Is this simply friends of Bush being rewarded for past support. Is this an ethical way to go about reconstructing Iraq? Souldn't Iraqi companies be fostered in this process too?

More Flak on Halliburton

This isn't a re-construction contract, but rather an emergency services contract that was issued prior to the war in anticipation that Saddam might set a bunch of his oil wells on fire. Thanks to the quick actions by coalition forces, that didn't happen, I think there were like 7 fires set total. Thus, the final figure on the contract will be considerably smaller than the $7 Billion cap cited in this article.

Haliburton was granted the contract because they had the necessary resources already in place in Kuwait and were the only company in a position to be able to react quickly if the Iraqi oil fields went up.

Rewards for friends of Bush: Yes, of course. This is politics. We can rationalize all we want, but billions are to be made through government contracts associated with the Iraq war. To deny that political favors are not being returned is to retreat into an ideal world that does not exist. Let's grow up and admit to the facts of life, especially within the beltway.

Ethics on reconstruction: This question revolves back to the ethics of the war itself. We are responsible for most of the destruction, so should we then be responsible for most of the reconstruction? Well, we can argue too that Hussein is responsible for our actions, but isn't that a "devil made me do it" argument? I think we are responsible to fix what we have destroyed. This is one of the prices of waging war. I also think that this is one thing that can differentiate our war actions from a conquering nation's war actions. Therefore, we must reconstruct.

Fostering Iraqi companies: If the US does not do this, then we are completely in the wrong. However, since these will be business deals, payback to US companies for the fostering efforts will be forthcoming, and then we can argue whether, indirectly, this payback amounts to a war for oil resources. At what point, at what profit, does the fostering turn into a gouging?

The disturbing thing to me is secret bidding. Since the Bush administration began its run on the White House, secret meetings have been common. When our government is run in secrecy, we take a huge risk of becoming something other than the United States of America, and I don't mean this in a positive way.