Monday, March 01, 2004

Credit to Halliburton?

Not in today's New York Times article called A Revival for Iraq's Oil Industry as Output Nears Prewar Levels. But in the International Herald Tribune, a company that is owned by the New York Times, they do give passing credit to Halliburton with this:

On Sunday, coalition officials turned the spotlight on the oil industry, where problems have often seemed emblematic of the wider deterioration of conditions in Iraq under the U.S. occupation. In December, Iraqis fumed as they waited in lines for gasoline at stations across the country, a problem that American officials now say had more to do with a lack of electricity to pump oil through pipelines and operate gas stations than with a shortage of supplies.

American efforts to restore Iraqi oil have been led by the Army Corps of Engineers and its principal contractor Halliburton, along with advisers to the Oil Ministry drawn from the top echelons of the international oil industry. Chief among these is McKee, a former executive vice president of worldwide operations for the old Conoco.

His main job here has been oil adviser to Bremer.

Still, Americans give much of the credit for the restoration of the oil industry to the Iraqis themselves, saying that the removal of a corrupt elite who led the industry under Saddam left a work force of 35,000 well-trained Iraqis.


The New York Times, however, deleted any credit to Halliburton:
On Sunday, coalition officials turned the spotlight on the oil industry, where problems have often seemed emblematic of the wider deterioration of conditions in Iraq under the American occupation. In December, Iraqis fumed as they waited in lines for gasoline at stations across the country, a problem that American officials now say had more to do with a lack of electricity to pump oil through pipelines and operate gas stations than with a shortage of supplies.

Americans give much of the credit for the restoration of the oil industry to the Iraqis, saying that the removal of a corrupt elite who led the industry under Mr. Hussein left a work force of 35,000 well-trained highly qualified Iraqis.


Nope, you don't ever want to give credit to Halliburton, the company where Dick Cheney was CEO, in case you forgot.

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