You Can't Cheat An Honest Man

WashingtonPost"The Army is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq."

National Ledger: "California Democrat Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee and a frequent Halliburton critic, welcomed the move away from the exclusive contract with Halliburton as a good first step, the Washington Post said."

Bloomberg: Halliburton Co.'s multibillion-dollar contract to feed and care for U.S. troops in Iraq and transport war supplies won't be renewed, an Army spokesman said. The five-year-old contract with Halliburton's KBR unit will be put up for bids after its current phase ends later this year, Army spokesman Dave Foster told reporters today at the Pentagon.

"The Pentagon contracts are winding down and they're not a big money maker anyway," said James Halloran, who manages $33 billion at National City Private Client Group in Cleveland, including about 30,600 Halliburton shares. "KBR is going back to building energy complexes, and there's going to be a lot of infrastructure built in the next several decades. That's why you'd buy the stock."

The Army decision was "neither unusual nor unexpected,"' Melissa Norcross, a spokeswoman for KBR, said in a statement. "We have been open and forthcoming that this work may be modified or replaced at any time."

Halliburton has received orders valued at $17.1 billion under a contract won in 2001 to provide services to the U.S. Army worldwide, according to the Army Field Support Command. That includes $15.4 billion for Iraq work.

KBR will be allowed to take part in the re-bidding of the contract, which is unrelated to the company's performance, Foster said. "We are constantly in the review process of formulating how we can do things better in a more effective way," he said.

"The Pentagon has talked about parceling out this contract in the past," Halloran said. "It doesn't mean that KBR won't wind up with significant parts of it.''

----KBR/Halliburton & subsidiaries get to bleed new veins in the treasury. And frequent critic Henry Waxman doesn't look bad either, helping ensure "real competition which saves the taxpayers money."

How do they keep a straight face?

Since coming to Congress, Rep. Waxman has earned the reputation of being an expert on Middle East policy and an effective proponent of American aid to guarantee Israel's security and survival.

And remember, Waxman helped rid Iraq of evil-doer Saddam. "Whether one agrees or disagrees with the Administration's policy towards Iraq, I don't think there can be any question about Saddam's conduct. He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do. He lies and cheats; he snubs the mandate and authority of international weapons inspectors; and he games the system to keep buying time against enforcement of the just and legitimate demands of the United Nations, the Security Council, the United States and our allies. Those are simply the facts."--Henry Waxman, Oct 10, 2002

The 2002 piece is an excellent, excellent CYA piece from a pol and "expert on Middle East policy" who supported the Bush War Resolution. Written like a man with a knowledge of where the script was going, as on March 17, 2003, three days before invasion, Waxman "called for an investigation of the revelation that the President relied on false intelligence sources to present the case for war with Iraq to the American people and the United Nations." Didn't waste any time after voting yes to start questioning the intelligence of it. That's slick, really slick.