[cmccuist]

Working in Iraq is neither going to make or break Halliburton. The $1.2 billion isn't even that big a contract for them. My company (Bechtel) got a $700 million contract to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq. This also isn't a huge project for us. There are only a few companies that can marshall the resources and manpower and move right into a project of this type seamlessly. If you took those contracts from Bechtel and Halliburton, we wouldn't even feel it.

Bechtel and Flour are the largest Engineering and Construction firms in the US and do about $7-8 billion/yr. So the Iraq work is roughly 5-10% of the gross (it's a multi-year contract) We have been doing that for many years now. I believe Halliburton is a $20 billion/yr company, but they do more than just engineering and construction.

These companies have a history in the middle east. Bechtel actually built a lot of the oil field projects in Iraq. I had buddies in Iraq who had to get out when Saddam went into Kuwait. The left is pissed because there's just too much of a "who cares" attitude about Halliburton among the general public.