Who's Winning and Who's Losing?????

Ex-Contractor: Foreign Workers Abused at US Embassy

More allegations have emerged of physical abuse and poor conditions of workers building the massive U.S. embassy in Baghdad. On Thursday, two American civilian contractors told the House Oversight committee foreign workers were tricked into coming to Iraq and then barred from leaving after contractors took their passports. The Kuwaiti firm First Kuwaiti is overseeing the six-hundred million dollar project. It’s slated to the be the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world. American contractor John Owens said he found the working and living conditions for the workers “deplorable.” Owens says the workers lived in tightly-packed trailers and were denied basics including shoes and gloves. They worked twelve-hour days, seven days a week, for as little as two-hundred forty dollars a month. Owens says workers were verbally and physically abused and docked pay for minor infractions.


Parents of Dead Soldier Sue U.S. for Negligence

The parents of a U.S. soldier who killed himself after returning home from military duty in Iraq have sued the U.S. government for negligence. Joyce and Kevin Lucey say their son Jeffrey hanged himself after the U.S. military ignored his depression. In late May 2004, Jeffrey was involuntarily committed to a military veteran’s hospital after he ignored his family’s pleas to seek help. The hospital discharged him after a few days. He killed himself three weeks later. His father came home to find his son had hung himself with a hose in the cellar of their house. The dog tags of two Iraqi prisoners he said he was forced to shoot unarmed, lay on his bed. The Lucey suit follows another case in which two veterans’ rights groups say the Department of Veterans Affairs delayed and denied veterans help for disabilities such as post-traumatic stress disorder.


Report: U.S. Backs Off Saudi Bank Linked to Militant Funding

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the U.S. has opted to take a hands-off approach to a Saudi bank U.S. intelligence has linked to the financing of militant Islamic extremists. The Al Rajhi bank is among vast holdings belonging to the Saudi billionaire Sulaiman Al Rajhi. The banks activities’ reportedly set off an intense debate within the Bush administration on how to take action. But confidential reports show the administration has ultimately chosen to quietly lobby Saudi monarchs rather than take punitive steps. U.S. intelligence says Al Rahji Bank has held accounts and accepted donations for charities formally designated as fronts for al Qaeda or other militant groups. The CIA concluded the Al Rahji family was knowingly involved. Al Rajhi Bank and the Al Rajhi family have denied any link to financing militants.


Terror Trial Begins for Largest Muslim-U.S. Charity

The disclosure comes as the Bush administration is facing criticism for prosecuting the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. In a trial that began this week, prosecutors accuse the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development of providing millions of dollars in funding to militant activities by Hamas. The charity says the money has gone to Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks and closures in the Occupied Territories. The case is the largest of its kind in U.S. history. Prosecutors have faced scrutiny for heavily relying on secret evidence supplied by the Israeli government. Khalil Meek of the Muslim Legal Fund of America said: “The Bush administration is arguing that providing medical and nutritional assistance to sick and starving Palestinian children amounts to supporting terrorism.”


Halliburton profits up 19%

International markets, better-than-expected revenue pushes profit of No. 2 oil services maker to 63 cents a share from 47 cents a year ago, trouncing estimates.

July 23 2007: 7:38 AM EDT


HOUSTON (Reuters) -- Halliburton, the world's second-largest oil services company, said Monday that second-quarter profit from continuing operations rose 19 percent, topping Wall Street views, helped by new international contracts.

Earnings from continuing operations climbed to $595 million, or 63 cents a diluted share, up from $498 million, or 47 cents a share, a year earlier.

Also included in second-quarter 2007 operating income was an after-tax gain of 3 cents a diluted share from the sale of an investment, Halliburton said.

Excluding one-time items, analysts on average had expected the company, which was once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, to report a profit of 56 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Halliburton Chief Executive Dave Lesar also offered investors reassuring words about North America, the company's largest market, where there has been worry about over capacity in the well stimulation and fracturing business. Energy companies use those services to increase production of natural gas from hard-to-reach pockets in substances like shale.

Lesar noted in a news release: "We have seen a strong recovery in the United States well stimulation market from the slowdown we experienced last winter."

However, he said that the company's Canadian operations, like those of other service companies, suffered from a significant decline in drilling activity.

The increase in 2007 second-quarter operating income was primarily generated by increased customer activity and new international contracts, the company said.

Net income for the second quarter was $1.5 billion, or $1.62 per diluted share, including a gain of $933 million from the separation of engineering and construction firm KBR Inc. This compares with $591 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

KBR which is the U.S. Army's largest private contractor in Iraq and has drawn scrutiny by the government for billing claims, was split off from Halliburton earlier this year.

Revenue for the company which has headquarters in Houston and Dubai, rose 20 percent to $3.7 billion. Analysts had expected about $3.5 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Halliburton competes with Schlumberger.