June 16, 2004

Guess what? On June 19 our favorite company Halliburton celebrated its 80th birthday. But when it comes to Halliburton, age doesn't seem to bring wisdom. Vice President Cheney's company made headlines AGAIN this week, and we think it's about time for Halliburton to be banned from getting U.S. government contracts for the next 80 years!

Here's a little run-down of recent Halliburton related events:

*Between December 2003 and May 2004, news reports repeatedly documented a pattern of fraud, waste, and corruption by Halliburton in Iraq. In December, a Pentagon investigation found evidence that Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) had overcharged the U.S. government some $61 million for fuel deliveries from Kuwait to Iraq. In January, Halliburton admitted to the Pentagon that two of its employees took up to $6 million in kickbacks for awarding a Kuwaiti-based company with work in Iraq. Then in early February it was reported that the company had agreed to repay the U.S. government some $27 million for meals that were never served to American troops. In May, the Coalition Provisional Authority's inspector general started raising questions about the bills that Halliburton had racked up at a five-star beachfront hotel near Kuwait City. And twelve Halliburton truck drivers claimed they risked their lives driving empty trucks in Iraq while their employer billed the government for hauling absolutely nothing.

*In late May, Time Magazine obtained Pentagon emails which said Vice President Dick Cheney's office coordinated the awarding of an Iraq contract to Halliburton, despite Cheney's insistence that he had no influence whatsoever over contract decisions regarding Halliburton. In June, Rep. Henry Waxman's office obtained even more documentation of the White House's involvement in awarding lucrative Iraq contracts to Halliburton. To summarize, Cheney, the former Halliburton CEO, pushed for the Iraq war in his capacity as vice president, and then helped his former employer get some $9 billion in contracts to "reconstruct" the country that had been destroyed in the war. Meanwhile, Cheney continues to be paid more than $150,000 annually by Halliburton.

* As if that weren't all enough, this week, five more Halliburton whistleblowers accused the company of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars in Iraq. They say that Halliburton: Lodged 100 workers at a five-star hotel in Kuwait for a total of $10,000 a day while the Pentagon wanted them to stay in tents, like soldiers, at $139 a night; Abandoned $85,000 trucks because of flat tires and minor problems; Paid $100 to have a 15-pound bag of laundry cleaned as part of a million-dollar laundry contract in peaceful Kuwait. The price for cleaning the same amount of laundry in war-torn Iraq was $28; Spent $1.50 a can to buy 37,200 cans of soda in Kuwait, about 24 times higher than the contract price; and knowingly paid subcontractors twice for the same bill.

Global Exchange has been demanding penalties for war profiteering for months now. In February, we co-sponsored a national day of protest against war profiteering that had participation from 20 cities. On May 19, we raised hell at the Halliburton shareholders meeting in Houston and hung a banner reading "Cheney's in bed with Halliburton and We Got Screwed" out the window of the hotel where the shareholders were meeting. In our humble opinion, it is beyond high time to put this war profiteering to an end!

Take Action - Call Congress and Raise Hell About Halliburton's War Profiteering!

*Call Congress NOW and tell your Senators and Representatives to finally pass legislation that penalizes war profiteering. You might also mention that they should REVOKE HALLIBURTON'S CONTRACTS!

The Capitol Switchboard is 202-224-3121. Make those phones ring off the hook.

For more info, see www.halliburtonwatch.org.