The Pentagon said yesterday that it will end an arrangement with Halliburton Co. to import fuel to Iraq, a contract that had been criticized by government auditors and Democratic members of Congress.
A military unit that already supplies fuel to the armed forces in Iraq will assume control of the import and distribution of gasoline, kerosene and cooking gas into the country and will find new private contractors through competitive bidding, the Defense Energy Support Center announced.
Pentagon officials said that the change had been under discussion for months and that the timing was not related to allegations that KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary that held the contract, had overcharged the government at least $61 million by buying more expensive fuel from Kuwait instead of Turkey.
Of course, any other deals with Halliburton will remain in place until there are any other revelations of fleecing by them...