Army to Pay Halliburton Unit Most Costs Disputed by Audit

[brooklynite]

The Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary for nearly all of its disputed costs on a $2.41 billion no-bid contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq, even though the Pentagon's own auditors had identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially excessive or unjustified.

The Army said in response to questions on Friday that questionable business practices by the subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, had in some cases driven up the company's costs. But in the haste and peril of war, it had largely done as well as could be expected, the Army said, and aside from a few penalties, the government was compelled to reimburse the company for its costs.

Under the type of contract awarded to the company, "the contractor is not required to perform perfectly to be entitled to reimbursement," said Rhonda James, a spokeswoman for the southwestern division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, based in Dallas, where the contract is administered.

The contract has been the subject of intense scrutiny after disclosures in 2003 that it had been awarded without competitive bidding. That produced criticism from Congressional Democrats and others that the company had benefited from its connection with Dick Cheney, who was Halliburton's chief executive before becoming vice president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/international/middleeast/27contract.html?ei=5094&en=8930bc6384bc57a9&hp=&ex=1141102800&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1141016669-BA3iGc6wOHqHmwnzfbEWYA
- - -
Your tax dollars at work for you...

[VegasWolf]

1. Else any naysayers go quail hunting with the VP. nt

[RagingInMiami]

2. Rumsfeld filling Cheney's pockets with government money

[rodeodance]

7. I heard Cheney bought a big house next to Rummy's in Maryland

a few months ago. They will retire in ease.

[RagingInMiami]

14. I would hate to live in that neighborhood

No matter how ritzy it is.

[Up2Late]

3. All that comes to mind is a friendly dog rolling over...

...and someone scratching it's belly.

"who's a good doggie? Huh? Who's a gooooood Doggie?"

[brer cat]

4. Billions for Halliburton, reductions for college education,

children's food and medical care. sigh. * administration as usual.
Move on along...nothing to see here.

[Tight_rope]

13. Taking you advice and moving along!

Too damn mad to say anything about this bullshit!

[OneBlueSky]

5. "Mornin', General . . . Cheney here . . . pay the fuckin' bill!" . . . n/t

.

[luckyleftyme2]

6. could this be?

our goverment has been involved with this company for years. they've changed names and re -invented this corporation several times over the years. this is not the first time that cost over runs and cost increases have been paid to them. both as "halliburton" "brown and root" or whatever name they have gone by. so much so that it may be a cover for the real purpose of it's identity.

[madmark]

8. another reason to get the republicans out of power

[rodeodance]

9. Waxman-""Halliburton gouged the taxpayer"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/international/middleeast/27contract.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
One of Halliburton's most persistent critics, Representative Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat who is the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Government Reform, said in a written statement about the Army's decision, "Halliburton gouged the taxpayer, government auditors caught the company red-handed, yet the Pentagon ignored the auditors and paid Halliburton hundreds of millions of dollars and a huge bonus."

About $208 million of the disputed charges was mostly related to the cost of importing fuel, which was at the heart of the controversy surrounding the contract. Kellogg Brown & Root hired a little-known Kuwaiti company, Altanmia, to transport fuel in enormous truck convoys. The Pentagon auditors found that in part because of the transportation fees that Kellogg Brown & Root agreed to pay Altanmia, the cost for a gallon of gasoline was roughly 40 percent higher than what the American military paid when it did the job itself — under a separate contract it had negotiated with Altanmia.

The Army said in a written statement that it had largely accepted Kellogg Brown & Root's assertions that costs had been driven up by factors beyond its control — the exigencies of war and the hard-line negotiating stance of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The Army said the Kuwaiti fuel company blocked attempts by Kellogg Brown & Root to renegotiate its transportation contract with Altanmia. In the end, the Army decided to pay the Halliburton subsidiary all but $3.81 million of the $208 million in fuel-related costs questioned by auditors.

The Kellogg Brown & Root contract, called Restore Iraqi Oil, or RIO, will be paid with about $900 million of American taxpayer money and $1.5 billion of Iraqi oil proceeds and money seized from Saddam Hussein's government. Official criticism of the work became so intense that in November, an auditing board sponsored by the United Nations recommended that the United States repay some or all of the $208 million related to the alleged fuel overcharges — an allegation Halliburton says has never been justified.....

[brooklynite]

10. Illustration of reimbursement amounts

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/02/26/international/20060227_CONTRACTS_2_GRAPHIC.html

[tecelote]

11. America - It's all about the Money.

[sabra]

12. kick

:kick:

[54anickel]

15. one more

[deadparrot]

16. Army to pay KBR for most disputed Iraq costs: NYT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton Co. subsidiary for nearly all of the $263 million in disputed costs over a contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Citing Army officials, the Times said the military had decided to pay Halliburton engineering and construction unit Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) all but $10 million of the costs which
Pentagon auditors had identified as potentially inflated or unsupported by documentation.

Halliburton, formerly led by Vice President Dick Cheney, has been criticized for its work in Iraq, particularly for some contracts awarded on a "no-bid" or noncompetitive basis.

The disputed costs reported by the Times were part of a $2.4 billion no-bid contract in Iraq. Army officials said that while some actions by KBR had driven up costs, the company had done as well as could be expected under the chaotic conditions of war, according to the Times report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/energy_halliburton_army_dc

[mom cat]

17. Surprise! ...not.

[EuroObserver]

18. Another brick in the wall n/t&r.

[varkam]

19. Halliburton to be reimbursed for most disputed Iraq contract costs

Forbes.com
2.27.06
link

-----

WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US Army has decided to reimburse Halliburton most costs incurred in a 2.4 bln usd no-bid contract in Iraq despite challenges by auditors of more than 200 mln usd of the costs, officials confirmed.

The controversial contract to deliver fuel and repair oil facilities after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq has been at the center of a long-running controversy over allegations of inflated fuel costs and other problems.

Auditors from the Defense Contract Audit Agency questioned more than 206 mln usd in costs submitted by Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), the Halliburton subsidiary awarded the no-bid contract, according to a summary provided by the Army Corps of Engineers.

'Ultimately the contracting officer found most questioned costs, which KBR actually had incurred in executing the mission, should be reimbursed,' the corps said in a statement.

<snip>

[Starfury]

20. Chart from NY Times really puts it in perspective -

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

21. You're shitting me?

Uncle Dick comes through again.

[daleo]

22. What a surprise

A damnable surprise.

[tabasco]

23. Surprise! Surprise!

Did anyone really expect any oversight with the corporate cabal in charge?

Hell no! Republicans exist to make sure corrupt companies like Halliburton get more taxpayer money.

[Algorem]

24. cheneyed again

[Marie26]

25. kick

Unbelievable.

[cantstandbush]

26. Now this should be all over the MSM tonight....but it won't be. n/t