Project in Mexico for $175 million, and Parker was brought into the project to provide the rigs and crews.
Serving on the Parker board with Gates is John W. Gibson, who until 2004 served as chief executive officer of Halliburton Energy Services and who acknowledges having gone hunting with Vice President Cheney.
Another member of the Parker board is Robert E. McKee III, who is currently the chairman of Eventure, a Shell-Halliburton joint project, as well as being the senior adviser to the Iraqi Oil Ministry
In addition to this, Gates serves with Donald Rumsfeld on the steering committee of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). CSIS is described in general as a neoconservative think tank, and in particular as a largely far-right funded institution, founded with Richard Scaife funds."