D'oh - posting weirdness -- Iraq Inspector Cites Halliburton Cost Problems

[Barrett808]

Iraq Inspector Cites Halliburton Cost Problems
By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States' chief inspector in Iraq said on Thursday his audits had found problems with prices charged by Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root for work in Iraq and Kuwait.

Stuart Bowen, inspector general for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, told Reuters that aside from problems found with hotel costs and the purchase of trucks, a broad audit would soon be announced on KBR's task of providing services to the CPA, because of concerns over pricing.

"I think the danger drives security costs but not for everything else. Their security costs are high because of the danger and that is to be expected but tying the loss of life to costs is inappropriate," he said in an interview.

Halliburton, which was run by Vice President Dick Cheney until he joined the race for the White House in 2000, is the U.S. military's biggest logistics contractor in Iraq and provides services ranging from laundry to oil work.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040506/pl_nm/iraq_halliburton_dc&cid=615&ncid=1480