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CounterPunch
December
13, 2002
Chef Cheney
and His Dinner Guests
by WAYNE MADSEN
The U.S. military has never been known for the
quality of its meals but Dick Cheney's old company, Houston-based
Brown & Root (a subsidiary of Halliburton) has given new
meaning to the term "military cuisine."
Within the past few weeks, U.S. and allied
troops in Afghanistan and Kuwait have fallen ill from food prepared
by contractors working for Brown & Root, which interestingly
enough, managed to get the contracts to perform various logistics
services for U.S. troops engaged in both the "War on Terror"
in Afghanistan and the "War on Iraq" in the Gulf region.
The latest incident occurred on December
11 at Oraifijan Camp, 35 miles south of Kuwait City. Over 250
soldiers, sailors, and airmen were sickened by food poisoning,
13 so severely they required hospitalization. The U.S. Army,
using typical military jargon, said the troops fell victim to
"a food-borne gastrointestinal illness." Although the
military inanely stated it was looking into the possibility of
"terrorism," the culprit is not any member of the Axis
of Evil, but the company that Cheney once headed as Chief Executive
Officer -- Brown & Root.
But it's not the first time that Chef
Cheney's catering company has launched a food offensive against
U.S. troops. During the Thanksgiving Day meal at Bagram Air Base,
the U.S. military headquarters near Kandahar, Afghanistan, over
100 U.S., Romanian, and other allied troops were sickened by
Brown & Root's turkey stuffing recipe. The troops, who are
supposed to be on alert for Taliban and Al Qaeda operations,
were out of commission for 24 hours.
Cheney and his wife Lynne recently held
a holiday dinner for their well-heeled guests and political contributors
at the Vice President's residence in northwest Washington. While
U.S. and allied troops prepare to fight the Bush/Cheney wars
for new oil wells in Iraq and elsewhere and are forced to eat
the slop that passes for food that is daily hurled on to their
trays by Halliburton/Brown & Root hash slingers, we can all
bet on one thing -- Cheney's dinner party was not catered by
his old firm.
And one word of advice for U.S. military
personnel around the world who have a choice between Brown &
Root's ptomaine tavern tents and local restaurants, tavernas,
and cafes -- stick to the food you don't know rather than that
you know.
One last observation -- I once knew a
short order cook who had the same crooked smile that has become
Cheney's hallmark. I am glad I never ate any food he cooked.
And Mr. Cheney, leave me off the list of your next catered reception,
just in case.
Wayne Madsen
is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and columnist.
He wrote the introduction to Forbidden
Truth.
Madsen can be reached at: WMadsen777@aol.com
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