gave it a bit of a different spin - it's nothing, just those Dems whining again. :eyes:
Halliburton's Work in Iran Stirs Democrats http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A110-2004Jul20.htmlDemocrats who have been hammering away at Halliburton Co. and its former chief executive Dick Cheney about the company's work in Iraq yesterday added Iran to their list of complaints.
In a conference call with reporters, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said he found it "unconscionable" that a Halliburton subsidiary appeared to be doing business with a country tied to terrorist activities at a time Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive.
The conference call, organized by the presidential campaign of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), came one day after Halliburton disclosed that a federal prosecutor had subpoenaed documents as part of an investigation of whether a Halliburton subsidiary violated anti-terror sanctions on Iran. "This is such an outrageous bit of news," Lautenberg said.
In a filing with federal regulators Monday, Halliburton disclosed that the three-year investigation had escalated from an inquiry by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.
Such cases are referred to Justice only when there is evidence "intentional or willful" violations have occurred, government officials said.
more...
Then there's this gem from Salon on Unca Dick (what a friggen loser)
Halliburton's boss from hellhttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/07/21/halliburton/July 21, 2004 | In early September, during the Republican National Convention, the GOP is almost certain to name Dick Cheney as its nominee for vice president of the United States. In the meantime, it's clear that Cheney deserves another nomination: as one of the worst CEOs in recent American history.
Of course, there are plenty of CEOs that should to be on that list, including Enron's Kenneth Lay, Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski and Adelphia's John Rigas. While those bosses certainly are being pilloried, Cheney's disastrous five-year-long tenure at Halliburton deserves far more scrutiny than the mainstream business press has bothered to provide.
Cheney's job at Halliburton is particularly newsworthy now that John Kerry has chosen John Edwards as his running mate. The Republicans have already begun hammering Edwards for his work as a trial lawyer; Democrats have an opportunity to bash Cheney's performance at Halliburton. Given the wreckage that Cheney left behind, that record offers a target-rich environment.
Since Cheney's departure, the company's net worth has gone into free-fall, debt has soared, and it is now facing embarrassing legal entanglements that could hamper its profitability for years to come. Furthermore, despite being the largest oil-field services company on earth (last year, its revenues surpassed those of French giant Schlumberger), Halliburton hasn't been able to make any money. Instead, it's losing money -- lots of money. In 2002, the company lost $1 billion. In 2003, despite revenues of $16.2 billion, it lost another $800 million. In the first quarter of this year, losses totaled $65 million. More bad news is expected when the company reports its second quarter results on Friday.
The latest dose of Cheney-related bad news came on Monday, when Halliburton announced that the Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation of the company in connection with the operations of one of its subsidiaries in Iran...
more...