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Page 3 of 3 Rory Maryberry, a former Halliburton contractor, who worked at the dining facilities at the largest military base in Iraq, also testified at the hearing. Mayberry said the company charged the government for serving 20,000 meals a day when it was only serving 10,000 and that he was sent to a more dangerous post as punishment for speaking to auditors. In a video-taped deposition testimony played at the hearing, Mayberry told how Halliburton would sometimes supply food that was more than a year past the expiration date or that had spoiled due to poor refrigeration. The few times the military refused to accept the spoiled food, Maryberry said truckers were told to deliver it to the next base in the hope that they would escape scrutiny. He said that Halliburton was also supposed to serve 600 meals to Turkish and Filipino workers in Iraq, and "although KBR charged for this service, it didn't prepare the meals. Instead, these workers were given leftover food in boxes and garbage bags after the troops ate. Sometimes there were not leftovers to give them," he said. According to Mayberry, "Iraqi drivers of food convoys that arrived on the base were not fed. They were given Meals Ready to Eat, with pork, which they couldn't eat for religious reasons." "As a result, the drivers would raid the trucks for food," he said. The star witness at the hearing was Bunnatine Greenhouse, a former math teacher, who moved up the latter to become the highest ranked civilian employee in the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for signing off on Iraq contracts. She testified that her superiors forced her to sign no-bid contracts for Halliburton on the eve of the invasion of Iraq. She filed a complaint against her superiors for harassment but the harassment has not ceased. She said Pentagon attorneys had to tried to talk her out of testifying at the hearing three days before the hearing date. "I have agreed to voluntarily appear at this hearing in my personal capacity because I have exhausted all internal avenues to correct contracting abuse I observed while serving this great nation as the United States Army Corps of Engineers senior procurement executive," Greenhouse said. "In order to remain true to my oath of office, I must disclose to appropriate members of Congress serious and ongoing contract abuse I cannot address internally," she said. "I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to KBR represents the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career," she said in her testimony. Members of Congress at the hearing reacted strongly to Greenhouse's revelations. "This testimony doesn't just call for Congressional oversight -- it screams for it," Senator Dorgan said. Hover, I have not heard of any oversight hearings in response to Greenhouse's testimony. Instead, about a short time after the hearing I read the August 29, 2005 New York Times which said: "A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance." "The official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse," the Times wrote, "has worked in military procurement for 20 years and for the past several years had been the chief overseer of contracts at the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that has managed much of the reconstruction work in Iraq." In fact, none of testimony by any witness phased the top brass at the Pentagon one bit. On May 1, 2005, the Army quietly awarded the company a new contract worth nearly $5 billion to continue on with its wonderful logistical support of the soldiers in Iraq, and last I knew, the contract is as good as money in the bank for KBR. But then what the hell. People have been nagging Halliburton of war profiteering for over 40 years. In 1966, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Illinois, demanded to know about the 30-year association between Halliburton Chairman George R. Brown and Lyndon B. Johnson. Brown had contributed $23,000 to the President’s Club while the Congress was considering whether to continue another multimillion-dollar Brown & Root Services project, according a report by the Center for Public Integrity, on August 2, 2001. “Why this huge contract has not been and is not now being adequately audited is beyond me. The potential for waste and profiteering under such a contract is substantial,” the indignant Republican Congressman, Donald Rumsfeld said. In 1982, the GAO reported that the company lost accounting control of $120 million and that its security was so poor that millions of dollars worth of equipment had been stolen. For those readers who may hoping that the millions of tax dollar spent on all the investigations and hearings discussed in this report might result in a turn-around by contractors in Iraq, here is a discomforting tidbit. According to the July 15, 2005 Boston Globe, "The federal government's chief investigator yesterday blasted the Pentagon for its ''atrocious financial management," saying the Defense Department was not able to give federal oversight officials a full accounting of the $1 billion being spent each week on the war in Iraq." I'm not sure whether the Americans or the Iraqis are picking up the tab for the billion a week, but I think it must the Iraqis in light of the latest announcement by officials in Iraq. On September 9, 2005, the Guardian reported that, "Key rebuilding projects in Iraq are grinding to a halt because American money is running out and security has diverted funds intended for electricity, water and sanitation, according to US officials." There are an estimated 20,000 foreign security contractors currently in Iraq, with some being paid more than $1,000 a day. According to IG, Stuart Bowen, $5 billion of the $18.4 billion appropriated by Congress for reconstruction, has been diverted to security. A GAO report said that "attacks, threats and intimidation against project contractors and subcontractors" were to blame. For those wondering what kind of bang the Iraqis got for their big bucks, some areas of Iraq still only get less than four hours of electricity a day. The estimated cost of providing enough electricity for the country by 2010 is $20 billion, according to the Guardian. "This testimony doesn't just call for Congressional oversight -- it screams for it," Senator Dorgan |
Water and sanitation projects have been hit hard. According to a report published early this month by the GAO, so far, $2.6 billion has been spent on water projects, but that amount equals only half the sum allocated for the work, because the remainder was spent for security and other uses. A quarter of the $200 million worth of completed water projects handed over to the Iraqi authorities no longer work properly because of "looting, unreliable electricity or inadequate Iraqi staff and supplies," the GAO report said. There has be a surge in cases of dehydration and diarrhea among children and the elderly. Shortages of fuel have produced lines a mile long at gas stations. Crude oil production is averaging around 2.2 million barrels a day, still below its pre-war peaks, according to the Brookings Institution in Washington. As for Halliburton, it is currently facing a number of investigations for overcharging in Iraq, according to a report released in March 2005, by Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA). But hey, what better choice could Bush have made than for Halliburton to get the $700 million reconstruction contract to repair the damage caused by Katrina? I mean, look what the firm has done for the Iraqis. And just think how thankful the Iraqis must feel toward Bush, especially the ones who have managed to stay alive. Recommend this article...
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