Halliburton/Kellogg contract disputes continue (moved from ATSNN)

Kellogg Co.*(see note at end) is a Halliburton subsidiary and has been involved in questionable contract disputes. In a related story about Kellogg's dubious billing from the Mercury News government auditor recommendations to withhold nearly $90 million in payments was not heeded by the U.S. Army.

The Bush Whitehouse is embroiled in contract disputes related to over-billing and questionable charges from Halliburton and its subsidiaries. Government auditors had recommended large withholdings of monies due to be paid to Kellogg because of improper and dubious practices involved in Iraq. One has to wonder what else is to develop.



Bad news seems to cascade in from Iraq for America. While the military goals still seem distant and problematic construction and rebuilding goals for Iraq are oft times buried under allegations of over billing and contract fraud.
In a related story Halliburton claimed:

from the Washington Post

Halliburton remains central to many accusations not only from opponents of the Whitehouse but from government and U.S. Army auditors. While a 15% �holdback� is part of many U.S. government contracts this set of clauses also are not routinely enforced. The rationale behind the holdback is to protect the government against loss. As Halliburton and its subsidiaries have many contracts and have done business with the U.S. government for many, many years.

Mother Jones(MotherJones.com)Presents a view of the breadth and scope of Halliburton and its operations. Sources: Countries with Halliburton offices based on company reports. Defense-related contracts include federal task orders or contracts awarded or budgeted since September 11, 2001 by the Defense, Energy, and State Departments and the National Institutes of Health. In some cases, costs are represented at the location of the approving agency. Unassigned Iraqi Freedom costs are represented in Iraq. Federal subsidies for energy projects include loan guarantees and grants shared by Halliburton since 1995 from the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Tax havens include subsidiaries in 2002 located in countries identified as offshore shelters by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based on company reports.

Yet another source lists even more Halliburton excesses. These as relate to Vice President Cheney as well as Halliburton.

www.commondreams.com
the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers awarded a no-bid contract to extinguish oil well fires in Iraq to Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton. The contract was granted under a January Bush administration waiver that, according to the Washington Post, allowed "government agencies to handpick companies for Iraqi reconstruction projects."

The list seems almost endless. Is America really this wealthy? Can any nation afford to pour funds in to one trough as if there is no tomorrow?

*Special thanks to Banshee for saving me from a real bad news gaff!

The URLs below relate to Halliburton construction billing problems

Related News Links:
www.washingtonpost.com
www.nytimes.com
money.cnn.com

[edit on 29-11-2004 by JoeDoaks]