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(AP) Obvious Apparently, the Pentagon is now on the honor system: An internal audit of $8 billion paid to Iraqi and U.S. contractors finds that the government skirted the rules designed to prevent fraud in almost every transaction   (hosted.ap.org) divider line 81
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Hobodeluxe [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 08:10:18 AM  
Mission Accomplished!!

 
Pocket Ninja [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 08:15:12 AM  
I wonder how much of it went to Halliburton.

 
keylock71 2008-05-23 08:45:45 AM  
Don't you understand?

If we try to prevent fraud and graft and kick backs to political supporters or maintain a system of check and balances then the terrorists have won.

 
The Onanist [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 08:48:59 AM  
Fraud? In MY illegal war?

It's more likely than you think.

 
2wolves 2008-05-23 09:04:38 AM  
Doing a heckuva job ___________.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:20:03 AM  
Pocket Ninja: I wonder how much of it went to Halliburton.

halliburton is no longer over there.....

 
Generation_D [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:21:01 AM  
Blackwater and KBR on the other hand....

 
FlashHarry [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:24:36 AM  
aren't they missing something like nine billion dollars - that's billion, with a "b" - from the paul bremer viceroy days? i heard they were delivering 8'x8'x8' palates of shrinkwrapped hundred-dollar bills to iraq in those days. billions in untraceable cash delivered into an unstable war zone? now that's a great idea!

 
FlashHarry [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:25:46 AM  
dammit, i meant "pallets." i always get that wrong!

 
Pocket Ninja [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:38:19 AM  
rhino33: halliburton is no longer over there.....

The money was paid out over a 5-year period.

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 09:47:21 AM  
FlashHarry: aren't they missing something like nine billion dollars - that's billion, with a "b" - from the paul bremer viceroy days? i heard they were delivering 8'x8'x8' palates of shrinkwrapped hundred-dollar bills to iraq in those days. billions in untraceable cash delivered into an unstable war zone? now that's a great idea!


Even worse, they may have traded those pallets for pallets of Charmin.

Queue the REAL outrage!

 
SherKhan 2008-05-23 09:48:58 AM  
img.photobucket.com

If, my friends, I can be bold:
We cannot say we were not told.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:52:15 AM  
Pocket Ninja: The money was paid out over a 5-year period.

that's all fine and good, but halliburton had nothing to do with it. it was KBR.

 
weezbo [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 09:59:27 AM  
rhino33: that's all fine and good, but halliburton had nothing to do with it. it was KBR.

Which was a subsidiary of Halliburton until April of last year.

 
Pocket Ninja [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:09:16 AM  
weezbo: Which was a subsidiary of Halliburton until April of last year.

Ssshhh.

 
dahmers love zombie [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:16:09 AM  
This article is such biased claptrap. I don't believe for a minute that the Pentagon has any rules or regulations designed to prevent fraud.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:16:27 AM  
weezbo: Which was a subsidiary of Halliburton until April of last year.



ever wonder why we spun them off??

 
Diogenes [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:28:39 AM  
FlashHarry: aren't they missing something like nine billion dollars - that's billion, with a "b" - from the paul bremer viceroy days? i heard they were delivering 8'x8'x8' palates of shrinkwrapped hundred-dollar bills to iraq in those days. billions in untraceable cash delivered into an unstable war zone? now that's a great idea!

That's what I was wondering. Is this the same $8 billion in Bremer's walking around money, or another $8 billion down the toilet?

 
weezbo [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:29:24 AM  
rhino33: ever wonder why we spun them off??

"we"
?

You work for Hated Evilcorp?

Neat. They offer profit sharing?

As to the answer to your question: because the people who own Halliburton felt they could get more out of KBR by owning the stock as private investors, perhaps? Or so people like you could go into threads and in front of pundits and say "that wasn't Halliburton!" when news like this comes up?

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 10:33:16 AM  
dahmers love zombie: This article is such biased claptrap. I don't believe for a minute that the Pentagon has any rules or regulations designed to prevent fraud.

They sure USED to...

As the proud holder of a USAF Logistics Command cage code, I can tell you that the Pentagon used to have very stringent controls on this stuff.

Then Cheney, who was the CEO of Halliburton when he was tapped for the Veep Seat, illegally privatized the war, pushed-through no-bid contracts, and effectively eliminated all of the checks and balances that had worked reasonably-well for years.

This is quite a bit more serious than the $20,000 toilet seat fiascos.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:38:13 AM  
weezbo: You work for Hated Evilcorp?

yes, and not really. we do have a stock purchase plan but since the split, our stock hasn't done much. and the answer to your question is probably both. plausible deniability FTW! =]

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 10:42:38 AM  
Nestea Plunge: "what'd you do in the war, daddy?"

"I laundered money"


Technically, he was a "Waste Collection Tech", second class...

www.thefreefood.net

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 10:49:25 AM  
Giblet


while i don't agree with it, that's a good one.

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 11:04:00 AM  
rhino33: Giblet

while i don't agree with it, that's a good one.


Free country and all that... But I wouldn't go around telling people who you work for. There are already many people who will do bad things to you if they find out who you work for.

Eventually, current/recent-past Halliburton employees will be hunted just as Treblinka camp guards were hunted. No, that new hunt won't be legal either. The illegality of a witch hunt is seldom a comfort to the staked witch.

 
mediaho 2008-05-23 11:09:38 AM  
weezbo: Or so people like you could go into threads and in front of pundits and say "that wasn't Halliburton!" when news like this comes up?

Bingo. Halliburton is getting a bad name so the logical response is not to change unconscionable behavior, but to change the name.

And apparently some people fall for it.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 11:10:31 AM  
oh i've had my windshield spat on, the side of my work truck keyed, tires slashed, and equipment stolen. i just shake my head at it all. people of course are entitled to their opinion, but when they are blaming halliburton for killing their son or daughter in the war (as i heard in one picket line) i kind of lose it, ya know?

 
mediaho 2008-05-23 11:15:26 AM  
rhino33: oh i've had my windshield spat on, the side of my work truck keyed, tires slashed, and equipment stolen. i just shake my head at it all. people of course are entitled to their opinion, but when they are blaming halliburton for killing their son or daughter in the war (as i heard in one picket line) i kind of lose it, ya know?

They didn't start the war so I don't blame them for any deaths, but they are (have been) profiteering from it. Some find that equally despicable.

But vandalism is unacceptable and I'm sorry for your loss.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 11:21:48 AM  
mediaho: They didn't start the war so I don't blame them for any deaths, but they are (have been) profiteering from it

were there over charges, yes. when an army asks you to provide food, clothing, and shelter for a certain number of troops and only half actually show up to eat, there's going to be a surplus. now the crazy prices for simple items (like an $8 bolt) that were charged i can't really explain.

what was not said on the news or the news papers anywhere was that Halliburton cut a check to the U.S. government for every penny the auditors found during the original investigation. we're still paying for it, litterally out of a trust.

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 11:24:45 AM  
rhino33: oh i've had my windshield spat on, the side of my work truck keyed, tires slashed, and equipment stolen. i just shake my head at it all. people of course are entitled to their opinion, but when they are blaming halliburton for killing their son or daughter in the war (as i heard in one picket line) i kind of lose it, ya know?

Why do you "lose it"?

Their reaction, while completely inappropriate, is completely understandable. You're damned lucky that those people haven't lost a child in Iraq or they might easily have shot you from half a mile away.

Don't even ask why... You KNOW why. But for everyone else who pretends at ignorance:

Halliburton is indirectly responsible for every US soldier, and every Iraqi citizen, killed by the Iraq war.

If Halliburton had never existed in any form, we wouldn't be in Iraq.

The Iraq war is Dick Cheney's private war. Halliburton is the only entity that has gained anything from it.

If you dig just a teensy bit, you'll find that the reason Osama bin Laden was so quickly fingered for 9/11 is that Halliburton needed access to Afghanistan.

While it's probably tinfoil nonsense, it is undeniable that Cheney had every reason to permit 9/11 to happen without interference, and if anyone calls that man 'too patriotic for such behavior', here is your virtual biatch-slap. Bap!

You've been VERY lucky so far. I honestly hope the mods shut this thread down before some grief-stricken parent reads it and starts analyzing everything you've ever posted for clues.

 
George_W_Hussein 2008-05-23 11:30:25 AM  
For those of you who are curious why the government and those in power distract us with WMDs, gay marriage, and illegals jumping the border to take our $4 an hour jobs and bilk the system for a couple hundred bucks.

This is why.

 
rhino33 [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 11:30:26 AM  
Giblet: If Halliburton had never existed in any form, we wouldn't be in Iraq.

wow, just wow. i'm not even going to start this shiat with you. you clearly are batshiat insane and in desperate need of professional help. go read another conspiracy novel.

 
Headso 2008-05-23 11:31:09 AM  
mediaho: I'm sorry for your loss of tire pressure.


ftfy

 
vernonFL [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 11:35:04 AM  
Giblet: Halliburton is indirectly responsible for every US soldier, and every Iraqi citizen, killed by the Iraq war.

If Halliburton had never existed in any form, we wouldn't be in Iraq.

The Iraq war is Dick Cheney's private war. Halliburton is the only entity that has gained anything from it.


Um, uh.. I don't know what to say except that...

You are indirectly responsible for every soldier that died in the war. So am I.

 
AuralArgument 2008-05-23 11:36:08 AM  
Is it just me or is America turning into an Anarcho-capitalist state quite quickly and only adapting it's worst traits?

 
PottyMcNugg 2008-05-23 11:37:52 AM  
vernonFL:

You are indirectly responsible for every soldier that died in the war. So am I.


I'm not. I voted against George The Lesser twice.

 
Tacoby Bellisbury 2008-05-23 11:39:29 AM  
Giblet: If you dig just a teensy bit, you'll find that the reason Osama bin Laden was so quickly fingered for 9/11 is that Halliburton needed access to Afghanistan.

Yeah, it couldn't be, you know, the fact that he actually did 9-11.

I bet you get your tinfoil in bulk!

 
hockeyfarker [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 11:40:07 AM  
I thought it was worth a read.

The Great Iraq War Swindle (new window)

What Halliburton has done in Iraq is wrong. But they were definitely not alone. There was plenty of others. And it all could have been prevented with some incredibly basic steps.

Those morons don't even have INVOICES for some of this stuff. I have a farking receipt for the bacon and eggs I ate this morning, but these morons are writing $11 million dollar checks for nothing. At any business worth two shakes of a congressman's dick somebody would have been fired for this insanity.

 
reveal101 2008-05-23 11:40:47 AM  
rhino33: Giblet: If Halliburton had never existed in any form, we wouldn't be in Iraq.

wow, just wow. i'm not even going to start this shiat with you. you clearly are batshiat insane and in desperate need of professional help. go read another conspiracy novel.


Yeah Giblet, that remark was rather facetious.

 
hockeyfarker [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 11:41:07 AM  
Two Cats One Bowl: I don't understand this "war profiteer" thingy. Are you willing to provide goods and services to the government for free? Then why are you bashing companies for charging for their goods and services?

You have GOT to be trolling

 
ucfknights 2008-05-23 11:42:41 AM  
i190.photobucket.com

 
Headso 2008-05-23 11:43:17 AM  
Two Cats One Bowl: I don't understand this "war profiteer" thingy. Are you willing to provide goods and services to the government for free? Then why are you bashing companies for charging for their goods and services?

4/10

 
glenlivid 2008-05-23 11:46:40 AM  
Diogenes: FlashHarry: aren't they missing something like nine billion dollars - that's billion, with a "b" - from the paul bremer viceroy days? i heard they were delivering 8'x8'x8' palates of shrinkwrapped hundred-dollar bills to iraq in those days. billions in untraceable cash delivered into an unstable war zone? now that's a great idea!

That's what I was wondering. Is this the same $8 billion in Bremer's walking around money, or another $8 billion down the toilet?


Unfortunately, it's different. The 9 billion that was flown over on pallets was to be used for paying the people of Iraq, on some willy-nilly basis, for things like grievances. All of it is gone. Most of it was probably stolen and/or used for "hidden projects".

The article is simply examining the the complete lack of oversight on the money paid to contractors.

While I don't agree with this war on any level, we certainly could have paid less than 1/10 the price if there would have been oversight/sanity involved with the process. As it is, it's hard to make a case for keeping this money-grab going on any level.

Wait until we start hearing more about the war crimes committed by us while we were there. I don't think the U.S. has observed ANY conventions of war (although that seems to be the easiest thing for the military to cover up; missing money is a bit more obvious).

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 11:49:01 AM  
rhino33: Giblet: If Halliburton had never existed in any form, we wouldn't be in Iraq.

wow, just wow. i'm not even going to start this shiat with you. you clearly are batshiat insane and in desperate need of professional help. go read another conspiracy novel.


Change your name to CleoPatriot or something while you're playing Queen of Denial.

If you're smart, you'll just STFU and stop telling strangers who you work for like some suicidal retard. Or don't.

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 11:51:00 AM  
Tacoby Bellisbury: Giblet: If you dig just a teensy bit, you'll find that the reason Osama bin Laden was so quickly fingered for 9/11 is that Halliburton needed access to Afghanistan.

Yeah, it couldn't be, you know, the fact that he actually did 9-11.

I bet you get your tinfoil in bulk!



You aren't serious, shirley...

 
Dr.Zom 2008-05-23 11:53:24 AM  
Well, this is why they started the war in the first place so no surprise here. Move along, citizen.

 
glenlivid 2008-05-23 11:54:51 AM  
Two Cats One Bowl: I don't understand this "war profiteer" thingy. Are you willing to provide goods and services to the government for free? Then why are you bashing companies for charging for their goods and services?

The idea is that war should not be viewed as a money making opportunity, but as a necessary suffering. Yes you should be payed for your services, but at a humble rate (and you shouldn't be gouging/stealing from the American people). That idea went out the window with Eisenhower, however, and now we have exactly what he warned us about: Business and war thoroughly intertwined. How necessary is a war when businesses are all at the ready to make trillions of dollars?

You tell me.

The fear that Eisenhower had was that war would be a business itself, and if you take a good look at the Carlyle Group, Haliburton (and subsidiaries), Blackwater, etc, etc...I think it's fair to say we are proof that he was right.

 
Therion [TotalFark] 2008-05-23 12:00:19 PM  
Tacoby Bellisbury: Yeah, it couldn't be, you know, the fact that he actually did 9-11.

You may want to ask The FBI why they don't believe that.

 
GoldSpider 2008-05-23 12:04:56 PM  
glenlivid: The fear that Eisenhower had was that war would be a business itself, and if you take a good look at the Carlyle Group, Haliburton (and subsidiaries), Blackwater, etc, etc...I think it's fair to say we are proof that he was right.

So instead we rely on our manufacturing sector to convert from civilian to military production ala WWII?

 
Giblet 2008-05-23 12:09:38 PM  
GoldSpider: glenlivid: The fear that Eisenhower had was that war would be a business itself, and if you take a good look at the Carlyle Group, Haliburton (and subsidiaries), Blackwater, etc, etc...I think it's fair to say we are proof that he was right.

So instead we rely on our manufacturing sector to convert from civilian to military production ala WWII?


Free market economics will take care of it nicely AND eliminate the MIC that Ike warned about, if we simply overturn the ruling that grants individual rights to corporations.

It really IS that simple.

Bonus: No more lobbying.

 
obzerver 2008-05-23 12:10:55 PM  
Tacoby Bellisbury: Yeah, it couldn't be, you know, the fact that he actually did 9-11.

I bet you get your tinfoil in bulk!


Actually Osama denies being responsible but praised the actions.
Chances are if he was responsible for it the FBI would want him for it.

The only one's that ever claimed he did it where the Bush Administration and Tony Blair.

If it was Osama then why are we not looking for him?

"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

Do you get sheered monthly?

/I don't wear the tinfoil
//I don't go baaahhh either

 
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