From T. Christian Miller at the LA Times. As it turns out, Halliburton has been, um...
less than diligent about cost control and oversight in Iraq.
Well, knock me over with a ($12,000, procured-from-AvariceInc-a subsidiary-of-Halliburton-via-a-no-bid-contract) feather!
WASHINGTON -- Halliburton Inc. was hit Monday with some of the sharpest criticism yet of its work in Iraq and Kuwait, as government auditors faulted its control over subcontractors and whistle-blowers alleged massive overspending.
The Pentagon's Defense Contract Audit Agency found that Halliburton's system of billing the government for billions of dollars in contracts was "inadequate in part," failing to follow the company's internal procedures or even to determine whether subcontractors had performed work.
At the same time, four former Halliburton employees issued signed statements charging that the company had routinely wasted money.
"There was this whole thought process that we can spend whatever we want to because the government won't crack down in the first year of a war," said Marie deYoung, a former logistics officer with the company.
The above quotation suggests a serious degree of collusion, no?
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who's emerged as something of a dragon killer lately, wanted to introduce the whistle-blower testimony at a House Government Reform Committee hearing today but was blocked by Rep. Thomas M. Davis (R-Va.), the panel's chairman. Davis wants more time to look into the allegations. No hurry, Tommy Boy.
Waxman, not taking "no" for an answer, went ahead and released the statements that form the core of this news story. Dragon killer, I'm tellin' ya!
The defense audit is the latest to find fault with Halliburton's practices. Earlier audits concluded that the company overcharged more than $27 million for meals at dining facilities in Iraq, a finding Halliburton has disputed. It also found potential overcharges of up to $61 million for gasoline costs.
The most recent audit, dated May 13, said that the company failed to follow its own procedures for billing the government. It also found that Halliburton frequently did not follow up to see whether subcontractors had performed the work for which they were being paid.
Those findings were echoed by several former employees who contacted Waxman's office to deliver their statements.
Hey, remember the old joke about the guy who was so rich he'd buy a new car when his auto's ash trays were full? Keep reading...
Two other former Halliburton employees who worked as convoy drivers gave Waxman's office statements saying that when the trucks, which cost $85,000, broke down, the vehicles were either burned by the side of the road or abandoned. Both men said they were later fired in an unrelated dispute.
"As someone who has been in trucking for 13 years, I do not understand how a company could ditch a brand-new truck because they didn't have a spare tire," James Warren wrote.
Think about it, James. They didn't have to PAY for the truck...YOU did! And at a nice little mark-up, no doubt.