Why don't you respond to the very effective retort to your own half-baked case? Instead, you hurl another molotov cocktail.
Don't you even bother to read and understand the works you cite?
From that very piece that you, yourself cited:
"Halliburton discovered the benefits of government patronage when its support for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson resulted in several contracts, such as constructing military bases during the Vietnam War. In 1991, after the Persian Gulf War, then-Defense Secretary Cheney commissioned Brown & Root to conduct a study on the benefits of military outsourcing, paying the company an additional $5 million to update the report months later. In 1992, Brown & Root was awarded the U.S. Army's first Logistics Civil Augmentation Program contract, an omnibus contract that allows the Army to call on KBR for support in all of its field operations, including combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. LOGCAP is a "cost plus award fee" contract, meaning that KBR is paid a fee above the cost of the service ranging from two percent to five percent, depending on performance. When the Army needs a service performed, it issues a "task order," a sort of minicontract that outlines the tasks the contractor needs to perform.
[Note: Hmmmm. I'm trying to recall who was the U.S. President in 1992. What was that guy's name?]
When the United States joined NATO forces in the Balkans in 1995, KBR was deployed to the Balkans. KBR lost a second five-year LOGCAP contract—awarded to DynCorp in 1997— after the General Accounting Office reported in February 1997 that KBR had overrun its estimated costs in the Balkans by 32 percent (some of which was attributed to an increase in the Army's demands). Despite these findings, KBR was awarded a new contract for Balkan logistical support that ran through May 1999. [Note: I think that same guy was U.S. President in May 1999. It wasn't Bush.] In September 2000, the GAO released another report claiming the Army had not reined in contractor costs, placing the total cost of the Balkan contract at $2.2 billion.
Still, KBR beat out DynCorp and defense giant Raytheon for the third LOGCAP contract in December 2001, which is renewable for 10 years. Though LOGCAP's total value is undefined since services are provided in response to changing military needs, as of Sept. 21, 2003, KBR had been awarded 67 task orders totaling $2.2 billion—more than $2 billion for Iraq alone. LOGCAP does not comprise all of the company's military contracts. For example, it was awarded another LOGCAP-type contract with the U.S. Navy in April 2001, spanning five years and potentially worth $300 million. That contract, too, was awarded over the protests of the General Accounting Office, which questioned the criteria used to evaluate bidders.
Iraq contracts
In the competition for the current LOGCAP contract, the Army Corps of Engineers asked competitors to develop a contingency plan for extinguishing oil well fires in Iraq. The Army chose KBR's plan in November 2001, though it remains classified.
On March 24, 2003, the Army announced publicly that KBR had been awarded five task orders in Iraq potentially worth $7 billion to implement the plan. One of the task orders, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, required KBR to "procure, import and deliver" fuels to Iraq. In fact, the contract was awarded more than two weeks earlier, without submission for public bids or congressional notification. In their response to Congressional inquiries, Army officials said they determined that extinguishing oil fires fell under the range of services provided under LOGCAP, meaning that KBR could deploy quickly and without additional security clearances. They also said that the contract's classified status prevented open bidding." ...
As to Cheney's continued "financial interest" in Halliburton:
1. The money he receives is deferred compensation; retirement. The income from the government contracts Halliburton works under are hardly needed to pay Cheney's retirement check.
2. Cheney's stock options in Halliburton have not matured yet. He has pledged to donate any after-tax profits to charity.
Now, Duray, what about the above don't you understand? |
