Cheney Once Pushed to Lift Iran Sanctions

[tuvor]

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), who has called Iran "the world's leading exporter of terror," pushed to lift U.S. trade sanctions against Tehran while chairman of Halliburton Co. in the 1990s. And his company's offshore subsidiaries also expanded business in Iran.

Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) criticized Cheney in Tuesday night's debate for his position on Iran during the 1990s, and Edwards said he supports expanding the sanctions against Iran.

Cheney countered that he now supports sanctions against Iran but sidestepped the issue of Halliburton's involvement, saying it was being raised by Democrats "to try to confuse the voters."

Halliburton's foreign subsidiaries did about $65 million in business with Iran last year, company documents say. A federal grand jury is investigating whether Halliburton or its executives deliberately violated the U.S. ban on trade with Iran.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&e=3&u=/ap/cheney_iran

[drfemoe]

1. erm..

did anyone think to ask .. If the leading tarra exporter is "Ir*n" . wtf are we doing in "Ir*q"?

Sounds fishy. Smells like that too.
pee-u

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Gotcha, Dick Cheney!

[w4rma]

3. And Halliburton is STILL in Iran. Cheney's priorities put the nation last.

His corporation and his Party always come first with him.

[Mr E McSquare]

4. We will never ask.....

another country for a permission slip to defend ourselves. Isn't that what they said??

Gwen Ifill asks Big Dick "In June of 2000 when you were still CEO OF HALLIBURTON, you said that U.S. businesses should be allowed to do business with Iran because, quote,"unilateral sanctions almost never work." After four years as vice president now, and with Iran having been declared by your administration as part of the "axis of evil" do you still believe that we should lift sanctions on Iran?"

Penis had this to say "I was talking specifically about this question of unilateral sanctions. What happens when we impose unilateral sanctions is, unless there's a collective effort, then other people move in and take advantage of the situation and you dont have any impact, except (and heres the part I have trouble with) to penalize American companies."
He then goes on to say something flip floppish about going to the U.N. security council and blah blah blah.

The way it sounds to me is that unilateral sanctions didnt work for big dick because U.S. companies are barred from doing business with Iran while France, Germany, Russia, and China are free to sell the mullahs nuclear power plants and oil pipeline equipment and somehow thats not fair to Halliburton.
What happened to not allowing foreign governments to dictate U.S. policy and attitudes abroad? Remember Dick they took a bunch of our citizens hostage for over a year, they refuse to recognize Israels right to exist and like John Edwards said during the debate "Iran is the largest exporter of terror on the planet"

Why would we give a shit if its unfair to bar U.S. companies from doing business with them??

[wicket]

5. kick!

:kick: