Iraq War Related Contract Abuses Return to NAAJA Web site | Return to Arab American Resource Web Site | Email Hanania In early April 2008, the U.S. Justice Department began the trial prosecution of a defendant named Jeff Alex Mazon in a Rockford Courtroom. Although Mazon, a sub-contractor working for for Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) a subsidiary of Halliburton, was indicted in 2003 and charged with taking a bribe related to a War related contract, the Federal Government case has been restricted to Mr. Mazon's alleged actions, and have intentionally side-stepped the bigger issue of Halliburton's role in the war contract corruptions. A jury in April 2008 could not reach a verdict and a majority of jurors apparently did not believe there was enough evidence to convict. Many issues involving war contract corruption have been ignored by the Federal Government's prosecution, and many Arab Americans believe that the Bush administration is engaged in selective prosecution and intentionally manipulating the prosecution and judiciary by: 1) prosecuting these important cases in regional court rooms where the local U.S. Attorneys have profesisonal relationships with the judges overseeing the cases. 2) focusing the cases ONLY on the allegations of fraud, rather than on the bigger principles that have been feeding the alleged corruption in an apparent concerted effort to protect those companies favored by the Administration. 3) prosecuting the cases in court rooms in regions outside of the national media's theater of attention to minimize the media coverage and broader public scrutiny. 4) opposing any effort to expand the issues addressed to limit the discussion to the allegations of fraud, and ignore bigger issues such as the extent of corruption by the companies themselves -- what responsibility does Halliburton, KBR and First Kuwaiti have in war contract corruption incidents? Shouldn't they be held accountable? Why are they being protected while others are forced to stand trial? 5) engaging in a conscious effort to minimize the focus on Halliburton. Is it because of the relationship of the company to the Bush administration and to Vice President Dick Cheney? ### |
Selected Columns on CASE RE-TRIED IN PEORIA, ILLINOIS MONDAY SEPT. 29, 2008 - Peoria Journal Star News 9-29-08 - Column on attempt to muzzle criticism of Bush administration and Cheney's Halliburton by prosecutors. Read column? PAST COLUMNS NEWS - Truth leaks out in War related contract abuse case (April 18, 2008) - Witness testifies he took bribe from First Kuwaiti (April 17, 2008) Quad Cities Online - War related contract cases not receiving adequate media coverage (April 10, 2008) FACT SHEET FACT SHEET on the War Related Contract Abuse Scandal now on trial in Rockford, Il.. RECENT GOOGLE NEWS RSS FEED 
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