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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (1484)	12/13/2001 10:26:56 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

The Cheney Connection (For full article see: siliconinvestor.com "Another example of the complex web connecting U.S. and Saudi powerbrokers is Dick CHENEY, who moved from the Pentagon to the international oil business and back as vice president last year. After serving as the elder Bush's secretary of defense, Cheney was hired to run oil-services giant Halliburton Co., where he worked until he resigned last year to campaign with the younger Bush. In 2000, his last year with Halliburton, Cheney received $34 million when he cashed out from the company. Not surprisingly, Halliburton's links to Cheney and other Washington power brokers appear to have helped the company's business prospects in the Middle East. Just last month, Halliburton was awarded a $140 million contract to develop an oil field in Saudi Arabia by the kingdom's state-owned petroleum firm, Saudi Aramco, and a Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, along with two Japanese firms, was hired by the Saudis to build a $40 million ethylene plant." The above is an excerpt from the article: Bush advisers cashed in on Saudi gravy train by Maggie Mulvihill, Jack Meyers and Jonathan Wells Boston Herald Tuesday, December 11, 2001 Second of two parts.

To: Mephisto who wrote (1484)	12/13/2001 10:37:47 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

The Condoleezza Rice Connection (For full article see: siliconinvestor.com The current national security adviser, Condoleezza RICE, is a former longtime member of the board of directors of another giant oil conglomerate with business in the Saudi desert, Chevron, which merged with Texaco this year. Rice even has a Chevron oil tanker named after her. Excerpt from the article, Bush advisers cashed in on Saudi gravy train . by Maggie Mulvihill, Jack Meyers and Jonathan Wells Boston Herald Tuesday, December 11, 2001 Second of two parts.

To: Mephisto who wrote (1484)	12/13/2001 10:56:41 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

President Bush's Connection For full story see: Message 16790004 "President Bush is himself linked to the Carlyle group: He was a director of one of its subsidiaries, an airline food services company called Caterair, until 1994. Six years later, when Bush was governor of Texas, the board of directors of the Texas teachers' pension fund - some of whom were his appointees - voted to invest $100 million with the Carlyle Group." AND "Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., a non-partisan group that examines money and politics, said the Bush-Carlyle connection is a concern. ``It is well known that the father is a close adviser to his son and therefore it does raise concerns,'' Noble said ``It's not necessarily that the father has been compromised, but the danger is that it leads people to question George W. Bush. The public has a right to feel their leaders are making independent judgments without the influence of private interests.'' The above is an excerpt from the article, Bush advisers cashed in on Saudi gravy train By Maggie Mulvihill, Jack Meyers and Jonathan Wells Boston Herald Tuesday, December 11, 2001 Second of two parts. bostonherald.com

To: Mephisto who wrote (1484)	12/14/2001 2:40:01 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

CalPERS, Carlyle profit from Afghan war San Francisco Chronicle BY David Lazarus Sunday, December 2, 2001 As America's military involvement abroad deepens, profits are increasing for the Carlyle Group -- and, it turns out, for thousands of California civil servants. The Carlyle who, you ask? The Carlyle Group, as in a secretive Washington, D.C., investment firm managing some $14 billion in assets, including stakes in a number of defense- related companies. Carlyle counts among its chieftains former Defense Secretary (and deputy CIA Director) Frank Carlucci, former Secretary of State James Baker and, most notably, former President George Bush. Until October, the Carlyle Group also maintained financial ties with none other than the family of Osama bin Laden, but those links were severed when it was agreed that the relationship was becoming a tad embarrassing for all concerned. What is not well known is that Carlyle's profits also benefit the 1.2 million members of the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, the largest public pension fund in the United States. CalPERS has about $730 million invested in Carlyle itself and in various Carlyle funds. It owns 5.5 percent of the Carlyle Group in a minority equity stake and has an option to double that holding during the next two years. "We're not too keen on discussing anything related to the political nature of the people at Carlyle," said Pat Macht, a spokeswoman for the fund. But she noted that "Carlyle is among the top five largest private equity partners of CalPERS." Senior Carlyle officials are scheduled to brief CalPERS' investment committee later this month in Sacramento on the performance of the company's assets. The Carlyle Group has cultivated and enjoyed a decidedly low profile for the past 14 years. Yet it has succeeded in attracting to its ranks not just a who's who of Republican bigwigs but also a dazzling array of international politicos. John Major, the former British prime minister, is a Carlyle adviser, as are former Philippine President Fidel Ramos and former Thai Premier Anand Panyarachun. So is a former president of Germany's Bundesbank and a former head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Connected? That's an understatement where Carlyle is concerned. And because the Carlyle Group remains privately held, it is not required to disclose details of its investments or business activities. It is commonly known, though, that the firm favors the defense and aerospace sectors, with a wide array of investments in Pentagon affiliates. "Their defense holdings are quite extensive," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a Washington public interest law firm. "Because of their investments, they are a major contractor for the Pentagon." Among Carlyle's holdings is United Defense Industries, a maker of armed vehicles and weapons, which filed in October to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering of its shares. Judicial Watch filed suit last week to obtain documents shedding light on Carlyle business activities undertaken by President Bush's father, who reportedly met with bin Laden's family in Saudi Arabia at least twice prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. He also has had dealings with a variety of foreign governments. "The appearance is awful," Fitton said. "For the father of our current president to be doing business with foreign governments, there is a clear conflict of interest." Carlyle spokesman Chris Ullman said the elder Bush does little more than give speeches on Carlyle's behalf when abroad and does not call up his son to lobby for Carlyle's business interests. Ullman also said there is nothing improper about the Carlyle Group's phenomenal political connections throughout the world. "These are all former government officials who have chosen to team with us in various capacities," he said. "I stress the fact that they are former government officials." Critics of the Carlyle Group have grown increasingly vocal in recent weeks, particularly over the perception that a private organization with unmistakable links to the White House is benefiting from America's military action in Afghanistan. Because the Carlyle Group is partly owned by CalPERS, the company's fortunes are shared not just by the political elite -- is there really such a thing as a former politician? -- but also by hundreds of thousands of California bureaucrats and school officials. CalPERS' investment in Carlyle has steadily earned between 20 and 30 percent per year in returns -- not too shabby considering the recent performance of publicly listed companies. On the other hand, CalPERS is watching closely now that the Carlyle Group has quietly become a player in Bay Area real estate circles -- a move that could cost the company a bundle following the implosion of commercial property values. In San Francisco, Carlyle bought and subsequently sold a 25-story office tower at 180 Montgomery St. The company also bought and rapidly discarded office space in Pleasanton and Redwood City, and recently acquired additional office space in Sunnyvale, San Jose, Brisbane and Mountain View. "We've been pretty busy," Ullman said of Carlyle's Bay Area real estate deals. As for CalPERS, he said the Carlyle Group values its relationship with its California co-owners. "Their participation is very important to us," Ullman said. "They're an important part of our team. We're going to do our best to make sure their money is invested wisely." And in light of current events, CalPERS has every reason to expect the returns to be enormous. · Email this article to a friend sfgate.com ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page G - 1