Halliburton unit exploited rules

[kach22i]

Cheney's old firm is in the news again.

Report: Halliburton unit exploited rules
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061027/ap_on_go_ot/iraq_contracts

WASHINGTON - The Halliburton subsidiary that provides food, shelter and other logistics to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan exploited federal regulations to hide details on its contract performance, according to a report released Friday.

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The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction found that Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown & Root Services routinely marked all information it gave to the government as proprietary, whether it was or not. The government promises not to disclose proprietary data so a company's most valuable information is not divulged to its competitors.

By marking all information proprietary — including such normally releasable data as labor rates — the company abused federal regulations, the report says.

In effect, Kellogg, Brown & Root turned the regulations "into a mechanism to prevent the government from releasing normally transparent information, thus potentially hindering competition and oversight."

Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann said that since the current contract is being reviewed and may be divided among several contractors, "It is clearly appropriate to mark data as proprietary that could potentially be used for competitive purposes" as would be the case in any new contract.

She said such proprietary markings have been used on a majority of the data for at least the last decade, and the company will work with the military on matters outlined in the interim report as the final audit is completed.

The Iraq reconstruction audits have routinely found significant problems with contracting and rebuilding in the country, ranging from high costs for security and overhead to alleged fraud and lack of oversight.

Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record) of North Dakota, chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, said that in 13 oversight hearings on the war in Iraq the committee found more than $1 billion in waste, fraud, abuse and what it called "shoddy work" by contractors.

"I'm convinced that this is the most significant waste, fraud and abuse in the history of this country," Dorgan said.

If the Democrats take control of the Senate, he said, they will launch oversight hearings on war matters ranging from faulty intelligence leading up to the war to wrongdoing by contractors.

___

AP Writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

[Dottore]

Oh golly gosh really?

Halliburton exploited rules??

Are we all giggling virgins???

[fastpat]

There's a few other issues with this company, and with the "Reconstruction" program.

Halliburton Hid Performance Deficiencies in Services to Troops

The Jackal's Feast Goes On

Now the mission is accomplished!

And, let's not forget the travesty of nation-building in Afghanistan.
Nato forces kill 'up to 85' civilians in Afghan attack

[Porsche-O-Phile]

In other shocking news:

The sky is blue.
Water is wet.
If you bang your head against the wall, it hurts.
Chuck Norris is God.

[Moneyguy1]

But why bang your head against the wall?

Because it feels so good when you stop.

[scottmandue]

Crap! got in too late to make a smart a$$ comment.


Your telling me politicians lieing money grubbing cheats?

SAY IT AIN'T SO!

There, that's my best effort.

[Moneyguy1]

scott..

We have been misled. Our elected officials are all noble, truly humanitarian individuals whose only goal is to honestly and fairly serve the public, emphasizing cooperation and understanding between the political parties. At no time would any administration stoop to unethical practices, engage in self serving activities or advocate hatred for those who do not fully agree with current parties.

I am confident there are posters here who will verify the above.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally posted by scottmandue
Crap! got in too late to make a smart a$$ comment.


Your telling me politicians lieing money grubbing cheats?

SAY IT AIN'T SO!

There, that's my best effort.

LOL! You're a man after my own heart. I just got up earlier today I guess. . .