AT WAR
Halliburton's Mission
The CEO explains what the company is doing in Iraq.
BY DAVE LESAR
Friday, October 17, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT
URL://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004181
A Halliburton cook in Baghdad is a VIP in the Middle East. Just ask the soldiers she serves. She has never met Richard Cheney, the former CEO of the company who now is the vice president of the United States.
Our cook has one mission, to help the troops by delivering meals, as only she can do, and assisting other Halliburton employees to make life easier for soldiers in Iraq. On special evenings, she delivers a little bit of Louisiana to Baghdad. In fact, she delivers lagniappe, the word used in Louisiana that means "a little bit extra."
In wartime, "a little extra" means getting mail from home, wearing clean uniforms, taking a shower, eating hot meals, providing water and electricity, and consuming an occasional platter of Cajun delicacies. For her and all Halliburton employees, lagniappe is her job. And she does it on special occasions for the young men and women working to keep the peace in Iraq.
The cook I mentioned is one of thousands of Halliburton employees who are proudly serving in the Middle East at this critical time. Her skills, as well as other employees' expertise and our extensive experience doing the difficult work that must be done in Iraq, make Halliburton uniquely qualified to serve the armed services.
We have done this vital work for years, serving both Republican and Democratic administrations. In World War II we built warships. In Vietnam we constructed airfields and port facilities. In Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti and the Balkans we worked alongside the troops to help provide a sense of normalcy to those countries. In 1991, during the first Gulf War, our people helped extinguish over half of the oil fires in Kuwait.
The company was founded in 1919 and has primarily focused on business-to-business relationships. Many people have never heard of Halliburton, despite the company's world-wide reach and long service to the government. But now because of politics, that is changing. It began in July 2000 when the company's chairman, Mr. Cheney, became a vice presidential candidate.
At that time, Mr. Cheney totally removed himself from Halliburton's operations. In short, he has no financial interest in the future success of Halliburton. Despite these steps by Mr. Cheney and the great work of Halliburton's employees in Iraq, the company's contract with the government has become a political target.
The question raised is not about Halliburton's capabilities to do the job. The company is one of only a few that actually can successfully accomplish all the work that needs to be done. Let's be clear. This is not a vacation escape. Our folks deliver the essentials, build the transmission lines, dig the ditches, keep open the communications lines from home, and they have a host of other duties. Our Halliburton employees live in the same conditions as the troops.
The particular contract that has been used in political banter is actually an extension of an earlier competitively bid contract. When we were awarded the contract to provide logistical assistance, Halliburton was told to develop an emergency plan in case of war with Iraq. Specifically, we prepared a contingency plan to extinguish oil-field fires and rebuild infrastructure that might be destroyed during the war.
Everyone remembers the damage from burning oil-well fires in the first Gulf War. The hostilities caused some of the damages, but internal saboteurs contributed to the destruction of road, rail and communications systems in Kuwait. The armed services wanted to prevent significant environmental damage which would drain that country's most valuable natural resource.
When the Iraq war began, the Department of Defense asked Halliburton to implement its wartime emergency plan that was approved under the existing and competitively bid contract. It is critical that the Defense Department be able to respond quickly to the needs on the ground as they arise. Those who were fighting the war, and who now are trying to keep the peace, needed a support system right away. A lengthy bid process simply wasn't feasible.
There have been allegations from politicians earlier this week about the cost of procuring and delivering fuel in Iraq. We awarded the fuel acquisition contract to the suppliers who could meet the very strict requirements defined by our client, the United States government. The requirement included the ability to acquire the necessary quantities of fuel and the ability to deliver it in a hostile environment. We continue to negotiate fair and competitive prices to provide fuel to the Iraqi people that will help create a sense of normalcy for those who have suffered.
Even our critics concede that Halliburton has the right skills to perform the work. Our employees are there to make the troops more comfortable in a difficult environment by bringing them shelter, supplies, clean uniforms and mail from their loved ones back home. And we are building roads, putting out fires, and restoring services in Iraq.
Halliburton's work with governmental contracts is a small but important part of our overall operations. Halliburton is one of the world's largest oil-field services companies and it is a premier provider of engineering and construction services. We build pipelines and bridges, and we contract with other companies to deliver much-needed energy supplies to parts of the world who are sorely lacking in these services.
The services for the military, in fact, produce a profit of only a few cents on the dollar--we do this work because it is important. And it has been proved that when Halliburton provides these backup and support services for the military, lives are saved because fewer troops are placed in harm's way and more soldiers can stay home with their families. Our people are brought in to get the job done, and they to do it well.
Frankly, I know the political attacks will continue. As CEO of a great company with 100,000 employees, I am extremely proud of our work and our ability to do the tough job--we thrive on the challenge. Every one of us will be resolute in our commitment to deliver the essentials to the men and women who are serving our country. They deserve nothing less. To the soldiers in Iraq, you can count on us. You have earned your claim for a little "lagniappe" like mail, meals, electricity and life-support systems.
Mr. Lesar is the CEO of Halliburton. |
