Halliburton Scandal: Iraq War

Such a dirty play by Halliburton to make maximum profits may boil the blood of many American citizens, considering that it was the taxpayer’s money that was played with. Nonetheless, the “crimes” of Halliburton did not stop here. In addition to “cheating” the US government by hoarding money, Halliburton further betrayed the government by failing to meet their necessary duties. According to a Halliburton employee, “the company had little concern for the well-being of the soldiers”. Upon conducting an inspection, it was discovered that 63 out of 67 water tanks on the bases weren’t providing safe water. The marines showered with this infested water everyday, leaving them vulnerable to pathogens that may cause malaria, typhus, and many such threatening diseases! In addition, the soldiers were required to wait 1-2 hrs in a sandstorm just to get their lunch. This simply because Halliburton would not go on a 24-hour feeding schedule which could allow the meals to be served in dinning halls instead.

The Halliburton Scandal was soon uncovered by the Pentagon auditors in May 2004 as “systematic deficiencies” in Halliburton’s business practices. The auditors found that some contracts were missing, others were carelessly written with “little or no effort in seeking competitive offers”. The auditors found that many contracts were highly inflated and showed little or no documentation of work completed or goods delivered. As the investigation proceeded, it was also discovered that Halliburton accepted bribes from subcontractors in the Gulf. The company that gave the most bribe was usually the one that was assigned the contract. One of the key officials caught in this scandal was the KBR manager Jeff Alex Mazon. In June 2003, Mazon quit his job but was arrested 3 months later for accepting $1 million in bribes from La Nouvelle company and was charged with four counts of major fraud and six counts of wire fraud. As the investigation continued, many KBR managers in Kuwait quit or were fired. The Halliburton company was charged for grossly overcharging for meals, laundry, and fuel. The company repayed the US government $210 million for its misdemeanor.

The Halliburton scandal, as it slowly unfolded, shook the US government and put a big question mark on the accountability of our leaders. The role of “revolving door” politics was greatly challenged as an FBI probe was set up to investigate the role of Dick Cheney or any other government official in the Halliburton scandal. Although no link between any government official and the private sector was confirmed, it can not be ignored that Dick Cheney perhaps had a major role in backing Halliburton and awarding it the contract. In fact, it was determined that in 5 years that Dick Cheney was associated with the Halliburton company, his fortune jumped from $1 million to over $70 million. Such an episode really makes one question the future of an America where the leaders may be willing to push the country to war just to fulfill their selfish motives!