The only flag Halliburton salutes
Some Americans were startled to hear chief executive Dave Lesar’s announcement last week that he would lead the company from a new headquarters in Dubai, the glitzy Mideast financial capital.
”There’s not much oil in Texas any more,” said Dalton Garis, an American energy economist at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. ”Halliburton is in the oil and gas industry and guess what? Sixty percent of the world’s oil and gas is right here. If they didn’t move now, they’d have to do it later.”
In addition, company officials said Halliburton, which has operated in Dubai for more than 40 years, will remain a U.S. corporation for tax purposes, incorporated in Delaware, and doesn’t expect to reap any tax benefits from the Dubai headquarters operation.
Anyone actually believe Halliburton will have the same staff and property in Texas — five or ten years from now?
Plus, if you’d like to reflect for a moment or two on small legalisms like accountability — consider the value of a Congressional subpoena sent to Dubai and asking Halliburton executives to answer for their corrupt acquisition of US taxpayer dollars in the Middle East. Think it’s worth the paper it’s printed on?
Cheney should build his
vicepresidential library right next to the Petroleum Club offices in Dubai.‘’There’s not much oil in Texas any more,’’ is a very scary statement. But independent reports are saying it is no better on the Saudi Arabian Peninsula http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2331/
The Only reason they are headed to Dubai is they see the writing on the wall here. Haliburton’s days of no bid government contracts — or any government contracts for that matter — are numbered.
I thought all the hubbub of Dubai was for when 2009 hits, when oil production starts it decline, Dubai will be the Las Vegas of the East.
So that tourism and related industries continues to profit the sheiks for generations to come.
Just wondering, is “Dubai” an Arabic form of “Dubya”?
Will Cheney go with them?
Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. You guys hate Halliburton and all they stand for, yet you are pissed that the people you hate are moving half way around the world. There is just no pleasing you is there?
#6 – Halliburton can move to freakin’ Neptune for all I care. The problem is not where they go, but what they take with them, namely $BILLION$ of taxpayer dollars for services non or poorly rendered.
Uh, Rob – you needn’t worry, the taxpayers’ money’s still gonna go to the same place as before: the pockets of Dubya’s and Uncle Dick’s cronies, families and supporters…
@ Eideard: “… if you’d like to reflect for a moment or two on small legalisms like accountability — consider the value of a Congressional subpoena sent to Dubai and asking Halliburton executives to answer for their corrupt acquisition of US taxpayer dollars in the Middle East. Think it’s worth the paper it’s printed on?”
Similar to my thoughts when I first heard about this, but with a more sinister twist.
Consider: What if Cheney goes back to Halliburton after ’08 (which was talked about even in 2000, given his continuing to draw a paycheck from them)? If he were still in the US, and if ramped up investigatons began implicating him in all sorts of nasty goings-on, that would make him extremely vulnerable to prosecution. And if a relative unknown like Libby could get fingered by a largely sympathetic jury, the hated Cheney – with even a modicum of evidence against him – would have a rough time. Maybe it was no coincidence that this announcement came out only after it was widely reported by the Libby jury that their over-riding question was “Where’s Cheney?”
Dubai has very liberal citizenship laws. Extradition could be very problematic for any nation trying to get it’s hands on an expat.
I’m just sayin …
Billions not accounted for, the biggest thief of all now moving to oil-producing Arab country, idiots like Gig throwing out specious remarks, and the only real question left being whether the motives of Halliburton and presumably Cheney are pure…
Wotta puzzle. Not that Cheney has any influence over these events from his underground bunker, of course. Totally out of his control.
@ #9
Halliburton certainly has a lot to thank Cheney for. Tens of billions of reasons. You might be right – this could be a big sloppy thank-you kiss. We’ll see.
Forbes magazine has obliquely explained that the reason for this move – is – get this – so Halliburton can do business with IRAN! And this isn’t new – there are several instances of sales to Iran while Cheney was CEO…
http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/0419/041_print.html
Not to worry Dubai will take over soon. [edit: use tinyurl]
If you read the story you will see that Halliburton doesn’t do the Government contracts anymore-that company was spun off and is listed as KBR. Halliburton is now strictly an oil service company. Yes the North American market has pretty much peaked. Also, if you read the story only the CEO is moving to Dubia, all other officers will stay in the US. I’ll try not to confuse the issue with the facts any more.
#15 – right, the CEO is just moving his desk and everyone will deal with him by phone and email. Always refreshing to see neocons are as gullible as ever.
Yeah well they have to go to a place where morality isn’t an issue.
If Dubai Ports is not good enough for the USA. I think Halliburton is not good enough for Dubai.
For starters, doesn’t a Halliburton’s building here increase the change of a terrorist attack?
I don’t know what you guys are complaining about.
The former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin moved Canada Steamship Lines to be flagged in Barbados, so he could ignore a lot of health and safety rules and pay only one quarter of the wages he’d have to pay according to Canadian law.
Canadians were told this simply made “good business sense” (basic capitalism, right?).
Perhaps Halliburton is simply doing the same thing? If so, that’s the American Way, isn’t it?
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