If this man was in the vicinity of a bribe scandal, you can bet everything you own that he was in on it. He has very strong sociopath tendencies. The investigation should have centered on him. How much money did he leave Iraq with? Anyone looking into that?

Iraq War-Related Contract Fraud Trial In Rock Island Continues… We have just completed a week of testimony in what has been a “circus” rather than a trial. Parading on and off the witness stand were approximately 10 government witnesses, the majority of which are current or former Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, Inc. (KBR) employees. Who are these witnesses and what did they have to say? Basically, nothing that would lead a reasonable person to believe “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the individual on trial, former procurement manager for KBR in Kuwait, Jeff Mazon, intentionally inflated a contract bid in favor of a Kuwait company in exchange for a $1 million kickback. Many of the 14 witness testifying on behalf of the government thus far didn’t have anything material to say other than that Jeff Mazon was overworked and the only person doing the procurement job. Here is what U.S taxpayers have learned after a week of testimony from the following government witnesses… Robert “Butch” Gatlin (Former KBR Program Manager for LOGCAP III from 2002 to 2004) – Gatlin lives in Kuwait and is CEO of GKL, a contractor supporting Army activities in Iraq. Mazon reported to Gatlin and the procurement oversignt chain in Houston, TX. He testified that the workload during the time in question was heavy and the amount of work and contract amounts were all similar in size and he didn’t pay any attention to the amount in contract 39. Contract 39 is the subject matter of the trial which Mazon is accused of inflating. More interesting however, is Gatlin’s rendition of how KBR executives and chain of command at the time would party on a regular basis with Mohammad Shabbir Khan, Genral Manager of Tamimi Global Co (a Saudi conglomerate that subcontracted for KBR in Kuwiat). Khan would provide liquor during “social events” that would be held in townhouses at the Hilton where Gatlin and his colleagues lived.

In December, 2006 Shabbir Khan was indicted by U.S. Attorney General Roger Heaton and sentenced by U.S. Judge McDade to a term of 51 months in prison for kickbacks to a KBR employee related to military dining subcontracts valued at $21.8 million. Unbelievable! David Hadcock, Former KBR Principle Procurement Manager – Testified that he never personally met Ali Hijazi, GM for LaNouvelle, and only discussed matters through emails and telephone calls. Although he testified that he requested documentation from Hijazi and was never provided with it, KBR investigator Harry Conkin later testified that Hijazi in fact gave him the requested documentation. KBR did in fact receive the requested documentation from Hijazi after all. Harry Conkin – Former KBR corporate security investigator – Conkin was aksed to investigate contract 39 in October 2003. He met with Ali Hijazi, GM for LaNouvelle and exchanged emails and documentation related to the contract.

Tony Martin – The most interesting testimony thus far has been from the twelfth prosecution witness, Tony Martin, former contract administrator for KBR in Kuwait. Tony Martin – What is most significant about this particular witness is his background. Of course the jury was not allowed to hear the following: Tony Martin is currently charged (charges spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Roger Heaton and Assistant Jeff Lang) with defrauding the US Government and will face Judge McDade, the same judge presiding over Mazon’s case in June. Martin has plead guilty to taking over $50,000.00 in bribes from Wadih Al-Absi the GM of First Kuwaiti, a company that was contracted by KBR to build the mammouth and scandal-ridden U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to the tune of $736 million. Martin testified that since then he has had an “experience with God” and decided not to take any more kickbacks. Why isn’t First Kuwait indicted and charged with defrauding the U.S. government? Forget that question. What is the prosecution and government thinking when they call a witness who plead to accepting kickbacks to testify on their behalf in this trial? What we should really be asking is why a jury should believe anything Tony Martin has to say? He did admit, however, that he never took or was offered a kickback from Ali Hijazi, the foreign individual who has been indicted along with Jeff Mazon. I’m sure Mazon is hoping that the jury will at least believes Martin on that issue.

While Martin testified that the government did not promise to reduce the charges levied against him in exchange for his testimony in the Mazon trial, it is safe to assume that he will be compensated during sentencing. Ultimately, that will be Judge McDade’s decision. Again Unbelievable!

You decide from the details here.

Ahmed A

If you view this article or any of Ray’s opinions as “America bashing” then I’d say you’ve been reading his articles with a very specific bias. You might be one of those, “People who disagree with the President are with the terrorists” people, and people like that stick out in an environment like this one…Soooo spare me the demagoguing.

The issue here is that when Enron started to rip everyone off, the feds went after the company and put the company under intense scrutiny.

That’s not happening with Halliburton, which is Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company (he ran it) and you can bet he will be going back there when he retires in January.

So they target a handful of low level managers, indict and then charge them, and instead of lighting the fires to chase out all the crooks, they low-ball the media. It’s a common media strategy and the Bush administration is playing it well. Not one major media is covering the case, even though the overcharges in the Baghdad embassy were enormous ($144 million in excess spending).

Why should anyone bribe someone with a measely $1 million when you can overcharged the U.S. Government $144 million and no one will blink and eye in the administration?

This is a huge story that is not getting the attention it deserves and it has everything to do with politics. Yes, prosecute those charge with corruption and prove the case. But don’t turn a blind eye to the rest of the corruption because it is an important companyw ith ties to Cheney.

Ray Hanania
http://www.ArabWritersGroup.com