Halliburton

Out of Iraq Town Hall Meeting

harleymeyer — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:23:06 -0400

An Out of Iraq Town Hall meeting in the month of April will be held in Tucson, Arizona - 7th Congressional District. The time and the date of the meeting to be announced. The actual topics to be addressed at the Town Hall meeting will be released about one week before the meeting. To be a part of this meeting contact info@harleymeyer.com

Contact Info: info@harleymeyer.com

Harley Meyer

Independent Candidate for US Congress

7th Congressional District Arizona

www.harleymeyer.com

Take it back!

Kcuph — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:32:58 -0500

Let's just do it! It's our country and Mr Bush is the most un-American president that has ever disgraced the office. Cheney is not only un-American, he's a bigger criminal than Bush!

They fight for oil! They fight for the want of wealth to the detriment of our country. It's time to pull the rug out from under them. Impeachment is just not enough, it's not! One dead soldier was one too many!

Death for oil. To high of a price! So lets remove oil from our list of needs. Can we? Heck yes! Will we crash the oil industry? Yep! Will we hurt our incomes? we could but it would be very short term.
How? Google "HHO"
If by some unfair twist Bush and Cheney get off scot free, they'll go broke. So will their supporters. Justice can be ours! We don't need oil! We don't need natural gas or propane. We don't need coal or wood to smoke things up. Google HHO and take away their cash.

Halliburton, Your Time Has Almost Expired

Bob Geiger — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:54:53 -0500

In yet another sign that a change has come to Capitol Hill in the form of a Democratic Congress that actually works for a living, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the new Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has introduced two bills to crack down on the war profiteers who have been fed so much money by the Bush administration.

Leahy wasted no time on the very first day of the 110th Congress last week in proposing both S.118, the Effective Corruption Prosecutions Act of 2007 and S. 119, the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007.

"Last year, despite the mounting evidence of widespread contractor fraud and abuse in Iraq, the Republican-controlled Senate would not act on it," said Leahy, in re-introducing the War Profiteering Prevention Act on the Senate floor. "Instead, the Congress took a terrible misstep in seeking to end the work of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction."

That bill, written "to prohibit profiteering and fraud relating to military action, relief, and reconstruction efforts," is cosponsored by 12 other Senators -- all Democrats -- and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is now under the control of Leahy himself. This means that cracking down on the likes of Halliburton and Bechtel for cheating the troops and ripping off the American taxpayer will actually get a hearing, instead of being killed, as it was under Republican rule.

Here's Leahy on the Senate floor last week:

"Last year, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction found that millions of U.S. taxpayer funds appropriated for Iraq reconstruction have been lost and diverted. Yet we continue to send more taxpayer funds to Iraq, without accountability.

"Too much of this money is unaccounted for, and many of the facilities and services that these funds were supposed to pay for are still nonexistent. We in Congress must ask--where did all the money go? We need to press for more accountability over the use and abuse of billions of taxpayers' dollars sent as development aid to Iraq, not less.

"A new law to combat war profiteering in Iraq and elsewhere is sorely needed and long overdue."

Leahy's legislation, which in the past never stood a chance with the war profiteers themselves providing financial backing for the Republican Congress, would accomplish some of the following goals:

Criminalize war profiteering, which is defined as materially overvaluing any good or service with the specific intent to excessively profit from the war and relief or reconstruction activities.

Strengthen the tools available to federal prosecutors to combat war profiteering by providing clear authority for the Government to seek criminal penalties and to recover excessive profits for war profiteering overseas.

Prohibit any fraud against the United States, Iraq, or any other foreign country involving a contract for the provision of any goods or services in connection with a war, military action, or relief or reconstruction activities.

Prohibit making a false statement in any matter involving a contract for the provision of any goods or services in connection with a war, military action, or relief or reconstruction activities.

Those found in violation of the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007 would be subject to as much as 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $1 million, twice the amount of any illegal gross profits, or both.

Leahy's Effective Corruption Prosecutions Act of 2007, cosponsored so far by Mark Pryor (D-AR), is another anti-corruption measure designed specifically to give federal prosecutors the tools to aggressively prosecute companies and individuals who attempt to illegally profit from America's wars.

"If we are serious about addressing the egregious misconduct that we have recently witnessed, Congress must enact meaningful legislation to give investigators and prosecutors the resources they need to enforce our public corruption laws," said Leahy. "I strongly urge Congress to do more to restore the public's trust in their government."

The legislation would do much to broaden the power of prosecutors to try war profiteers, including extending the statute of limitations for the most serious public corruption offenses and authorizing $25 million over each of the next four years to give federal investigators and prosecutors greater resources to go after public corruption.

While the Bush administration has had well-known improprieties going on with defense contractors in Iraq and they have been subject to tremendous public criticism for things like a no-bid procurement process for Dick Cheney's boys at Halliburton, the Republican Congress added this to the long list of things ignored and deemed unworthy of an ounce of oversight on their watch.

But Leahy makes it very clear that, on the powerful Judiciary Committee, a new day has indeed dawned.

“Americans want the culture of corruption to end. From war profiteers and corrupt officials in Iraq, to convicted Administration officials, to influence-peddling lobbyists and, regrettably, even members of Congress, too many supposed public servants have been serving their own interests, rather than the public interest,” he said. "The American people staged an intervention during the November elections and made it clear that they would not stand for it any longer. They expect the Congress to take action, and these bills are a good first step toward meeting that call.”

You can read more from Bob at BobGeiger.com.

Senate Republicans Kill Second Bill on Corrupt Defense Contractors

Bob Geiger — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 14:20:17 -0400

From our 'waiting for the other shoe to drop' file, we have news that Senate Republicans followed up their rejection of a bill last week to penalize corrupt companies like Halliburton, with a vote today against another measure that would have formed an oversight committee to investigate defense-contractor fraud.

With only 44 votes in favor, the second such bill -- also sponsored by Byron Dorgan (D-ND) -- went down in flames 52-44, with Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) the only GOP senator voting for the bill's passage.

S.Amdt. 4292 would have established "…a special committee of the Senate to investigate the awarding and carrying out of contracts to conduct activities in Afghanistan and Iraq and to fight the war on terrorism."

Senate Republicans last week shot down by a 55-43 vote, an amendment to strictly penalize contractors caught defrauding the government, with every single Republican senator voting to let corrupt defense contractors off the hook for cheating the troops and the American people.

"A lot of people are making a lot of money, spent by this Congress, in support of our soldiers who are at war, and we have some contractors who are not playing straight with the soldiers or the American people," said Dorgan on the Senate floor.

Dorgan and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) had sent a letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) in May asking him to start an investigation into allegations of defense-contractor abuses in Iraq contracts.

"These matters fall clearly within your committee’s jurisdiction, and they have a direct bearing on our troops’ mission and safety in Iraq, as well as on the use of taxpayer dollars," said the Dorgan-Durbin letter to Warner. "In the alternative, we would hope that you would support the creation of a special committee of the Senate — modeled after the Truman Committee during World War II — to conduct oversight hearings on Iraq contracting."

Durbin talked more about it on the Senate floor on Friday.

"I don't understand why there isn't a sense of outrage in this Congress on a bipartisan basis, on both sides of the aisle, that we are not only being ripped off as taxpayers by these no-bid contracts but that we are shortchanging these men and women who are risking their lives while we stand in the comfort and safety of this Senate," said the Illinois Democrat. "I know Halliburton is a big political force in this town. I know in some quarters you are not supposed to question Halliburton. This is some sacred institution politically. I don't buy it. I count the soldiers that are putting their lives on the line to be much more sacred and much more valuable than any big, huge, no-bid corporation."

Unfortunately, the Republican majority in the Senate doesn't agree with him.

You can reach Bob Geiger at geiger.bob@gmail.com

GOP Kills Senate Bill to Police Halliburton

Bob Geiger — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:13:10 -0400

I suppose it's old news at this point that the Bush administration lied us into the Iraq war and that the cost of this mess will be fully realized by the next generation when Bush leaves office with the biggest budget deficit in U.S. history. And, while Democrats have been complaining for years about the GOP-led Congress abandoning its oversight of the executive branch's wrongdoing, a vote that took place in the Senate last week shows how the Republican desire to ignore fraud and abuse extends right into killing legislation that would help stop defense contractors from ripping off the American people.

In an effort to stop companies like Halliburton and its subsidiaries from cheating our troops and stealing from Americans, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), introduced S.AMDT.4230 and attached it to the Defense Authorization bill currently being debated in the Senate. The bill was intended to improve contracting "by eliminating fraud and abuse and improving competition in contracting and procurement."

"I think when you are at war, when a massive quantity of money is being pushed out the door, that we ought to decide to get tough on those who would be engaged in war profiteering," said Dorgan in fighting for his amendment last week. "I dare say that never in the history of this country has so much money been wasted so quickly. And, yes, there is fraud involved, there is abuse involved, and it is the case that there is a dramatic amount of taxpayers' money that is now being wasted."

Dorgan's bill -- cosponsored by 17 Democrats and called the Honest Leadership and Accountability in Contracting Act of 2006 -- was tabled by a roll call vote of 55-43, effectively rejecting the amendment. Every single Senate Republican voted against the measure to make the contracting process honest and impose penalties on those who break the law.

And just what were the stern rules that the GOP didn’t think their buddies at Halliburton should have to live with? The text of the legislation spelled out that Bush and Cheney's defense-contractor buddies would be in trouble if they did any of the following:

"Executes or attempts to execute a scheme or artifice to defraud the United States or the entity having jurisdiction over the area in which such activities occur."

"Falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact."

"Makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any materially false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry."

"Materially overvalues any good or service with the specific intent to excessively profit from the war or military action."

The measure called for those found guilty of violating the law to be imprisoned for up to 20 years and be subject to a fine of up to $1,000,000 -- a drop in the bucket for these guys -- or a percentage of their ill-gotten gains.

And Senate Republicans still saw fit to reject penalizing companies engaging in overt war profiteering and fraud despite Dorgan spending a considerable amount of time on the Senate floor trotting out example after example of the hideous abuse that has been occurring in Iraq.

"What we have discovered is pretty unbelievable," said Dorgan last week. "We have direct testimony from physicians, Army doctors, and others about providing nonpotable water for shaving, brushing teeth that is in worse condition as water than the raw water coming out of the Euphrates River."

"Let me describe some of the firsthand eyewitness issues in Iraq," Dorgan continued. "Brand new $85,000 trucks that were left on the side of the road because of a flat tire and then subsequently burned. 25 tons, 50,000 pounds, of nails ordered by Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the wrong size, that are laying in the sands of Iraq. 42,000 meals a day charged to the taxpayers by Halliburton and only 14,000 are actually served."

After telling the amazing tale of the KBR Halliburton subsidiary ordering hand towels for soldiers embroidered with the "KBR" logo, to allow them to double the price of the towels, Dorgan told one Halliburton whistleblower's story of his company serving food date-stamped "expired" to American troops rather than throwing it away.

"[Halliburton was] serving food at a cafeteria in Iraq for the soldiers, and a man named Roy who was the supervisor in the food service kitchen said that the food was date-stamped 'expired,''' said Dorgan. "In other words, it had a date stamp, which meant the food wasn't good anymore, and he was told by superiors that it doesn't matter. Feed it to the troops. It doesn't matter that they had an expired date stamped -- feed it to the troops."

But apparently the support-the-troops types on the Republican side of the aisle only support them until their major contributors are caught feeding them possibly-tainted food before they go into battle -- at that point, I guess the love is gone.

The best the Republicans could offer in response to Dorgan was a lame statement by Senator John Warner (R-VA), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who said that his committee is on the case and that "the organization is now in place to try to monitor the situations the Senator has enumerated."

There was no mention from Warner of where the hell his committee -- and the GOP -- have been for the last four years with all of this going on.

I'll leave you with one other Dorgan horror story in which he describes a massive amount of money paid to four contractors to install air-conditioning in a Baghdad building.

"The contract goes to a subcontractor, which goes to another subcontractor, and a fourth-level subcontractor," said Dorgan "And the payment for air-conditioning turns out to be payments to four contractors, the fourth of which puts a fan in a room. Yes, the American taxpayer paid for an air-conditioner and, after the money goes through four hands, there is a fan put in a room in Iraq."

I guess that's fiscal conservatism Republicans can truly embrace.

You can reach Bob Geiger at geiger.bob@gmail.com

Dick Cheney: Snoozing Without Losing

Chip — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:31:33 -0400

Perhaps Dick Cheney's battery is due for replacement; he's obviously powered down. He snoozed through Chinese President Hu Jintao official visit to the White House. (None of that nonsense about "drawing the pay and doing the day" for him.) After all, several of his primary missions have been accomplished: enrich big business and big oil. They are, after all, the people who count – it's certainly not the American people, who are now playing in a daily gas lottery at the pump.

As with so many things in this administration, pay attention to what they do, not to what they say. After Bush bellowed that America is addicted to oil, Americans increasingly must make tough choices to pay for fuel. Bush displayed remarkably little of his vaunted "compassionate conservatism" as he remarked in the State of the Union:

"'The American people have got to understand what happens elsewhere in the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here,' he said, referring to skyrocketing oil demand in the booming economies of India and China. Bush also blamed the higher prices on a shortage of refinery capacity in the United States, and also on an ongoing shift in fuel additives and mixes that has caused supply hiccups in certain areas.

'When that price of gasoline goes up, it hurts working people. It hurts our small businesses. And it's a serious problem we've got to do something about. The federal government has a responsibility, by the way, to make sure...there is no price gouging,'" Bush added. Well, that's reassuring!

So is it a coincidence that no new refineries have been built for thirty years? After all, Americans stood in long lines then to fuel up. No new refineries, no increase in supply, ever rising prices as more people drive farther distances, soaring oil companies profits – all contributed to making it possible for Exxon Mobil executive Lee Raymond to get a 400 million dollar retirement package. But they want to want to cut your social security - that Bush criticized Democrats for treating it "like it's a federal program."

But while Bush reassures us that there will be no price gouging, what is he actually doing?

He's isn't objecting to a giveaway to his big oil cronies of royalty free oil and gas drilling rights amounting to $65 billion over the next 5 years – figured at $50 per barrel oil prices. Now that we're north of $70, it's even so much sweeter a deal for his buddies.

Meanwhile, Bush's budget plans for the years 2008-2011 are for drastic cuts in domestic discretionary spending:

veterans' medical care funding cut 13%
K-12 and vocational education funding cut 13%
higher education funding cut 20%
environmental and natural resources funding cut 22%
housing funding cut 12%
transportation funding cut 14%
energy funding cut 29%

That's right! Amid all the cuts, what area is hardest hit? Energy funding. "Funding for these programs would be cut a total of $4.4 billion over five years. The programs in this area include research on alternatives to oil, energy conservation efforts, and emergency energy preparedness programs."

So Bush gives away to his big oil cronies $65 billion in royalties, while cutting $4.4 billion in funding for the very programs that will help Americans work toward energy independence. But who would benefit from his actions?

Almost 30 years ago President Jimmy Carter outlined ten fundamental principles for our national energy plan. "The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce the demand through conservation. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy."

Yet federal funding for energy efficiency is taking a major hit. "In the White House's proposed 2007 budget, efficiency spending is down 17% overall from 2006 appropriations, and 25% from levels in 2002. The cuts are deeper for individual programs. Research to help industry reduce energy use is slated for a 30% decrease, and some programs are being shut down...(but) efficiency advocates are lobbying Congress to limit the damage to their cherished programs. With energy prices high and supplies tight, they argue, a mere 1% drop in demand causes prices to plunge 20%, easing cost pressures for both consumers and businesses."

Who profits, and who pays?

So, Dick Cheney can afford to snooze having orchestrated and conducted secret meetings to determine the national energy plan. After all, he had experience with Halliburton, and they have profited handsomely during the Bush-Cheney administration. As we see who profits and who pays as a result of the bargained behind closed doors energy policy, it's hard not to reflect on how Halliburton bribed the Nigerian government to win an $8.1 billion contract to build a natural gas liquefaction plant. And who headed the company then? Why, Dick Cheney!

Progressive Caucus Writes to Bush Re Halliburton

davidswanson — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:21:24 -0400

September 22, 2005

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

As Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, we are troubled by reports that the Bush Administration has already begun to direct reconstruction and relief contracts towards companies that have a proven record of waste, fraud and other contract-related abuses in Iraq and elsewhere.

As you know, federal acquisition regulations require the federal government to only contract with “responsible prospective contractors only.”

Based on its track record, we believe Halliburton cannot be considered a “responsible” company, and should be suspended from any hurricane damage assessment and reconstruction contracts until the many ongoing investigations into the company are completed.

As you know, suspension is permitted if a contractor has a “history of failure” or “unsatisfactory performance” in carrying out contracts , which is clearly the case with Halliburton. Suspension is also permitted “on the basis of adequate evidence, pending the completion of investigation or legal proceedings, when it has been determined that immediate action is necessary to protect the Government’s interest.”

As outlined below, Halliburton’s record clearly constitutes the basis for suspension:

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* Bribery:

Halliburton has admitted that its KBR subsidiary “may” have bribed the government of Nigeria for the purpose of winning a multibillion dollar construction contract. Investigators say the bribes were paid between 1995 and 2002 and totaled up to $180 million.

* Bid-rigging on foreign projects:

The Justice Department has initiated a criminal inquiry into Halliburton for bid-rigging in connection with the company’s work on foreign construction projects.

* Dealing with nations that sponsor terrorism.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is investigating the legality of Halliburton's business dealings in Iran, a nation believed to sponsor terrorism. It is illegal for U.S. companies to directly conduct business with nations the president believes are involved in sponsoring terror. The OFAC referred the case to the Department of Justice, which is conducting a criminal investigation.

* Indictment for fraud:

An employee with Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary was indicted by the Justice Department last March over a $3.5 million fraud scheme involving the military. Former KBR employee Jeff Mazon and Ali Hijazi, a managing partner at LaNouvelle General Trading and Contracting Co., are charged with rigging bids in 2003 to favor LaNouvelle over

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other subcontractors and then overcharging the U.S. military for fuel transport services at a Kuwait airport.

* Ongoing Fraud Investigations:

The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) has issued numerous audits since 2003 showing Halliburton had repeatedly violated the FAR via “significant” and “systemic” deficiencies in how it estimates and validates cost. As a result, the Defense Department Inspector General and the Justice Department opened a criminal fraud investigation.

* An Epidemic of Waste in Iraq:

- The inspector general for the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) found Halliburton charged the government $2.85 million for hotel costs in Kuwait even though cheaper housing arrangements were available.
- A former logistician with Halliburton in Kuwait reported that the company and its subcontractor had been charging U.S. taxpayers $100 per 15-pound bag of laundry and $45 per one-pack of soda.
- The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) found Halliburton had overcharged on the fuel supply contract by $212.3 million.
- The DCAA has also reported that Halliburton billed the government for 36 percent more meals than was actually served to the troops in Iraq while an internal Halliburton

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- report said it had overcharged by 19 percent. DoD is currently withholding $213 million in suspicious food expenses until Halliburton provides a sufficient explanation for them.

These are just a few of the many examples of waste, fraud and other abuses uncovered by whistleblowers and investigators, examples which follow a pattern that extends back even further. For example, the U.S. Justice Department is still investigating Halliburton for possible over billing on government services work done in the Balkans from 1996 through 2000. The charges stem from a GAO report that found in 1997 that Halliburton billed the Army for questionable expenses for work in the Balkans, including charges of $85.98 per sheet of plywood that cost $14.06. A follow-up report by the GAO in 2000 found inflated costs, including charges for cleaning offices up to four times a day.

When the administration suspended Enron Corp. from government contracts in 2002, it explained: “To qualify as a responsible contractor, a company or individual must have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics and must possess the necessary organization, accounting and operational controls.”

Halliburton’s repeat violations of the FAR indicates the same kind of failure to possess the “necessary organization, accounting and operational controls” cited in the Enron case. Halliburton admitted in an internal memo leaked to the Wall Street Journal that its cost controls for government contracts are "antiquated" and "weak" and its procurement "disorganized" and marked by "weak internal controls." According to the Journal, the memo is "a frank admission that [Halliburton's] critics are voicing valid concerns about the possibility of overcharges under the company's massive contract to supply U.S. troops."

In January, the U.S. embassy in Iraq threatened to terminate Halliburton’s contracts because of serious cost overcharges and what it called “poor performance.” It has been one year since the Army's chief of procurement policy, Tina Ballard, requested the Army

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“immediately” terminate Halliburton’s troop support contract, or LOGCAP, by parceling the work out to a wider range of companies.

Major savings can accrue to the government by finding more honest and responsible contractors than Halliburton. For example, the Department of Defense terminated Halliburton from an Iraqi gasoline importation contract and assigned it to an internal office known as the Defense Energy Support Center. The result was a 50 percent reduction in gasoline prices charged to U.S. taxpayers.

We believe the administration is obligated to protect the interests of taxpayers and the victims of this disaster by immediately suspending Halliburton from eligibility for federal contracts. The company’s shoddy record is replete with numerous violations that separately and together constitute a sufficient basis for suspension, including the suspected crimes of bribery, bid rigging, trading with nations believed to sponsor terrorism, cost overcharges and fraud in performing military contracts.

The government holds a trust for the American people, and particularly in times of national emergency, as in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it must ensure the considerable expenditures it makes on disaster relief actually benefit the victims and are not siphoned off by dishonest, fraudulent and/or irresponsible contractors.

Sincerely,

__________________________ ____________________________
Lynn Woolsey Barbara Lee
Caucus Co-Chair Caucus Co-Chair
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ ____________________________
Dennis Kucinich Edward Markey
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ ____________________________
Jerrold Nadler James McGovern
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ ____________________________
Raul Grijalva Danny Davis
Member of Congress Member of Congress

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__________________________ ____________________________
Maurice Hinchey Jim McDermott
Member of Congress Member of Congress

__________________________ ___________________________
Major Owens Gwen Moore
Member of Congress Member of Congress

___________________________ ____________________________
Maxine Waters Jose Serrano
Member of Congress Member of Congress

___________________________ ____________________________
Bob Filner Sam Farr
Member of Congress Member of Congress

___________________________ ____________________________
Diane Watson Pete Stark
Member of Congress Member of Congress

___________________________
Michael Capuano
Member of Congress

c.c.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld;
General Counsel Alberto J. Mora, Department of the Navy;
Rep. Tom Davis (VA), Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform;
Rep. Christopher Shays (CT), Vice Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform;
Mr. David Safavian, Administrator, Office Federal Procurement Policy , Office of Management and Budget;
Ms. Emily W. Murphy, Chief Acquisition Officer , U. S. General Services Administration;
Administrator Stephen Perry, U.S. General Services Administration
Mr. David E. Cooper, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, U.S. Government Accountability Office
Majority Leader Tom DeLay
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert

Oh what a lovely war on terror it's been for Halliburton

Ted Kahl — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:58:26 -0500

(UK Independent) Halliburton, the world's largest military private contractor, has made at least $8bn (£4.3bn) in war-torn Iraq - doing everything from washing American troops' laundry to setting up vital oil supplies. Now, a critically well-placed army employee says contracts were unfairly awarded to Halliburton, whose chief executive used to be US Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Bunnatine Greenhouse, the highest-ranking civilian in the US Army Corps of Engineers, saw the contracts handed to Halliburton pass over her desk. She objected to all of them on the grounds that the government was being too generous to the Texas-based company. Now she might lose her job.

[...]

Time and again, there was little or no competition for the huge contracts the US administration awarded, and repeatedly, it seemed that senior army people were stepping in to overrule her attempts to make KBR accountable.

On top of that, there was a "revolving door", with senior army employees joining Halliburton. These included Tom Quigley, who had previously done Ms Greenhouse's job, and Chuck Dominy, a three-star general who is now Halliburton's chief lobbyist on Capitol Hill.

Halliburton, which Mr Cheney led from 1995 to 2000, has a long history of working for the US government in far-flung parts of the world. But it was the war on terror which really expanded its fortunes from government projects. It also focused critics' minds on how close Halliburton continued to be to Mr Cheney and his coterie of hawkish colleagues in Washington.

Ex-Halliburton official indicted for fraud

Ted Kahl — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 19:24:05 -0500

(Aljazeera) An ex-employee of a Halliburton subsidiary and a Kuwaiti businessman have been indicted for defrauding the US government of more than $3.5 million.

Prosecutors said on Thursday the charges relate to a fuel supply contract for military operations in Kuwait.

The indictments came two days after the Pentagon said military auditors still had major issues with Halliburton and three days after Democratic congressmen released an audit questioning $108 million in costs by the firm.

Jeff Alex Mazon, formerly of Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), and Ali Hijazi, managing partner of LaNouvelle General Trading and Contracting Co of Kuwait, were indicted on 10 counts of fraud by a federal grand jury in Illinois, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The indictment alleges Mazon inflated a bid for fuel tankers he received from Hijazi, to make sure LaNouvelle would be overpaid, while also inflating a Kuwait company's competing bid without the rival's knowledge, to make sure LaNouvelle's inflated bid would be the lower of the two.