Unlicensed “New- Fields Exhibitions” Claims

To Provide Clients Easy Access in Iraq

by Adam Lichtenheld

Sinan Tahseen Saadi

Since the fall of 2003, New-Fields Exhibitions, a Dubai-based marketing company with a
corporate office in Washington, has organized over a dozen conferences promoting opportunities
in Iraq’s reconstruction, security and oil sectors.
The names adorning the delegate lists of New-Fields’ events are among the Who’s Who of Iraq
war profiteers: Halliburton/KBR, Bechtel, Titan, General Dynamics, Blackwater, Fluor, Perini,
URS Corporation. But while the rebuilding effort in Iraq has become characterized by pervasive
waste and fraud—turning funds once touted as a new Marshall Plan into what critics classify as
corporate blood money—New-Fields, the self-arrogated hookup for Iraqi business deals, has
avoided the scrutiny faced by some of its more dubious clientele.
One of New-Fields’ inaugural “Rebuilding Iraq” conferences, held in December 2003, was a
harbinger of things to come. Over 400 representatives from 30 countries gathered at the Sheraton
Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, “to network and devise solutions for the reconstruction and
modernization of Iraq,” according to promotional materials. Officials in attendance spanned the
Iraqi Governing Council, the Coalition Provincial Authority (CPA), the Department of Energy,
the World Bank, the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“The room had the feel of a souk…it was a marketplace of sorts,” reported the New York Times.
“The best time to invest,” one prospective investor told the Nation’s Naomi Klein, “is when there
is still blood on the ground.”
From Marshall Plan to Marshall Law
But the euphoria of those days—when unhindered opportunities in an “emerging Iraq market”
were encouraged by lax oversight, rapid privatization and free-for-all procurement policies—
quickly gave way to sectarian strife that made Iraq the most dangerous place on earth. The
violence forced U.S. officials to funnel more reconstruction funds into the country’s security,
chronically shortchanging infrastructure projects that aimed to rebuild roads, provide water, and
ensure adequate sanitation and electricity. “What was originally conceived as a modest program
to repair war damage,” reads a report from Special Inspector for Iraqi Reconstruction (SIGIR)
Stuart Bowen, “had ballooned into an expansive and expensive nation-building effort.”
This nation-building effort presented a lucrative dividend for U.S. corporations. The Pentagon’s
controversial and unprecedented use of private contractors had already illustrated Iraq’s potential
profitability, while the Bush Administration’s initial $18.4 billion reconstruction outlay was a
pittance of the $100 billion that then-CPA head Paul Bremer said would be needed to repair
Iraq’s infrastructure alone. Taking advantage of these coveted contracts, New-Fields became the
avant garde of the war’s opportunists, satiating “the need for American companies interested in
doing business in Iraq to find Iraqi partners,” according to a company press release. With the
Persian Gulf in the throes of civil war, New-Fields continued to court U.S. companies and eager
Iraqi officials thousands of miles away in the idyllic calm of American hotel lobbies.
They hosted an event on small business opportunities in Chicago. They made “Rebuilding Iraq”
an annual—and in a few instances, a bi-annual—series. They organized conferences targeting
Iraq’s military, plugging them as “the world’s largest and most respected event[s] focused on
Iraq’s aviation, security and defense challenges and opportunities.” They put on two Iraq oil &
gas summits in Houston, attracting over 300 energy company representatives from around the
world. They even helped fix up British firms—two of which are now the target of a federal fraud
probe—by hosting a pair of events in London. Companies large and small willingly paid the
steep delegate fees: $2,000 to $3,000 for a two-day conference, with sponsorships running from
$7,000 to a $12,000 “platinum” option. “We never imagined when we were planning our Forum
that it would become so central to the current reconstruction of Iraq,” boasted New-Fields CEO
Samir Farajallah.
The Unlicensed Gatekeeper

Iraq Security and Defense Summit. Taken from the

New Fields Brochure

New-Fields Exhibitions claims to organize and operate more than 120 trade shows for 150,000
participants every year, on an eclectic mix of topics ranging from U.S.-Libya relations to student
safety to bird and swine flu. But few have been as numerous or as trumpeted as its Iraq
conferences. And its CEO, Mr. Farajallah, is “widely recognized as a leading expert on business
opportunities in the Middle East,” according to the 2004 U.S. Small Business Administration
Expo, where he joined Halliburton and Bechtel executives on a contracting panel.
The firm’s corporate dwelling, a shared, two-level space on the sixth floor of a glossy building
five blocks east of the White House, is temporary and seemingly empty. Guests are greeted by a
stern employee of the office leasing company perched behind a wide, cumbersome desk that
blocks access to the bright, distinctly-modern, workrooms beyond it. Three unannounced visits
from a National Security News Service reporter yielded three identical responses: no one from
New-Fields was in. The leasing company employee, who would only identify herself as Dion,
said that most New-Fields staff is located overseas—the Philippines, she thought. But when
reached on the firm’s D.C.-area customer service line, project manager Carla Torres claimed that
New-Fields has a Washington-based staff of approximately 100. Ms. Torres is among the handful
of fast-talking women who answer New-Fields’ phones with thick Spanish accents and spell their
names (Charlie, Alpha, Romeo…) using brisk military jargon. Both she and her colleague Erica
Montero refused to reveal if and when New-Fields employees would be in the office, and turned
down all meeting requests. Despite their assurances that “the appropriate person” would respond
to numerous inquiries from the News Service, no calls were ever returned.
The token office and unwitting phone receptionists comprise a shroud of legitimacy over an
operation that appears to be anything but credible. An investigation into public records with the
District of Columbia Secretary of State found that New-Fields’ corporate license has been
revoked on multiple occasions, most recently last September, for failing to update its filings. The
firm, in other words, is not legally authorized to operate in Washington—or anywhere in the
United States. According to the D.C. Attorney General’s office, operating illegally is fairly
common among liquor stores or corner groceries. But for an international marketing company
that claims to host “the world’s largest and most respected” deal making forums that have
“become so central to the current reconstruction of Iraq”? Ms. Montero sounded equally unaware
and unconcerned when probed about New-Fields’ corporate registration, promising to deliver a
message to Mr. Farajallah. He did not return that or other direct requests for comment.
Mixed Reviews
New-Fields’ clients contacted for this article refused to divulge details of the type or amount of
business generated as a result of their participation in New-Fields events. But neither these
clients, nor conference speakers and government officials who have attended past New-Fields
gatherings, could provide any information on the mysterious wannabe gatekeeper. “Very, very
little,” said Paul Bristol, publisher of Iraq Updates and a New-Fields media partner, when asked
what he knew about the company. “In fact, I would like to know more.” Ben Lando, author of the
Iraq Oil Report, covers some New-Fields events, but has never interviewed any of their staff. Sue
Hanrock, director of the Department of Commerce’s Iraq Task Force and a former advisor to the
Iraqi Ministry of Trade, attended a Rebuilding Iraq summit in 2004 because “it seemed like a
good thing for [the department] to participate in.” But when asked what information she had
about the company that invited her, her response was brief. “Nothing, really,” she said.
For some delegates, the obscurity of New-Fields Exhibitions led to broken promises. Last fall,
Rob Foster, marketing manager for the oil and gas drill manufacturer American Augers, was
offered a delegate spot at New-Fields’ First Annual Iraq Oil & Gas Summit. Mr. Foster not only
signed up for an exhibit; he doled out the $10,000 sponsor fee to plaster American Augers’ logo
on the summit’s informational materials. But when he arrived in Houston, Mr. Foster was so
disappointed that he left the summit a day early. “The event was not delivered as billed,” he says.
“They promised a lot of qualified customer types who didn’t show up because of visa issues.”
The Iraqis in attendance were mostly “ex-officials” who were now living in other countries
“where they could easily gain entry into the States.”
 One-to-One meeting in session
USDID/Iraq delegation

Chris Haney, marketing director for RedXDefense, expressed similar sentiment after sponsoring
an Iraq Aviation and Defense Summit in April. “It was not worth the money or the headache,”
she says. “At one point I wondered if anybody [from New-Fields] spoke English.” The head of
government affairs for another major defense firm, who requested to have his name withheld,
attended New-Fields’ Iraq Security Summit last October. “The one-on-one meetings [between
company representatives and Iraqi officials] were scheduled seven minutes apart.” He laughed.
“What can you do in seven minutes?”
Despite these criticisms, New-Fields appears to have acquired a steady client base. Ms. Torres
says that the firm continues hosting Iraq conferences “based on the requests of past participants.”
Major corporations—KBR and Bechtel among them—have been repeat attendees, while Forbes
reports that “petroleum industry investors were buzzing” at May’s oil summit in Houston. “We
were very satisfied with New-Fields,” says Line Beaulieu, who attended two Iraq defense
industry summits on behalf of Ultra Electronics, a Montreal-based company that sells military
radios. “They provided quality guests and decision makers who we wanted to meet with,” she
says. Ms. Torres admits that New-Fields has had problems delivering Iraqi officials due to visa
issues—which might be a reason the firm is expanding its efforts by sending a defense industry
delegation to Baghdad in July. The delegation, which has been subtly advertised in the
Washington Post, charges $40,000 for travel and a week of meetings with “top Iraqi military
experts.”
“A Growing Industry”
With the $51 billion in U.S. reconstruction appropriations finally drying up, and Iraqi officials
cash-strapped by low oil prices, rebuilding Iraq will rely increasingly on the private sector, says
Samir Sumaida’ie, Iraq’s ambassador to the U.S. “The need for reconstruction [in Iraq] is so
great that it’s attracting a lot of international companies,” he says. “There is a very strong effort
to shift these projects to the private sector—we believe that this will be the major emphasis in the
coming years.” As security improvements temper companies’ concerns over the risks of doing
business in Iraq, unfinished projects in housing, communications, electricity, health care and
energy abound the country’s urban and rural areas. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that
infrastructure overhauls could offer $300 billion in additional contracts, and in March, Oil
Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said that Iraq’s oil sector will require a $50 billion investment
over the next five years. The need comes as the first crude exports from the autonomous
Kurdistan region has sparked a frenzy of competition over rights to comb the world’s third
largest oil fields—90 percent of which remain unexplored. “Considering its existing and
potential wealth,” says the Department of Commerce’s 2009 Country Guide, “Iraq is likely to be
among the fastest growing and most lucrative mid-sized markets in the world.”

Samir Farajallah, President and CEO, NewFields

International Bird Flu Summit - 2006

But oil conglomerates and construction firms are not the only industries with an expanding
presence in Iraq. One of New-Fields’ most reliable sponsors is the mercenary firm that
investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill has dubbed “Obama’s Blackwater”: Triple Canopy. The
security contractor is currently under fire for allegedly under-training and under-equipping the
Ugandan security guards that it hired to protect a U.S. military base south of Baghdad—and
disciplining an employee for telling U.S. government investigators about it. “Triple Canopy is
one of the few security companies with the experience, licensing and country-wide footprint
required to secure…investments in Iraq,” CEO Lee Van Arsdale said in a statement announcing
his company’s sponsorship of a New-Fields energy summit. According to Ms. Montero, Triple
Canopy will also be providing protection for New-Fields’ defense industry delegation. “There
were a lot of security companies trying to do business [in Iraq],” says Rob Foster, recalling the
New-Fields summit he attended. “They seemed to have a pretty broad reach.”
As corporations replace taxpayers as Baghdad’s primary benefactors, the role of mediator will
shift from U.S. procurement officers to private fixers like New-Fields. Ms. Beaulieu, from Ultra
Electronics, saw the number of exhibitors at New-Fields 2009 Iraq Aviation and Defense Summit
quadruple from the year before. And according to the Department of Commerce, other marketers
have leapt into the fray, facilitating their own trade events on Iraq. “They charge a lot of money
for the same thing that the government has almost done for free,” says a Department
spokeswoman. “It’s a growing industry.”
Selling Access
Only one of New-Fields conferences has actually taken place in Iraq—in the relative calm
of northern Kurdistan. Spotlighting a New-Fields oil summit, an Al Jazeera report demonstrated
Iraqis’ outrage at seeing their country’s future being auctioned off 6,000 miles away. “Other
countries are stealing our fortunes. Everyday we hear that oil gets exported for billions of dollars
but we don’t see anything here on the ground,” Sabah Hamza Abbas told correspondent Dan
Nolan. “We want [these conferences] to be held here in Iraq, before all Iraqis, not before the
Americans,” lamented Hadi Al-Baghdadi. Waves of public protests met oil minister Al-
Shahristani’s plan to provide foreign companies with a stake in Iraqi exports, giving fresh
credence to the notion that Iraq was a war waged irrevocably for oil. Meanwhile, despite
operating in a more secure environment, many of these companies continue to hire cheap third-
world labor instead of the quarter of Iraqis living in abject poverty. The resulting image of
corporate exploitation is a pernicious one—and could pose significant implications for U.S.
policy.

Sign in the green zone Photo by Peter Rimar

Moreover, New-Fields seemingly sloppy and unlicensed operation raises beleaguered questions
over the integrity of a rebuilding effort already infamous for its chicanery and blunders. By
playing the middleman, the firm offers corporations a way to operate in Iraq under the radar, says
Antonia Juhasz, a visiting scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of The Tyranny of
Oil. “If corporations have an unknown arbiter organizing these [reconstruction] conferences
instead of the government, then they don’t have to put their names out there,” Juhasz says. This
shields companies, which prefer to avoid the label of “war profiteer,” from coming under the
public eye. “It makes it more difficult to trace motivations and ultimately, accountability,” says
Juhasz.
Public and congressional inquiries continue to examine the now-infamous role of U.S.
corporations in Iraq. But for the obscure trade show operator whose enterprise is selling access to
billion-dollar business deals with the corruption-plagued Iraqi government, the diminishing role
of U.S. authorities in the resource-rich nation makes that access more valuable, and more
profitable.