Arthur Brown – 5/11/07

This page was last updated on May 13, 2007.

Bush’s credibility is gone; Arthur Brown; Beaver County Times; May 11, 2007.

This letter is nothing more than a bunch of ill-informed talking points.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In 2003, President Bush said he was implementing a new strategy and asked the American people to have patience and give the strategy time to succeed.

“It did not. He replaced some top generals in Iraq and implemented a new strategy. All that achieved was to add more troops as patients in hospitals.”

[RWC] News flash. An implemented war tactic didn’t work. Name a war in which that didn’t happen.

“Bush said the war in Iraq can be won. Win what? Another country to occupy. The only winners will be Bush and Cheney, and that is the oil in Iraq.”

[RWC] “Another country to occupy?” How many countries do we occupy, Mr. Brown?

What is there for President Bush and VP Cheney to win, Mr. Brown? How would they personally benefit from “the oil in Iraq?”

“Bush said the war was not about oil, but Cheney never said anything about oil because he has lied enough. Halliburton moved its operations from Texas to Dubai. Halliburton moved its corporate headquarters to Delaware, a state that has the lowest corporate tax in the country.”

[RWC] What were VP Cheney’s lies, Mr. Brown?

Regarding his Halliburton comments, they appear to come from misinformation. As a reminder, Halliburton is not an oil company. It provides services to oil companies.

Halliburton chose to move its headquarters to Dubai – not Delaware – because the majority of its business is in the Middle and Far East. A contributing reason for that is probably due to U.S. laws restricting domestic oil and gas exploration. If Halliburton had moved its HQ to Delaware, it would have had little effect on taxes. You see, businesses are taxed based on where they do business. A business’ HQ location has little to do with its overall tax liability. Even if it did, why shouldn’t a business move its HQ to a lower tax jurisdiction?

Moving to Dubai, however, has the potential to reduce Halliburton’s U.S. tax liability depending on if/how the company reorganizes. The company could reorganize in such a way that profits resulting from business completely outside the U.S. is not subject to U.S. taxes. That would be smart business and there would be nothing illegal or unethical about it. In fact, a business is required by fiduciary responsibility to minimize legally its tax liabilities. Besides, shouldn’t people like Mr. Brown be happy the evil Halliburton is moving out?

“Cheney advised Bush to invade Iraq, and Cheney will advise him when to withdraw. Bush claims that setting a withdrawal date is assuring defeat. So what? At least no more troops will be killed or maimed.”

[RWC] The “Cheney is Bush’s brain” talking point again. I thought Karl Rove told President Bush what to do. Which is it guys?

Here’s the key to understanding Mr. Brown. His position is “So what?” when it comes to we are successful or not in Iraq. Does Mr. Brown actually believe “no more troops will be killed or maimed?” What about the 17 sailors on the USS Cole killed by terrorists in 2000, the 19 soldiers killed by terrorists in the Khobar Towers in 1996, et cetera?

Did Mr. Brown forget the arrest this week of six Muslims (the Fort Dix Six) who plotted to kill a large number of troops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania?

“The Republicans claim withdrawal will cause al-Qaeda to start a reign of terror. That’s just to put fear into the American people. That’s all the Republicans know - lie and keep the American people on edge.”

[RWC] “Will cause al-Qaeda to start a reign of terror?” Where has Mr. Brown been for the last decade? Al-Qaeda started their “reign of terror” during the 1990s, and that’s ignoring the terrorist attacks dating to the 1970s. Who does Mr. Brown believe conducted the 9/11 attacks?