New Halliburton Whistleblowers Say Millions Wasted in Iraq

[floda]

Hope the source is credible enough for LBN.




While the Bush administration failed to adequately plan for the safety of our troops--as proven by its failure to provide sufficient body armor--it made certain that Halliburton would make a killing long before the war began," said Jim Donahue, coordinator for Halliburton Watch, a nonprofit organization based in Washington.

New testimony from former Halliburton workers and congressional auditors released in Washington, D.C., has revealed millions of dollars worth of wasteful practices, major over billing and virtually no oversight of the company's work to support the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003.

Under an agreement for logistical support for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), a Halliburton subsidiary, has received $4.5 billion for activities in Iraq and Kuwait since the invasion, including more than $3 billion to import fuel and repair oil fields. The full contract may eventually be worth as much as $18 billion.

In testimony submitted to members of Congress, one truck driver explained in detail how taxpayers were billed for empty trucks driven up and down Iraq and how $85,000 vehicles were abandoned for lack of spare tires. A labor foreman said dozens of workers were told to "look busy" while doing virtually no work for salaries of $80,000 a year. An auditor related how the company was spending an average of $100 for every single bag of laundry and $10,000 a month for company employees to stay in five-star hotels


much more..

http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=44730&group=webcast

[Cha]

1. I give this a Kick since this one thing Kerry

is going to hit the bushco with.

[arcane1]

2. essentially, this is the whole fucking POINT of this so-called war

:grr:

god I hate these people


PEOPLE DIED FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!

[goforit]

4. This is truely nothing but a satonic massacre for highway robbery!!!

F*CK all that hold office in WASHINGTON!!!!

They all knew!!!!

[arcane1]

5. they knew, and saw dollar signs covered in HUMAN BLOOD

their favourite kind

:grr::mad::grr::mad:

[cosmicdot]

3. kick

anyone doing that, other than the feudal elite, the privileged few, of a corporation, i.e., wasting money, would likely be on a corrective action plan to avoid termination

Cheney's Energy Task Force probably designated Iraq as a Profit Center, advising interested parties to queue up.


:dem:

[BushLicks]

6. If Only They Were Openly Gay...

Then we could have the contracts overturned.

[Supply Side Jesus]

7. A distant cousin of mine knows first-hand.

At bases he was stationed, a convoy of trucks would come in with supplies, each truck containing 1 pallet of goods. Halliburton charged this as a truckload to the good tax paying people of the US. It pissed him off to no end. Not only were Halliburton riping off (surprise!) the gov't, it use to jam up all the traffic at the base causing some serious problems. Talk about an ideal time to attack.

to quote him: "We need to throw that clown out of office." Unfortunately he is due to go back at the end/beginning of the year. All he wants is his pension, and he is 4 years from it.

[BrotherBuzz]

10. I understand Halliburton also ships

a lot of sailboat fuel around Iraq.

[shanti]

14. exactamundo, my friend

i've read that too.

[TahitiNut]

17. "sailboat fuel" (lol!) "sailboat fuel"! (LOL!)

As one who's crossed the Atlantic each way crewing a square-rigger, that one gives me a chuckle. I even recall looking for "sailboat fuel." (We used a LOT of it.) :silly:

[Tight_rope]

8. Kicking before I read...cause I know it's going to be good by the title

[Tight_rope]

9. Well hot damn...more proof that Haliburton is rippling off Americans.

[slojim240]

11. War is the subsidy for the military-industrial-complex

The war corporations lie, cheat, and steal offering up inferior quality equipment, machinery, and weapons. They cut corners to garner huge profits for their top executives; swindle the public out of tax money, lobby Congress for laws to deregulate them, and pay huge bucks in the form of campaign donations to keep their folks in Congress.

[bvar22]

12. This is the touchstone.

Are you undecided? Is the Democratic Party really just a different wing of the ONE CORPORATE PARTY?

After winning in '04, will Kerry and the Dems go after the slimy corporate ghouls whose hands and money are covered in the blood of thousands of innocents??

or

Will our Representatives close ranks in the spirit of National Healing, collect their checks, and allow these criminals to enjoy their bloody booty?

[RainDog]

13. Today's NYTimes

also has a front page article about Halliburton's "missing" billions.

A representative from Hell-a-burton had the gall to say that this is only an issue because it's an election year...as if at any other time, it's okay to waste billions of taxpayer dollars.

I say the problem is that this representative of this corporate democracy-killer can complain that people would ask where the freaking money went.

Do we, the American people, have no right to demand that these assholes account for the money they are given?

As far as I'm concerned, this country would be better off without Halliburton.

[Zerex71]

15. You know, a while back, I gave this whole debacle some thought...

As best I can remember, FRANK HERBERT's "DUNE" series, specifically the first book, was about the coming to
ARRAKIS of the HOUSE OF ATREIDES, of which the prince-son of DUKE LETO, PAUL ATREIDES, is the central focus
of the book. He also becomes "the chosen one" or MUAD'DIB, to the indigenous populace (the FREMEN, a
race of dark-robed dervish-like peoples) who live in the WATER-DEPRIVED PLANET. Their eyes are blue because
of a deep addiction-reliance to a local commodity called MELANGE, or spice. PAUL ATREIDES is seen as having
mystical-religious powers after his "test" by one of the BENE GESSERIT, an order of strict pseudo-religious "mothers"
(such as GAIUS HELEN MOHAMMED) who are part of the young PAUL's maturation. Along the way, PAUL must lead
his FREMEN brethren to fight AGAINST the IMPERIALIST ADVANCES of BARON VON HARKKONEN, a disgustingly
porcine being so fat that they have to hoist him around with cables and whose sole purpose in life is to mine all the
SPICE of ARRAKIS to sell to the IMPERIAL CONSORTIUM for rich profits. A great battle ensues where the forces
are attacked by GIANT SANDWORMS.

(Now, re-read this with key substitutions, and see how prescient Herbert was back in the mid-60s when "Dune"
was published):

As best I can remember, GEORGE HERBERT WALKER's "IRAQ" series, specifically the first book, was about the coming to
IRAQ of the HOUSE OF BUSH, of which the prince-son of KING GEORGE, GEORGE BUSH JR., is the central focus
of the book. He also becomes "the chosen one" or FAVORED SON, to the indigenous populace (the SUNNIS, a
race of dark-robed dervish-like peoples) who live in the OIL-RICH COUNTRY. Their eyes are blue because
of a deep addiction-reliance to a local commodity called OIL, or petroleum. GEORGE BUSH JR. is seen as having
mystical-religious powers after his "test" by one of the DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION, an order of strict pseudo-religious "mothers"
(such as PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY) who are part of the young GEORGE's maturation. Along the way, GEORGE must lead
his SUNNI brethren to fight WITH the BARON VON HALLIBURTON, a disgustingly porcine being so fat that they have to
hoist him around with cables and whose sole purpose in life is to mine all the OIL of IRAQ to sell to the
OIL INDUSTRY for rich profits. A great battle ensues where the forces are attacked by AC-130 GUNSHIPS.

[Occulus]

16. you left out something about the spice

1. It's highly addictive
2. It's required for interstellar travel