News Intelligence Analysis
Bush Sells Indulgences to Get Into Purgatory, Not to Get Out
October 29, 2003
by Katherine Yurica
George W. Bush must have Harry Potter's wand for he's succeeded in convincing people that Saddam Hussein was behind the September 11th attacks when he wasn't; has convinced middle class Americans that he's only thinking of them--when he's only thinking of the wealthy; and has succeeded in convincing people that the war is over and the thousands of wounded American GIs jammed into hospitals that look like Civil War wards--don't exist--and if they did exist, it's a reasonable price to pay for the rebuilding of someone else's country since more people are killed and maimed in auto accidents in the U.S.
It's no wonder that a president so gifted could make people want to buy one-way tickets to hell. So we shouldn't be surprised to wake up one day and find that a conference held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. featuring Carl Kress, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and George P. Sigalos, Director of Government Relations for Halliburton, (Dick Cheney's old company) and two of America's most enterprising law-firms (who've made "Rebuilding Iraq" an area of law practice) managed to sell indulgences to eager young companies wanting a little piece of all those billions the U.S.A. is spending there.
There’s money to be had in war. The Yurica Report learned that a two day conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. (October 29-30, 2003) focused on the opportunities of “Rebuilding Afghanistan & Iraq.” The event was organized by MFM Trade Meetings of Washington D.C., whose brochure definitely does not understate the spoils of war: “Business opportunities continue to grow, as evidenced by recent pledges of U.S. and international aid. Billions of dollars have already been earmarked for the two countries.”
MFM billed the event as the most important of all conferences on rebuilding (there have been several others). MFM explained, “To date, no event has brought together all the players nor has any included involvement by the leading U.S. and international agencies involved in the rebuilding of both countries.” According to the literature put out at www.trademeetings.com, this conference scheduled “high-ranking U.S. government agency officials, representatives of international financial institutions, officials from Afghanistan and Iraq, and other leading authorities.” The names of delegates are confidential to everyone but those who pay for the list by becoming “sponsors.”
The conference itself is dominated by three well known law firms, Patton Boggs, Pillsbury Winthrop, and the venerable Hogan & Hartson (who recently lost the frivolous Fox News lawsuit against Al Franken). Patton Boggs and Pillsbury Winthrop are global firms with over 800 lawyers each. Their areas of practice look like a who’s who in the Bush administration’s lexiconized “to do” list: The firms are thriving in their Energy law practices, ranging from specialties in Gas and Oil Law, to that favorite of Ken Lay’s, “Deregulation.” They also have practice areas in Privatization and “Outsourcing,” (also Bush favorites). Patton Boggs has a specialty in Postal Policy and Regulation, having “been involved in every rate and classification proceeding before the Postal Rate Commission since its establishment in 1970.” They represent clients in proceedings before the Commission that determine how the Postal Service’s $65 billion annual revenue burden is apportioned among users of the mail.
The firms practice “Government Contracts Law.” This is not a small corner of the law. Patton Boggs states it this way, “As the largest federal agency, the Department of Defense buys over $250 billion in goods and services each year.” To get a piece of this action, the law firms play the revolving door game: “Led by a corps of attorneys who are also former senior military officers and congressional staff members, Patton Boggs advises large and small corporations, state and local and foreign governments on matters involving the Departments of Defense and State, Congress and the White House.” To help their clients sell to the new Department of Homeland Security, Patton Boggs uses exceptional capabilities in federal marketing. “Many members of the firm have extensive military experience and key contacts throughout the Department of Homeland Security.”
Pillsbury Winthrop states it a little more formally in its “Iraq Reconstruction Project Team Overview.” The firm works with key U.S. government agencies, including OPIC, the U.S. Export Import Bank, USAID and the Trade and Development Agency (TDA). “A number of our colleagues have served, and former colleagues currently serve, in leading positions in these agencies.”
Patton Boggs asserts that they have participated in “the development of every piece of U.S. tax legislation” over three decades. They are registered to lobby on behalf of more than 200 entities and in fact, they have succeeded in persuading congress to attach bills that benefited only their individual clients.
Pillsbury Winthrop appears to be growing in huge chunks of talent, absorbing lawyers from other firms and firms that closed their doors, and welcoming former Dynegy Counsel, John Herbert, as a new partner in its Houston office. (Dynegy was one of the energy companies subjected to federal criminal charges involving the California energy scam. Dynegy agreed to pay $5 million in fines.)
The conference and these law firms cover everything that a prospective corporation needs: security questions are answered, financing is taken care of, all legal issues are a breeze, and lastly, the unholy grail: the opportunities are there waiting the plucking. But one can’t help think the whole process is much like the church selling indulgences, only this time, it’s our government and its priests, dressed in judicial robes, learned and wonderfully convincing. But this time they are selling indulgences to get into purgatory—not to get out.
Katherine Yurica was educated at East Los Angeles College, U.S.C. and the USC school of law. She worked as a freelance investigative reporter and as a news correspondent for Christianity Today. She is the author of three books. She is also the publisher of the Yurica Report.
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