"Piling on Halliburton," by Dave Lesar, CEO, Halliburton

[lebkuchen]

This piece was in today's "Stars and Stripes:"

...cut...

In the 2004 campaign season, Halliburton apparently is no longer entitled to answer questions before being accused of mismanagement, profiteering or misuse of funds. Halliburton is under the most intense public scrutiny of any company in America today. The primary reason for the attacks seems to be that the vice president of the United States used to hold my job. Some of these critics are not content to rage about the Iraq war. They are intent on creating a new and continuing war against Halliburton, even ignoring the truth about our work supporting the troops in Iraq and around the world.

Examples include a very public charge of "war profiteering" on fuels shipped into Iraq from Kuwait. Missing in the first headlines, and generally unreported since, is the fact that the contracts were approved by our client, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Meanwhile, Halliburton actually suggested that Turkey be used as an alternative fuel source, a recommendation that saved millions in taxpayer dollars. Numerous investigations have been launched since the media reports. We are confident that it will be proven that Halliburton delivered the fuel at the best price on the best terms, even under emergency wartime conditions.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24743-2004Mar2.html



Below is a Washington Post letter in response to Lesar.

Halliburton's Break

Friday, March 5, 2004; Page A22


Dave Lesar's March 3 op-ed, "Piling on Halliburton," carefully ignored one of the basic reasons why I, and others, are upset. One of the tenets of federal contracting is the use of requests for proposals and competitive bidding.

That Halliburton got around this, and that the government let it, speaks very poorly of both parties.

MARTHA D'ERASMO

Chevy Chase

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31932-2004Mar4.html

[hippiechick]

1. awww, don'tcha just feel sorry for those poor war criminals ?

they're just trying to make a buck, c'mon people ... give them a break .... :puke:



:hippie:

[SeveneightyWhoa]

2. Turkey as an alternative fuel source?

Hmm..wouldn't beef or pork have more calories, and therefore be a better source of energy? Maybe we should look into this.