Halliburton says Army to withhold some payments

[rawstory]

As seen on the liberal alternative to Drudge, http://rawstory.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Halliburton Co. on Tuesday said the U.S. Army will withhold payments of 15 percent of future bills, apparently backtracking on an earlier deal.

The Houston company said statements it made on Monday that the U.S. Army had decided to give the company more time to resolve a billing dispute "were accurate at the time based on clear oral assurances from senior Pentagon representatives."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5996729&src=rss/topNews§ion=news

[gratuitous]

1. Clear oral assurances from unnamed representatives?

As Samuel Goldwyn once famously remarked (pre-Kim Basinger): An oral contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.

And why does this affect only future "services" that Halliburton isn't providing? Why is the Pentagon paying them for things they haven't done in the past? Golly, I remember a time when a young journalist would hanker for this kind of story. It could make a career, exposing graft and corruption at high levels. But nowadays, getting invitations to the right parties trumps professional integrity.

[rawstory]

2. Can you imagine if Al Gore had run Halliburton?

It's absolutely ludicrous what this company gets away with. Can you imagine if AL GORE had run it? Do you think the Senate and House would be so acquiescent?