Halliburton Gets $250 Million Disputed Costs Paid

I guess the best client a business could have is the United States
government:

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.

Article continues

here.

This is absurd. What will it take to get a Truman style committee to
investigate war profiteering? I know the answer - Democrats to be in charge.
Can't expect ethics with the most corrupt party at the helm.