Wednesday, June 29, 2005

I really did not want my first post to be about Iraq, but this was too compelling. Regardless if you think we were liberating a country from an evil dictator or if we were there just for the oil (which I think both are true) both sides will be appalled at Halliburton and its subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root’s (KBR) war profiteering, which President Truman equated with treason, or the media for thinking that the runaway bride and other banal nonsense are more newsworthy than the American taxpayer and military getting the shaft.
On 27 June 2005, the Democratic Policy Committee in the House of Representatives held a hearing on Halliburton’s over charging and other crimes. The information covered in the 142 minute meeting was disturbing enough, until about 50 minutes in to the meeting, Rory Mayberry, a former food production manager at a U.S. military base for KBR from February-April 2004 testified on how well KBR "supported the troops." His allegations included:
KBR managers ordering workers to ignore military sanitation regulations
Troops being fed rancid and year old food.
The good food that does show up, went to thrice weekly KBR managers BBQ
Workers being ordered to dig bullets out of the food to be fed to the food, bullets to be turned over to KBR managers for souvenirs.
The Army being charged $45 per case of soda.
The Army being billed for meals never served.
If you have broadband, go to c-span.org and watch it with Real Player