The Gravy Train Makes an Unscheduled Stop


Probably only temporary, though:

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.

The choice comes after several years of attacks from critics who saw the contract as a symbol of politically connected corporations profiteering on the war.

Under the deal, Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the world fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water.

Halliburton officials have denied the allegations strenuously. Army officials yesterday defended the company's performance but also acknowledged that reliance on a single contractor left the government vulnerable. The Pentagon's new plan will split the work among three companies, to be chosen this fall, with a fourth firm hired to help monitor the performance of the other three. Halliburton will be eligible to bid on the work.

Something tells me this isn't the last we'll be seeing of Big Time's favorite charity/money laundering operation. C'mon: the guy's willing to have thousands murdered to maintain value for his stock options. Twisting a few arms at the Pentagon--where the accounting situation is "unauditable"-- is child's play in comparison.

Damn, but it's a shame Dick couldn't have been dispatched to Houston this morning, where the former mayor of the municipal equivalent of the bloated, out of control Pentagon budget...sorry, I'm digressing again...anyway, the former mayor of Houston collapsed during Ken Lay's, ahem, memorial service. Maybe he was thinking about all the campaign contributions he could've received if Kenny Boy and Jeff hadn't decided to turn cooked books into soggy mush.

Or maybe it's too bad Lay and Skilling weren't running the show at Halliburton after Dick's departure. Because you just KNOW Big Time'd burst a blood vessel if anything happened to his precious securities...