FormerLurker
10-29-2004, 03:48 AM
Browse At Will (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3963967.stm)
Some choice quotes, for the news-impaired and headline-only readers:
The widening FBI probe revolves around allegations last week by Bunnatine Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting officer, that Halliburton received favorable treatment that brought it billions of dollars worth of no-bid contracts, the Associated Press reported.
Halliburton, an oil services company also engaged in extensive military support work overseas -- including rebuilding Iraq's shattered oil industry -- is already under FBI investigation to determine if it overcharged the U.S. government for fuel used in its Middle East operations.. Why.... WHY.... WHY are so many of my fellow Americans willing to allow these crooks to continue to subvert democracy, just because they wear the "right" t-shirt in the "game" of partisan politics?
Finding their company the object of another wave of criticism, suspicion and investigations, officials at Halliburton say the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney is the victim of election-year politics. However, the company's chief critic in government, Army Corps of Engineers contracting officer Bunnatine Greenhouse, isn't running for anything, and neither is the FBI.
Greenhouse in 2002 branded Halliburton subsidiary KBR as a contractor that was out of control and "gold-plating" services to drive up costs. She argues that Halliburton should not have been tasked to draw up a plan for emergency oil-field work in Iraq and then awarded a sole-source contract to perform the work after U.S. forces invaded. She alleges that Army officials inappropriately allowed Halliburton representatives to attend discussions of the contract the company was about to receive.
Now the FBI and the Defense Department's inspector general are investigating. Given the Pentagon's long history of harassing people who try to save the taxpayers money, the acting secretary of the Army had to order the suspension of any disciplinary action against Greenhouse.
Some choice quotes, for the news-impaired and headline-only readers:
The widening FBI probe revolves around allegations last week by Bunnatine Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting officer, that Halliburton received favorable treatment that brought it billions of dollars worth of no-bid contracts, the Associated Press reported.
Halliburton, an oil services company also engaged in extensive military support work overseas -- including rebuilding Iraq's shattered oil industry -- is already under FBI investigation to determine if it overcharged the U.S. government for fuel used in its Middle East operations.. Why.... WHY.... WHY are so many of my fellow Americans willing to allow these crooks to continue to subvert democracy, just because they wear the "right" t-shirt in the "game" of partisan politics?
Finding their company the object of another wave of criticism, suspicion and investigations, officials at Halliburton say the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney is the victim of election-year politics. However, the company's chief critic in government, Army Corps of Engineers contracting officer Bunnatine Greenhouse, isn't running for anything, and neither is the FBI.
Greenhouse in 2002 branded Halliburton subsidiary KBR as a contractor that was out of control and "gold-plating" services to drive up costs. She argues that Halliburton should not have been tasked to draw up a plan for emergency oil-field work in Iraq and then awarded a sole-source contract to perform the work after U.S. forces invaded. She alleges that Army officials inappropriately allowed Halliburton representatives to attend discussions of the contract the company was about to receive.
Now the FBI and the Defense Department's inspector general are investigating. Given the Pentagon's long history of harassing people who try to save the taxpayers money, the acting secretary of the Army had to order the suspension of any disciplinary action against Greenhouse.