Houston, We Still Have a Problem

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products
and services to the oil and gas industries. They are also one of
the most delinquent companies in terms of corporate accountability.
And, oh yeah, Vice President Cheney is the company’s former CEO.
This week Halliburton shareholders will gather in Houston to
celebrate 2004 revenues of more than $20 billion. Not bad for a
company
under investigation by the FBI, SEC, and Justice Department
among others.

The Corp Watch report details Halliburton offenses in 2004 —
years after the company’s questionable business practices were
initially outed. Protesters will be taking to the streets to object
to a continuous blind-eye turned to this Eddie Haskell of the
corporate world. Observers speculate there may be more people
gathered in Houston to protest the litany of wrongdoings done by
Halliburton than shareholders attending the annual meeting at the
Four Seasons Hotel.

The company’s ties to the Bush administration clearly have not
been severed. Earlier this month, the US Army bestowed a $72.2
million bonus upon Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, &
Root (KBR) for logistics work in Iraq.

Over a third of Halliburton’s 2004 revenues came from US
government contracts in Iraq, millions of which almost certainly
the result of still-disputed over-charging. Corporate crime
notwithstanding, Halliburton continues to obtain government
contracts in Iraq and raked in nearly twice in 2004 what it did in
2003.

Corporate accountability watch-dog groups, such as Corp Watch,
and other independent agents continue to bring the facts of
Halliburton’s crimes to light. Protesters that will picket outside
the Four Seasons in Houston have one simple request; that
Halliburton be investigated and rightly punished for siphoning
funds from Iraqis and US taxpayers.
— Marca Bradt

Go there >>
Houston, We
Still Have a Problem

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