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Halliburton Contract Goes Beyond Fires Tue May 6, 8:16 PM ET By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - An emergency contract the Bush administration gave to Halliburton Co. to extinguish Iraqi oil fires also gave the firm a more lucrative role in getting the country's oil system up and running, documents showed Tuesday. A congressional critic of the Houston company, formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), said the administration was hiding the expanded role. A spokeswoman for Halliburton said the company's initial announcement of the contract on March 24 disclosed the larger role for its KBR subsidiary. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman last Friday, disclosed that the no-bid contract included not only extinguishing fires but "operation of facilities and distribution of products." Waxman, D-Calif., senior Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites), wrote Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers of the Corps on Tuesday, saying the contract "is considerably broader in scope than previously known." The lawmaker also said the Corps' proposal to replace the Halliburton contract with another long-term deal was at odds with administration statements that Iraq (news - web sites)'s oil belongs to the Iraqi people. KBR was given the right to extinguish the oil fires under an existing, contingency contract. Cheney's office has said repeatedly the vice president had no role in the contract award. Carol Sanders, a spokeswoman for the Corps of Engineers, said officials were reviewing the letter but had no immediate response. Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall pointed to the company's announcement of the contract in March, which she said revealed the extent of the work. The release said: "KBR's initial task involves hazard and operational assessment, extinguishing oil well fires, capping oil well blowouts, as well as responding to any oil spills. Following this task, KBR will perform emerg ency repair, as directed, to provide for the continuity of operations of the Iraqi oil infrastructure." Hall said KBR is assisting Iraq's oil ministry to get the oil system operating. Waxman countered, "Only now, over five weeks after the contract was first disclosed, are members of Congress and the public learning that Halliburton may be asked to pump and distribute Iraqi oil under the contract." Waxman also has repeated the Corps' statement that the contract could be worth up to $7 billion for up to two years, but the Corps said that figure was a cap based on a worst-case scenario of oil well fires. In fact, few wells were burning during the war with Iraq and the Corps said that by early April, the company had been paid $50.3 million. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk