Dick Cheney's big bonanza

By Steve Gilliard

Halliburton's Deals Greater Than Thought

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2003; Page A01

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Cheney, has won contracts worth more than $1.7 billion under Operation Iraqi Freedom and stands to make hundreds of millions more dollars under a no-bid contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to newly available documents.

The size and scope of the government contracts awarded to Halliburton in connection with the war in Iraq are significantly greater than was previously disclosed and demonstrate the U.S. military's increasing reliance on for-profit corporations to run its logistical operations. Independent experts estimate that as much as one-third of the monthly $3.9 billion cost of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq is going to independent contractors.

Services performed by Halliburton, through its Brown and Root subsidiary, include building and managing military bases, logistical support for the 1,200 intelligence officers hunting Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, delivering mail and producing millions of hot meals. Often dressed in Army fatigues with civilian patches on their shoulders, Halliburton employees and contract personnel have become an integral part of Army life in Iraq.

Spreadsheets drawn up by the Army Joint Munitions Command show that about $1 billion had been allocated to Brown and Root Services through mid-August for contracts associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Pentagon's name for the U.S.-led war and occupation. In addition, the company has earned about $705 million for an initial round of oil field rehabilitation work for the Army Corps of Engineers, a corps spokesman said.

Where US troops lack supplies, the Iraqi oil facilities can't work because Halliburton can't supply the juice to drive the water which you use to pump the oil that they need to pay their bill.

Halliburton's rank incomptenence has cost American lives. Deaths from heat stroke (believed to be the source of deaths while sleeping) and from pnemonia, because of no proper sleeping facilities, are avoidable.

Why did Halliburton get so much support from the Bush Administration? Well, Dick Cheney gets paid a few million a year from them.

Is this cost effective?

No. With skyrocketing insurance rates, this has become a very expensive proposition. Rates have shot up from between 300-400 percent, all passed on to the US taxpayer.

Also, they have a habit of not showing up on the battlefield and not doing vital work. In essence, they collect millions for nothing, while US troops suffer and Dick Cheney gets his payoff.

For more on Dick Cheney and his schemes, read Arms and the Man. The daily updates on his greed should make you ill.

Posted August 28, 2003 04:23 PM | Comments (98)