News: Pentagon audit questions Halliburton deals

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON - Pentagon auditors have questioned nearly $122 million in costs claimed by Halliburton under contracts to rebuild Iraq's oil industry and supply fuel to its citizens, according to records released Monday.

The Democratic congressman who released the audits said the Bush administration had withheld the amounts of the questioned costs from the U.N. board overseeing Iraq reconstruction. California Rep. Henry Waxman is a longtime critic of the administration's treatment of Halliburton, which Vice President Dick Cheney headed from 1995 to 2000.

Cheney and the Pentagon have said the vice president plays no role in contract decisions. Both the company and the Defense Department say Halliburton was not given preferential treatment.

"Halliburton has been a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars," company spokeswoman Beverly Scippa said Monday. She said Halliburton has cooperated with the audits. "This is all part of the normal contracting process, and it is important to note that the auditors' role is advisory only," Scippa said in a statement.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&e=3&u=/ap/20050411/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/halliburton_iraq

[WLKjr]

1. HOT damn, took long enough didn't it?!?!?!?!!?n/t