Halliburton. The name itself has become an all-encompassing punchline to any mention of corporate greed and political nepotism within the sphere of the Iraq war. Considering that Halliburton used to be run by VP Dick Cheney and was granted billions of dollars in contracts, many without competition from other firms, it is any wonder that critics of the administration view the company as a shining example of corporate corruption?
Of course, for those who want something more substantial than mere conspiracy theories, there’s plenty to choose from:
Here. (Halliburton overcharges fuel to the tune of 181%)
Here. (Overcharging is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $60 million)
Here. (Halliburton truckers made to drive empty tankers around Iraq while the company billed the government for transportation of “sailboat fuel”)
Here. (Army doesn’t ask Halliburton to justify its costs for transporting fuel in Iraq)
Here. (Halliburton accused of overcharging millions of dollars in providing meals to troops)
Here. (Halliburton execs caught accepting kickbacks from Kuwaiti companies)
Here. (Army refuses to withhold payments to Halliburton, despite multiple reports from auditors that the company failed to justify its costs)
Here. (Even though the company has overcharged the Army and won’t reveal it’s actual costs, it gets millions of dollars in bonuses anyway)
So we shouldn’t really be surprised by the latest twist in the Halliburton saga: A Pentagon audit has found that the company’s questionable billing practices for fuel had overcharged the government by over $100 million.
In one case, according to the report, the company claimed that it had paid more than $27 million to transport liquefied petroleum gas it had purchased in Kuwait for just $82,000 – a fee the auditors tartly dismissed as “illogical.”
(…)
Similar studies covered eight other task orders granted to KBR, all of them elements of a broad $2.5 billion contract, now completed, to import fuels and make initial repairs to Iraqi oil fields. The total level of questionable billing in those reports remains confidential but could be much higher than the $108 million, the congressmen note in their letter.
At this point, a report like this shouldn’t be at all surprising. But it was politically inconvenient for a certain administration and it’s ex-CEO Vice President; why else were these reports kept confidential even though they were prepared in October 2004? Even more disgusting than Halliburton wasting our tax dollars to line its own pockets is a government that keeps such information private to avoid an election embarrassment.