As investigators from 60 Minutes discovered, Halliburton has used an offshore subsidiary incorporated in the Cayman Islands (where the company has no oil and gas construction or engineering operations) to trade with Iran, a country that the Bush administration has described as part of an "axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." Federal law disallows American companies from transacting business with nations that sponsor terrorism, but foreign subsidiaries of such companies are not banned from such transactions.
In May 2004, the U.S. Senate voted against legislation that would have stopped companies like Halliburton from using offshore subsidiaries to invest in Iran. The legislation was defeated in a 50-49 vote, mostly along party lines. As CEO of Halliburton, Mr. Cheney lobbied the Clinton administration to ease sanctions on Libya and Iran, according to various news reports. "I think we'd be better off if we, in fact, backed off those sanctions [on Iran], didn't try to impose secondary boycotts on companies .. trying to do business there," Cheney told an Australian television interviewer in April 1998.
Mitt Romney through his investments, as nicely summarized in this You Tube video here. (Seems like Ol' Mitt has been rakin' in Iranian oil money through his investments in Russian oil firms doing HUGE business with Iran, such as Gazprom.)Ahh, the Republicans. Moral and ethical consistency of the highest order. Iran may be a terrorist-supporting state, and its government may be controlled by whack jobs, but hey, a guy can still do business with 'em can't he?
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