A load of crap from an idle brain

Everything about the United State’s war in Afghanistan and Iraq is well documented.  What is little known is the details that goes into the well oiled war machine of the US Army.  A company by name Halliburton, which in the general sense is known to people as a company that is into oil discovery and marketing is very much entrenched in the way the US government goes into war.

Years ago Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney laid the foundations of outsourcing the critical logistics of the American military machienary.  Dick Cheney as the head of Halliburton and Donald Rumsfeld as the person who created the policies necessary for the same.

Today Halliburton-KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root) which was later on split into two different companies, Halliburton and KBR are the main ones who run the logistics of the American military.  In the process they have totally corrupted the procedures and have billed the American public billions of dollars of fake expenses.

Pratap Chatterjee goes into great detail as to how the Halliburon-KBR combine came about, how it managed to entrench itself into all the contracts of the military logistics, its transgressions, fake billing, over billing, wastage of food, resources, blatant human rights abuses, rapes of its female employees, usage of foreign nationals in war zones with no safety equipment, their exploitation etc.  Its a disturbing read of how in this age of free and available information, all these details have been hid from the public in general.

The book is in the markets for a few years and the fact that it hasnt been challenged or sued is a sure indication that the author has got his facts right and that he has evidence to prove all accusations he presents in the book.  Even though Halliburton-KBR might reject the author’s claims, it does recognise the rot that infests the organisation.

Chatterjee (Iraq Inc.) delves into the nebulous world of the Houston-based Halliburton corporation, tracing the company to its roots, when a fortuitous meeting with a young Lyndon Baines Johnson propelled the Brown and Root Company (which later merged with Halliburton) into Washington power politics. The author details the military contracting that largely funded the company through WWII and into the present-day war in Iraq, intertwining the company’s history with the biographies of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other officials in the Bush administration. Chatterjee provides a laundry list of abuses for which the company has been investigated, including inflated billing of the Pentagon, providing unsafe living conditions for U.S. soldiers, labor exploitation and coverups to avoid congressional inquiry. He concludes with a look at the whistleblowers that brought these scandals into the public eye and the repercussions of the eventual congressional investigation. Chatterjee keeps the pace of the narrative at a quick clip and nimbly marshals his extensive evidence to reveal—without sanctimony or stridency—Halliburton’s record of corruption, political manipulation and human rights abuses.

“Halliburton’s Army” begins citing how $5,000/day oil-well fire-fighters were brought in, despite the Kuwaiti’s offering to do the job for free out of gratitude for Gulf War I and concern for their own environment. The situation rapidly deteriorated – potential whistle-blowers demoted or other wise threatened, overheads running 43-55%, overcharges for fuel – $2.64/gallon, vs. a local Iraqi source at .96/gallon (or even an internal Defense Dept. source at $1.32/gallon), splitting contracts to avoid bidding requirements associated with large dollar amounts, billing for hours not worked, ordering multiple items when just one was needed (cost-plus!), serving overpriced and sometimes outdated food to non-existent troops, failure to treat water with chlorine, using very-high-priced suppliers, electrocuting troops via improper electrical work, failing to pay required disability benefits to those injured on the job, etc.

Source: Halliburton’s Army Amazon page

Halliburton’s Army: How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War
Author – Pratap Chatterjee
Pages – 304
Publisher – Nation Books

Finished reading 3 books actually.  2 of them are pretty small and I could finish them in2 days each.

1. Games Indians Play – Why We are The Way We Are

If you are someone who easily gets offended by criticism, this book is surely not for you.  If you are someone who believes in chest thumping patriotism, the kinds we find in Sunny Deol – Anil Sharma movies or the kind of person who likes to forward chain mails which proclaim that 35% of employees working in NASA, Microsoft etc are Indians, then this book is not for you either.

Games Indians Play is a hard hitting look at the way we Indians manipulate our way around the system, looks at reasons why our cities are dirty, creaking, why our roads are full of potholes, why our system, law and order machinery is corrupt, why we keep raking up examples of our thousand year old culture and morals, but are the worst behaved, immoral and culture-less people around.

The author, V Raghunathan uses game theory to explain the ills of India, as to why we are free loaders, corrupt and do not stand up to our rights etc.

Though the author goes great lengths to analyse the problems facing India, he doesnt suggest ideas or solutions to mitigate the problem.  That i believe is the only negative point about the book.

A few comments on the book that i found at Amazon website reinforce the author’s point of view

“It’s a very interesting book and does a great job of explaining some of the bizzare things that go on in India and why people say “it’s like that only”. As an Indian living in US for two decades, I can relate to author’s observations about Indian and western societies. I have been puzzled by some of those things over the years but couldn’t figure out why it was so.

And to Mr. Raghunathan: Lots of Indians/asians in US don’t behave much differently. Just go to any temple and you can see a pile of shoes/chappals on the floor right next to empty shoe shelves & just below the sign “please don’t leave your shoes on the floor”. Or visit any south asian grocery store and you can tell instantly if they sell “paans” by looking at stains all over the parking lot.”

“As an expat currently living in India, this book affirmed what I’ve found difficult and perplexing about living in New Delhi. The constant helplessness, petty jealousies and a sense that some of the observed poverty is just another one of India’s treasured rackets (an alternative route for their bizarre and seemingly increasing corruption) is overwhelming and frustrating to watch on a day-to-day basis. I enjoyed this book immensely as it helped me to understand the behavior I see around me, why it continues without change (or question) and in the end, why and how others perceive their continued benefit from this seemingly irrational paradigm (from a Western view point).

Listening to Indians and the media in India, there is a view that Westerners are selfish, lack connected communities and have no “family values” or “morals” (whatever this means by whomever defines it). It’s almost as if Indians have it reversed from Westerners. In particular, Americans who value personal independence coupled with a sense of civic duty and responsibility to others whereas Indians emphasize family and communal relationships to guide their behavior and actions but do not necessarily extend their concerns outside their immediate circle.”

“The author postulates that it is ‘Supreme Selfishness’ which drives every Indian. The author then creates models of everyday situations using principles of Game Theory to explore how Indians react to such situations given that they are driven by ‘Supreme Selfishness’. For example, the author uses Prisoner’s Dilemma to model the common situation every Indian faces while emptying his trash can every morning – should I empty the bin on the road or should I have to walk two hundred feet to the nearest municipal waste bin?”

Games Indians Play
Author – V Raghunathan
Pages – 170
Publisher – Penguin Books

2. Germany – Cultures of the World

I have a good collection of the Lonely Planet series.  But they are books for the hardcore traveler.  Though i love to travel; finances, time and other considerations deny me that pleasure.  I love reading up on the countries, their cultures, people, society, food etc, but i find the Lonely Planet series of books too bulky to read and i find its a book good for people who like to micro-manage their travels.  As for me, i like to take the leisure way out and i just like to do a broad research of the place before i travel.

Europe is a dream destination for me.  Germany is one of my most admired countries and i happened to chance at this book in the library.  Its small, concise and covers all aspects of the country just the way i love it.  The book covers the geography, government, culture, food, people, cities, environment, politics, history etc in a precise manner.

3. Hiroshima – Story of the First Atom Bomb

Its a pretty small book, mostly for kids which traces the dropping of the first atom bomb on Hiroshima.  Capturing mostly pictures of both before and after of the destruction and a few explanations about the bomb, the politics behind it.  The book is mostly about Manhattan project, nuclear theory, progress of World War II, Truman’s decision to use the bomb, the mission of Enola Gay, results of the Hiroshima explosion and the subsequent use of the bomb on Nagasaki.

Above picture source: Amazon & Nowpublic

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The good news is that scientific research papers being filed from India are on the upswing.  The bad news is that countries like China, Korea etc have left India long behind in this race.  In fact, China has more than doubled its research output since 2004.  Read more on these reports at this Thomson Reuters website.

Often referred to as a “sleeping giant” in scientific literature, India seems to be waking out of its slumber, says a recent global research report on “Research and Collaboration in the new Geography of Science” by Thomson Reuters.

As per the report, Chemistry and Pharmacology are fast becoming the most “published” disciplines in India; USA remains its largest research partner even as South Korea is racing ahead of China to partner with India. And Japan’s University of Tokyo collaborates most frequently with Indian researchers.

If the current trajectory continues, the study estimates, India’s productivity would well be on par with that of most G-8 nations within eight years and could even overtake them between 2015-2020.

In a testament to its strength in information technology, computer science accounted for the highest increase in world publications from India between 1999-2003 and 2004-2008, increasing by more than 100%. When it comes to research, India’s strength lies in Chemistry and emerging sectors like pharmacology, microbiology and traditional agricultural sciences.

Between 1993-2003 and 2004-08:

• In Chemistry, India’s research output increased from 21,206 world publications to 33,504

• From a 2.8 per cent share of the world output in pharmacology and toxicology, India’s share is up to 4.25 per cent

• Output in engineering rose from 2.69 per cent to 3.57 per cent

• Microbiology saw publication output rise from 1.62 per cent to 2.79 per cent

Agricultural engineering, Tropical Medicine, Organic Chemistry and Dairy & Animal Science are areas of research where India is picking up well besides Crystallography and Textiles.

Read the full news here

Above picture source: 30yearchallenge

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Looks like Google’s patience has been tested enough. First, in the pursuit of money, Google overlooked its “see no evil, do no evil” policy.  Now after being repeatedly getting hacked by the Chinese government and its army of hackers, Google seems to be realising that it was in bed with the devil by agreeing to the Chinese government’s demands of censoring content.

Its been just a matter of time when Google fell afoul of the Chinese authorities. When it comes to the Chinese, there are no friends or foes.  Just like the Americans, everyone and everything is just a means to the end.  Therefore am not surprised that inspite of Google agreeing to be censored, its servers and data were being hacked by the Chinese government.

Not that it affects the Chinese internet community anymore.  They use Baidu, Sohu etc for their search, email and other services.  Google was just another player in the market.  As for Google, pulling out will mean that it can occupy the moral high ground.  And also save its data and servers from getting hacked.  For most of its businesses came from American companies and they wouldn’t have taken kindly to news that would imply that Google’s services were getting repeatedly hacked.  That would have been bad publicity for Google.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses–including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

Read the full article here

Pictures source: Richswebdesign & Atlasshrugs

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The book goes into the details of how much it has cost the United States to go to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The book also explores if the war was necessary; could it have been avoided; could the money invested in the war have been better invested in some other productive activity etc.

Also the author tries to explore if the main reason of the US going to war in Iraq was to get cheaper oil? And if it was the reason, then the US failed miserably.  Also its agenda of foisting its belief of democracy on the middle east has come apart.

Neither is the world any safer.  We are much more under attack from the jehadi groups. Looking at the attempts at hijacking planes, and attempted bombings of the countries, its only safe to say that there hasn’t been a worse foreign policy than what was pursued under the Presidency of George Bush.

Readers may be surprised to learn just how difficult it was for Nobel Prize-winning economist Stiglitz and Kennedy School of Government professor Bilmes to dig up the actual and projected costs of the Iraq War for this thorough piece of accounting. Using “emergency” funds to pay for most of the war, the authors show that the White House has kept even Congress and the Comptroller General from getting a clear idea on the war’s true costs. Other expenses are simply overlooked, one of the largest of which is the $600 billion going toward current and future health care for veterans. These numbers reveal stark truths: improvements in battlefield medicine have prevented many deaths, but seven soldiers are injured for every one that dies (in WWII, this ratio was 1.6 to one). Figuring in macroeconomic costs and interest-the war has been funded with much borrowed money-the cost rises to $4.5 trillion; add Afghanistan, and the bill tops $7 trillion. This shocking expose, capped with 18 proposals for reform, is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how the war was financed, as well as what it means for troops on the ground and the nation’s future.

The book written by none other than Nobel prize winner for Economics, Joseph Stiglitz goes deep into how the US govt repeatedly fudged accounts, gave out wrong assumptions and projections of money to be spent on the war.  The Defense department according to Stiglitz is one of the most opaque organization in the US govt with no proper audit in place or specification of the money being spent.

According to the most conservative calculations by Stiglitz, the US govt has spent more than 3 trillion dollars on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This when then book came out last year or the year before.  Billions more have flown down the drain.  Some more estimates peg the money spent at almost 4-5 trillion dollars.  All these money could have been invested in the US economy itself and the world wouldn’t have had this economic recession.

The book gets a bit bogged down into the numbers, but is a shocking read at the policy mishaps under the Republican regime.

The Three Trillion Dollar War
Authors – Joseph E Stiglitz & Linda Blimes
Pages – 336
Publisher – WW Norton & Company

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