aggravatedTo: VP Cheney
Back in February it came out that Halliburton was one of the companies being awarded no-bid contracts; at the time, Bechtel was the big winner, and Halliburton was scheduled to get "only" $37.5 million. It has recently come out that further contracts have been awarded to Halliburton -- their tab is up to $1.7 billion, and may continue to expand; some estimates have it going as high as $7 billion.
Dear Vice President Cheney,
I am writing because I am deeply troubled by the appearance of favoritism in choosing your former company, Halliburton, Inc., to receive potentially billions of dollars worth of contracts to help rebuild Iraq. Knowing Halliburton's close ties to the Administration, it is hard not to question the huge no-bid contract it was awarded in March by the Army Corps of Engineers. It is also difficult to swallow the amount of secrecy surrounding the actual costs American taxpayers are paying Halliburton for their services.
Why is Halliburton still the only company benefiting from a contract worth up to $7 billion despite promises to create a competitive bidding process? Are Halliburton's connections influencing decisions about who gets Defense contracts?
Sincerely,
(etc)
