abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=234421 has an interesting article on how the Bush Administration decreased the fines for companies doing business with terror-sponsoring nations:
'Nov. 7, 2004 - Despite the Bush administration’s pledge to battle terrorist financing, the government’s average penalty against companies doing business with countries listed as terrorist-sponsoring states fell sharply after the Sept. 11 attacks, an Associated Press analysis of federal records shows.
'The average penalty for a company doing business with Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan or Libya dropped nearly threefold, from more than $50,000 in the five years before the 2001 attacks to about $18,700 afterward, according to a computer-assisted analysis of federal records.
'Vice President Dick Cheney was a vocal critic of trade embargoes while he headed Halliburton, a Houston-based oil services conglomerate, from 1995 to 2000. Under Cheney, Halliburton expanded its trade with Iran through an offshore subsidiary. That arrangement is now being investigated by a federal grand jury.
‘Nineteen executives or directors of companies fined by OFAC for dealing with state sponsors of terrorism were top campaign fund-raisers for Bush.’
I guess the Bush Administration has found a way to put a pricetag on America’s security. Campaign donations = lower “cost-of-doing-business” fines. The only ones smiling over this are the terrorists.