Hillary Slams Halliburton for 'Exorbitant Charges'
Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004 11:43 a.m. EST
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is blasting Halliburton, the oil services company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, for what she described as its "exorbitant charges" for gasoline supplied to Iraq - even though the Army Corps of Engineers was singled out as the guilty party in a Pentagon report released yesterday.
In a statement that didn't even mention Halliburton, the Pentagon said the Defense Energy Support Center would develop new contracts with its own terms and conditions for the import of fuel to Iraq - a change that would remove Cheney's old firm from the process.
In a report detailing the switch, the New York Times noted that it was the Army Corps of Engineers that had been "criticized for its management of a Halliburton contract to bring fuel to Iraq."
But that didn't stop Sen. Clinton from zeroing in on Cheney's old firm, telling the New York Daily News yesterday, "Hopefully, [the change] will end the exorbitant charges for the importation and distribution of gasoline."
Chiming in alongside Clinton, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said the news shows the need for "tough scrutiny for Halliburton and its fairy godfather, Dick Cheney."
Under the Clinton administration, Halliburton received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction contracts for rebuilding efforts in Kosovo and Haiti.
Halliburton officials said yesterday they were relieved that others would now be responsible for securing gas and oil for the Iraq rebuilding effort, calling the task "dangerous for our people."
Since it began work in the country, Halliburton has had four employees killed, and its subcontractor has had three drivers killed and 10 injured, with 60 vehicles damaged or destroyed, according to the Financial Times in London.
On Monday the New York Times published the results of its own comprehensive investigation into the company's dealings in Iraq, saying it had uncovered "no evidence of profiteering" by Halliburton.
The company's profits in the rebuilding effort so far have in fact been "minimal," the Times said.
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