Prometheus 6

Back when there was some doubt that the orders to torture Iraqi prisoners came from on high, I held forth on the topic elsewhere thus:

Still, I need to remind you:

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his "proper place" and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary." - Dr. Carter G. Woodson

Whose thinking is better controlled than those in the military? Controlling their thinking is the central purpose of Basic Training. If the commanding officer makes clear certain results are desired, the acceptible techniques for acquisition, limits (or lack of) to execution and that rewards are forthcoming to those who help bring about the desired results…then says "go get them results," what do you think will happen?

The soldiers will do everything right up to the limit of what they understand is allowable.

Picture the conversation:
Commander: I want them results!
Military Intelligence Liason: I hear then sand niggers really hate to be nekkid in front of each other. Breaks them down.
Commander: Really. I don't care about them, I want them results!
Military Intelligence Liason: Last joint I was at, Gitmo, we really fucked them over to get what we wanted.
Commander: Really. I don't care about them, I want them results!
Assembled troops: HOOO-RAAAAUGH!

And nobody tells anybody specifically what to do.

So I have no doubt at all that Cheney wasn't intimately involved in getting Halliburton those contracts. He didn't need to be.

Anyway…
Panel to Widen Iraq Hearing
Committee to Air Former Halliburton Employees' Charges

By Ellen McCarthy and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 16, 2004; Page E03

A congressional committee said yesterday it will hear testimony in July from former Halliburton Co. employees who claim the company mismanaged lucrative contracts in Iraq and will invite Halliburton executives to answer lawmakers' questions about the way it charged for goods and services.

The former employees, who were not permitted to testify at yesterday's hearings of the House Committee on Government Reform, have alleged that Halliburton mismanaged contracts for work in Iraq. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) disclosed their accusations on Monday and protested their exclusion. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), the committee's chairman, said he would hold follow-up hearings next month to get testimony from the former employees.

The committee also requested documents from the Defense Department and the General Accounting Office related to the involvement of a political appointee, Michael Mobbs, in the decision to award Halliburton a contract to plan the restoration of Iraq's oil fields. Mobbs, an adviser to Douglas Feith, an undersecretary of defense, told Davis and Waxman last week that he briefed top officials -- including I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff -- before he selected Halliburton. Cheney is Halliburton's former chief executive.

However, White House officials said yesterday that Cheney was not told of the decision in advance.