Halliburton is one of the largest oil-field services companies in the world - and is becoming a well-known name. It has earned the lion's share of multi-billion dollar contracts in Iraq since the U.S.-led military intervention. But the company is in the spotlight for another reason as well: Vice President Dick Cheney ran Halliburton for five years before joining the Bush presidential ticket.
Now both Halliburton and Mr. Cheney are under fire from critics, including Democratic lawmakers like Californian Senator Barbara Boxer. The latest accusations against Halliburton - including price gouging, bribery, and accounting fraud - were the focus of a Senate hearing held February 13. ?We have learned that Halliburton has overcharged the American taxpayers $61 million through September 2003 for gas deliveries,? she said. ?Halliburton has admitted to the Pentagon that two of their employees took kick-backs worth up to $6 million in return for rewarding a Kuwaiti-based company a contract to supply U.S. troops in Iraq. Halliburton, through its network of subcontractors, billed for 42,000 meals a day but served 14,000 meals a day. That's a new low in wartime profiteering.?
Halliburton has responded by agreeing to suspend billing while Pentagon auditors investigate the charges. The company says, however, this should not be interpreted as a sign of misconduct. The firm defends the price it paid for gas and has welcomed an independent examination by the Kuwaiti parliament on its business practices.
Halliburton has consistently said all its dealings have been in line with the U.S. laws and strongly denies any wrongdoing, except in the case of two former employees who accepted kick-backs of six million dollars.
Halliburton has also come under scrutiny by a number of federal departments and is defending itself on the national airwaves. In one ad, the chief executive officer of the company, David Lesar, says "Criticism is OK. We can take it. Criticism is not failure. Will things go wrong? Sure they will. It's a war zone. But when they do, we'll fix it. We always have - for 60 years for both political parties. We're serving the troops because of what we know, not who we know."
Meanwhile, Halliburton continues to restore Iraq's oil sector and support U.S. troops in Iraq by building bases, cooking food, washing clothes, delivering mail and providing other basic services. Observers agree the firm operates under some of the toughest conditions and has provided much needed services in war-torn Iraq.
But critics say this does not entitle the company to massive profiteering and sloppy accounting of U.S. taxpayers' money. The opposition Democratic Party considers the company's conduct and possible ties to the Bush administration a serious campaign issue. Bill Allison of the Center for Public Integrity - a Washington investigative non-profit organization - has analyzed Halliburton's fortunes. He says with an election around the corner, the issue has become politically charged. ?In Congress, it is always going to be about politics and ethics only matter when the other guy is doing something wrong. Yes, the Democrats will try to make as much about as they can, but that does not mean there is not some underlying reality to some of these charges that does need to be looked into very carefully.?
One of those charges is that the vice president continues to receive money from Halliburton. New Jersey Democratic lawmaker Frank Lautenberg, member of the Senate Committee of Government Affairs and former top corporate executive, said: ?Several months ago, I learned that Vice President Cheney - who was the CEO of Halliburton before his election - continues to receive income from the company that actually exceeds his salary as vice president. Now it is deferred compensation. The non-partisan, congressional research service determined the payment constitutes an ongoing financial relationship.?
The report concluded that under federal ethics standards the Vice President still has a financial interest in Halliburton. Mr. Cheney denied this on the television network NBC's program "Meet the Press" last September. ?Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I have severed all my ties with the company,? he said. ?I've gotten ride of all my financial interest. I have had no financial interest in the last three years. And as vice president I have no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of any contracts led by the corps of engineers.?