Oscar Wyatt: Traitor? or just another Billionare Texas Oilman? The VERDICT : GUILTY

Update: Oct. 1st, the WSJ is reporting that Oscar Wyatt Jr. has Pleaded GUILTY.

The plea deal calls for Mr. Wyatt to be sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison, unless the judge decides otherwise. He also has agreed to forfeit $11 million.

Repost: The Houston Chronicle still seems to be the only newspaper reporting on this rather interesting court case. While our mainstream media focus in on 'OJ getting squeezed', 83 year old former Coastal Corp CEO, Oscar Wyatt Jr., is charged with funneling millions of dollars to Saddam during the UN oil for food program. Not Treason, but for fraud and conspiracy. If convicted on all counts he could be sentenced to 74 years in prison.

Earlier in the trial prosecutors played an audio tape which basically had Former TX Gov. Connally, Wyatt, and Saddam having a conversation about a possible invasion of Iraq by George H.W. Bush after Iraq invaded Kuwait. It's a wild trial. Wyatt stated that he believed Bush was railroading him since he had advised former presidents JFK, Johnson, Reagan, Nixon, and Clinton, but neither of the Bushes.

And on Monday the trial got even more interesting. Satellites tied to seats, plane trips to Jordan, broken bolts, Iraqi Embassy members hauling off crates. It's way more interesting than OJ. The prosecutors have also introduced another 'star' shady witness, Vincent, who pleaded guilty two years ago and is looking for a plea deal. Here are a few excerpts from the article

Former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein told Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt in 1995 that the ranks of Iraq's friends had dwindled so dramatically during the years of economic sanctions he could count them on one hand, former consultant Samir Vincent testified today.

"You are one of them," Saddam told Wyatt, Vincent said.

Wyatt replied, "I appreciate the gesture, Mr. President. I feel the same way about Iraq," Vincent testified.

Vincent testified last week that he accompanied Wyatt on seven or eight trips to Iraq between 1991 and 1997, including a trip capped off by an April 1, 1995 audience with Saddam. Prosecutors showed a picture said to show Saddam sitting with Wyatt, Vincent and former Iraqi government leader Tariq Aziz.

Vincent testified today said that sometime in 1994 or 1995 he and Wyatt flew on a plane to Amman, Jordan, with a crate containing satellite equipment. The crate was strapped to seats aboard the plane, Vincent said.

When they arrived in Amman on their way to Baghdad, Vincent said, officials from Iraq's embassy there took the crate. And eventually, the equipment was installed at the offices of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization or SOMO in Baghdad, Vincent said.

The Iraqis later complained, however, they were having trouble with a faulty bolt on a satellite dish after it had been installed on the roof of SOMO's offices, Vincent said. Vincent testified he then brought the problematic bolt back to the United States and turned it over to officials at Wyatt's company, Houston-based Coastal Corp.

Wyatt's lawyers have even claimed they were stopped in 2002 by Customs Enforcement at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and documents and an address book were taken from them

In a court filing this week, Wyatt's lawyers said Wyatt was returning to Houston and went through Customs screening at Intercontinental. The address book, the filing said, "was missing from his briefcase when he arrived at his office."

A document filed with the motion and identified as a Customs Service "custody receipt for retained or seized property" said the address book was found at the airport's international terminal. The receipt contained the notation "possible sanction violations." 9/14/07

who was in that address book? The infamous 50 million dolllar tax evader and Scooter Libby longtime client, Mark Rich.

The address book contains the name of Marc Rich, who fled the country after being charged with tax evasion and fraud. In one of his last acts as president, Clinton pardoned the fugitive financier, touching off a firestorm.

The lawyers said letting jurors see the entry would be "totally irrelevant and inflammatory."

"Wyatt's relationship with Rich, if any, adds nothing to the government's allegations of prohibited transactions with Iraq except the prejudicial association of their suspect with a notorious felon," the lawyers wrote.

Stop watching OJ! Saddam is talking from the grave...still talking $hit to the Bu$hes.

My related post
Saddam Hussein Speaks from the Grave

Same Players. Different Scandals.

Whose Guarding the Green Zone? Contractors defending the Military

This is a repost, but with the current fiasco going on in Iraq with Blackwater I thought it should be brought back up.

As the Bush Administration plays 4th Branch politics on television nightly, their true crimes against the American public are being committed out of the media spotlight. This Administration is quietly outsourcing U.S. military operations around the globe. When no bid contracts come to mind, one thinks Halliburton, KBR, Bechtel....yet, the contracts the media are not talking about is this Administration's hiring of private sub 'machine gun' contractors to do the tasks of the U.S. military. Blackwater USA, has a companion...Welcome Triple Canopy Inc., America's Green Zone Defenders.

With increasing concerns of the U.S. military being pushed to its limits, the Administration is finding other ways to continue the war effort. Since 2004, Triple Canopy Inc., have been performing security operations for many U.S. military enclaves peppered throughout Iraq. Triple Canopy Inc., founded in 2003 by former U.S. Delta force and Green Beret veterans, has been guarding the Green Zone since they were awarded the winning bid in 2005 over a British based security firm. These private armies pose a 'national security threat' to the United States itself.

"No open policy debate took place; no executive order was publicly issued, And who is in charge of overseeing these armed men? One thing is sure: they are crucial to the war effort.", stated Daniel Bergner of the NY Times.

We already have a military? Do we really need to use privately funded corporate armies, as well? Although Triple Canopy Inc.'s founders might be American, not all their employees hold the same credentials. The current expansion of sub 'machine gun' contractors in Iraq is depleting the ranks of America's special forces veterans. With companies such as Blackwater USA, DynCorp and Triple Canopy Inc., being awarded more and more contracts from the U.S. government the search for qualified 'security consultants' has gone global. Their ranks need to be filled. The search for a qualified pool of talent has taken Triple Canopy Inc. and others to Latin America raising concerns of compromising U.S. military and diplomatic security throughout Iraq.

"...ads seeking former members of the armed forces and police officers interested in working as a security personnel in exchange for "excellent wages" began to appear in newspapers in Lima... ...Hundreds of people applied" stated Angel Paez of IPS

"...about 200 of them American and almost all the rest from Chile and Fiji" wrote Bergner in 2005. "Another concern is that Triple Canopy employees have been recruited mainly in Latin America and speak little English...'A delay in communicating a problem because the guard cannot speak English down his walkie-talkie can have fatal consequences'"

Stop this nonsense. For every sub 'machine gun' contractor added to the ranks of these corporate private armies, another U.S. soldier is replaced by someone not accountable to military justice or the U.S. justice system. The world views these 'employees', not as independent contractors, but as the U.S. Military itself.

Iraq is consuming the U.S. military at an immeasurable rate, yet this Administration continues this so called 'surge' with private armies are not responsible or accountable to the American government. Triple Canopy Inc.'s contract reads,

"...the insurance policy covering the company's personnel will not provide coverage in case of an incident that occurs when employees are off-duty or outside their place of work. If employees are attacked by insurgents at home, for instance, they will receive no compensation..."

What happens when this war comes to a close? Does one think these companies will close up shop and shut their doors? Fighting the war and securing assets through the use of contracted sub 'machine gun' contractors is dangerous, irresponsible, and subversive. Triple Canopy Inc., Blackwater USA, DynCorp, and others are in the business to make money not guard against injustice. Capitalism has gone to far..stop the insanity. End this conflict now. This war should not be fought in terms of profit maximization. More than just Americans are losing their sons and daughters in this quest for oil.

Government contracts are the only way this Administration can continue to fight this war of terror. If the media were not so concerned with "Hollywood IT girls gone bad" perhaps the American public would recognize that their democrazy is being subverted directly under their noses. Save our country from 'W''s vision of our NeW hOmeland, Demand a return to our Nation and the rule of law. Americans should be defending Americans, not Latin Americas defending Americans. This is what occurs when a country insists on invading another without a global coalition. Instead, the coalition of the willing, wants to get PAID and be responsible to no one. Welcome to the Homeland.

Related article:
From Jungles to Deserts: Latin Americans in the War on Terror

Same Players. Different Scandal.

Chernobyl in Pictures: 20 years Later

All images courtesy BBC News

Goodbye, Good Riddance, Pathetic Alberto Gonzales

The little bastard's gone. I don't know any other way to say it. He resigned...he walked away. On Friday, Sept. 14th, Alberto Gonzales silently slipped away from the Department of Justice wearing a devilish little grin. If you were watching the nightly news you might not have even noticed. Pathetic

This little beep,beep,beep ( that was hard I really wanted to let go) just gave the American People a big FU. The man who 'w' raised from an infantile lil' law school grad to the Attorney General of the United States...just slipped away.

Impossible. He was supposed to end up behind bars. Censured, impeached..anything, but he wasn't just supposed to walk away. Where is the coverage? Where is the OUTRAGE?

The man who knowingly politicized the Justice Department, provided a 'firewall' between the executive and Americka, illegally solicited Ashcroft in his hospital room, Abu Ghraib, approved wire tapping, Guantanemo, Cheney's water boarding torture, the insane claim of enemy combatants, passed all Bush signing statements, Presidential directives, had enough ' i don't recall moments' under oath in contemporary history to have been convicted in the new OJ 'personal sting' case....Yet..He...just walked away.

No giant parties...no media loving (CSPAN doesn't really count)..no Democratic representative outrage. Nothing. As if nothing occurred. I can't believe it. He screwed our Nation. Screwed US all....All with that lil smug smile that he wore on his face at his CSPAN broadcast 'farewell and FU' to America. You did well you little deviant beep, beep. You accomplished everything you shouldn't have. History will prove US right. You're a partisan idiot who sold out America for a pathetic Presidency who is establishing a 'homeland' and deconstructing our nation. A man who trampled on the constitution, 'secretly' signed away our civil rights and gave 'w' a dictatorship.

Idiot. They'll never let you in their club. Your just another 'useful' tool of subversion. Poor, poor, Gonzo...may your demons follow you.

Same Players. Different Scandal.

All 'Puckerd' Up': Petraeus sold US another LEMON

"The battle is always going well until it is lost, and then they blame defeat on the politicians and the public." Robert Scheer

Finally the Petraeus "assessment" is finished. The long awaited lies from the General are out in the open, yet we're still left with an empty feeling...an empty report. A report that was supposed to define our 'progress' from the surge, but ended up being nothing more than a disgusting pack of lies based on cherry picked pseudo facts.Where was the truth?

The Iraq war started out as the most televised, best covered war in American history. Four years later it's the United States best kept secret. Shameful. America deserves the truth! Without knowledge of what is truly happening on the ground, we the people, are losing control of our future...of our democracy.

Winston Churchill once stated, " I never believe any statistics I didn't falsify myself". The quote fits the General well. Does he actually believe the crap he's laid down at the feet of the American citizenry? Probably not. But he sold it anyway. This man knows the real Iraq, but has kept his mouth shut. Does he only 'salute and obey'? We just witnessed OUR General sell US a LEMON! So perhaps instead of calling him, 'General BetrayUS' , we should just call him what he is..a dirty salesman for the Bush Cabal - or - we could call him what his superior,Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), called him in March

"an ass-kissing little chickens**t" and added, "I hate people like that"
Antiwar 9/13/07

Our General appears to be blindly obeying his orders from the Bush administration and their cronies. This pisses me off. He is the military professional. He's been educated and trained in warfare, unlike his civilian counterparts in the Pentagon,the Defense Department, and the executive who dabble in academic thoughts on war.

The military offers the means for war. Politicians offer the justification. If the rationale doesn't 'fly', it should be squashed and deemed inappropriate. This is where Petraeus has failed. He didn't question. He didn't use his better judgement. Instead he defended the rationale. The surge is not working!

In military jargon, Petraeus and Crocker are "walking point" for the White House on Iraq, taking the brunt of the questions from Congress and the media. Much of what President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and others have said about Iraq has turned out to be false Warren P. Strobel 9/11/07

Petraeus has completely allowed his professionalism to be subjugated to partisan political endeavours. He has become the tool of subversion. The patsy. He and his military corps know what is happening in Iraq. They live the reality, not the administration who enjoy the cozy comforts of the Western White House while our soliders and Iraqis suffer.

When an ordinary person lies, cheats, steals, etc. they are held accountable. Why is this not occurring? Our general and his lying cronies have just sold US another LEMON and we all know it. They've sold US a pack of lies without any repercussions and worse...their 'urge' to surge will march on.


Same Players. Different Scandal.