HALLIBURTON KBR News:

- 

"Now CBS News has obtained information that indicates KBR knew about the danger months before the soldiers were ever informed." ... "Depositions from KBR employees detailed concerns about the toxin in one part of the plant as early as May of 2003. And KBR minutes, from a later meeting state “that 60 percent of the people … exhibit symptoms of exposure,” including bloody noses and rashes." ... "Gentry says it wasn’t until the last day of August in 2003 - after four long months at the facility - that he was told the plant was contaminated."

---

WATCH: "KBR Accused In Toxic Scandal" via -CBSNews

"“Look, I think the burden of proof at this point is on the company,” Bayh said. “To come forward and very forthrightly explain what happened, why we should trust them, and why the health and well-being of our soldiers should continue to be in their hands.”"

-CBSNews

---

Iraq - India

Entertainment - Political - Humor - Corporate - Government - Military - Halliburton - Blackwater - Foreign - Law - Noteworthy - Women - Journalists - Writers - US - Iraq - "John Cusack: Outsourced Warfare Represents a "Radical, Dangerous, Disgusting Ideology": An interview with Cusack about his latest film, War Inc., which takes the outsourcing of military operations to the absurd." ...

-AlterNet.org

---

KBR - Accounting - Politics - Government - Investigation - US - Military - Housing - Iraq - Afghanistan - World - "Ex-KBR Workers to Testify on Contract Fraud." ... "Two former KBR employees, Frank Cassaday and Linda Warren, are slated to testify before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee next Monday, according to the panel." ... "The two reportedly sued their former employer on behalf of the U.S. [United States] government, claiming KBR fraudulently boosted the number of soldiers using KBR-managed recreation facilities in an effort to inflate the fees it was paid." ... "Under a massive new Army logistics contract, KBR will be one of three firms to compete for as much as $150 billion in contracts to provide housing, laundry and other basic services in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world, the Army announced April 17." -ABCNEWS.com 

---

American - Women - KBR - Corporate - Government - Criminal - Politics - Military - Iraq - Afghanistan - Florida - Ohio - Texas - "U.S. fails to move on Iraq sexual assault complaints." ... "While working in Iraq as a ''morale coordinator'' for a U.S. [United States] government contractor, a Tampa [Florida] woman says, she was raped by a drunken colleague who secured a key to her apartment from an unlocked storage box." ... "That was in December 2005, and her attorney said he's unaware of any criminal charges in the case." ... "The U.S. Justice Department has the authority to prosecute, but she and at least three other women who say they were assaulted complain of being trapped in legal limbo between a military system that doesn't oversee the private contractors and a justice system that appears unwilling to do so." ... "''American women are vulnerable not only to assault, but to achieving justice,'' said [Florida Democratic Senator] Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who since December has been pressing the [Republican President] Bush administration for answers over the treatment of U.S. citizens sexually assaulted by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "''I'm in a war zone, and I have to worry about my co-workers,'' said Mary Beth Kineston, an Ohio woman who drove a truck in Iraq for Houston[Texas]-based military contractor KBR and said she was raped by another driver." -By Lesley Clark-MiamiHerald via -McClatchyDC.com

---

American - Workers - Health - Safety - Lawsuit - KBR Halliburton - Corporation - Government - History - Texas - Oil - Construction - Science - Iraq - Cayman Islands - Politics - "Iraq contractor fights suit over toxic exposure: Tax loophole may subject construction firm to damages." ... "When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a "mild irritant," workers recall." ... "The workers got it on their hands and clothing every day while racing for 2 1/2 months to meet a deadline to get the plant, a crucial part of Iraq's oil infrastructure, up and running." ... "But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath. Within weeks, nearly 60 percent exhibited symptoms of exposure, according to the minutes of a meeting of project managers from KBR, the Houston[Texas]-based construction company in charge of the repairs." ... "Now, nine Americans are accusing KBR, then a subsidiary of the oil conglomerate Halliburton, of knowingly exposing them to the deadly substance and failing to provide them with the protective equipment needed to keep them safe." ... "But the workers, like all employees injured in Iraq, face an uphill struggle in their quest for damages. Under a World War II-era federal workers compensation law, employers are generally protected from employee lawsuits, except in rare cases in which it can be proven that the company intentionally harmed its employees or committed outright fraud." ... "KBR is citing the law, called the Defense Base Act, as grounds to reject the workers' request for damages." ... "But the company's own actions have undermined its case: To avoid payroll taxes for its American employees, KBR hired the workers through two subsidiaries registered in the Cayman Islands, part of a strategy that has allowed KBR to dodge hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes." ... "That gives the workers' lawyer, Mike Doyle of Houston, a chance to argue to an arbitration board that KBR is not an employer protected by federal law, but a third-party that can be sued." -By Farah Stockman -Boston/Globe 

---

Dick Cheney's - Halliburton KBR - Corporation - US - Iraq - Military - Water -Safety - Inpector - "AP Exclusive: US troops may have become sick in Iraq from contaminated water." ... "Dozens of U.S. [United States] troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney's former company [Halliburton Co.], the Pentagon's internal watchdog says." ... "A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq." ... "The Defense Department's inspector general's report, which could be released as early as Monday, found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc.[Incorporated], and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations." (1, 2) -AP via -IHT.com

---

Dick Cheney - Corporate - Military - Government - KBR-Halliburton - Cayman Islands - United Arab Emirates (Dubai) - Secret - Iraq - Oil - Infrastructure - History - American - Workers - Health - Security - Legislation - Massachusetts - "Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore: Shell companies in Cayman Islands allow KBR to avoid Medicare, Social Security deductions." ... "Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp. [Corporation], has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven [Cayman Islands]." ... "More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands." ... "The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars." ... "But the use of the loophole results in a significantly greater loss of revenue to the government as a whole, particularly to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds." ... ""Failing to contribute to Social Security and Medicare thousands of times over isn't shielding the taxpayers they claim to protect, it's costing our citizens in the name of short-term corporate greed," said [Massachusetts Democratic] Senator John F. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee who has introduced legislation to close loopholes for companies registering overseas." ... "With an estimated $16 billion in contracts, KBR is by far the largest contractor in Iraq, with eight times the work of its nearest competitor." ... "The [secret] no-bid contract it received in 2002 to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure and a multibillion-dollar contract to provide support services to troops have long drawn scrutiny because [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive from 1995 until he joined the Republican ticket with [Republican] President Bush in 2000." ... "The largest of the Cayman Islands shell companies - called [SEII] Service Employees International Inc. [Incorporated, which is not associated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)], which is now listed as having more than 20,000 workers in Iraq, according to KBR - was created two years before Cheney became Halliburton's chief executive. But a second Cayman Islands company called Overseas Administrative Services, which now is listed as the employer of 1,020 mostly managerial workers in Iraq, was established two months after Cheney's appointment." ... "If KBR's American workers averaged even as much as $63,000 per year, they and KBR would have owed more than $100 million per year in Social Security and Medicare taxes, split evenly between them. Over the course of the five-year war, their tax bill would have been more than $500 million." ... "The real managers of Service Employees International work out of KBR's office in Dubai. KBR and Halliburton, which also moved to Dubai [an emirate of the United Arab Emirates], severed ties last year." -By Farah Stockman with contributions by Stephanie Vallejo and Matt Negrin -Boston/Globe 

---

Secretive - Corporate - Government - Enforcement - Woman - Employee - Safety - Iraq - US - Texas - "Sex Assault Suit Vs. Halliburton Killed: Alleged Sexual Assault Victim's Case Forced Into Secretive Arbitration." ... "A mother of five who says she was sexually harassed and assaulted while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq is headed for a secretive arbitration process rather than being able to present her case in open court." ... "A judge in Texas [District Judge Gray Miller] has ruled that Tracy Barker's case will be heard in arbitration, according to the terms of her initial employment contract." ... "Barker says that while in Iraq she was constantly propositioned by her superior, threatened and isolated after she reported an incident of sexual assault." ... ""When I arrived in Basra [Iraq], there were about five men that worked on the camp for the company I worked for and they were waiting for me," Barker told ABC News in an exclusive interview that aired last December." ... ""I was told they wanted to see what I look like," she said, "to make sure I was decent looking before they approved my transfer."" ... "Tracy says her KBR boss in Basra repeatedly propositioned her and threatened her." ... ""The manager of the camp kept making gestures of how if I wanted my safety to exist on the camp, that I needed to sleep with him, and that's all he kept saying to me," said Barker." ... "In arbitration, there is no public record or transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Tracy's claims will not be heard before a judge and jury." (1, 2, 3) -By Maddy Sauer and Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com

---

US - Iraq - Kuwait - Construction - Homes - Health - Safety - Blackwater - Military - Politics - "Iraq Embassy Cost Rises $144 Million Amid Project Delays: Planning, Workmanship Cited as Problems." ... "The massive U.S. embassy under construction in Baghdad [Iraq's capital] could cost $144 million more than projected and will open months behind schedule because of poor planning, shoddy workmanship, internal disputes and last-minute changes sought by State Department officials [under Republican President Bush], according to U.S. officials and a department document provided to Congress." ... "The embassy, which will be the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world, was budgeted at $592 million." ... "The growing price tag and delayed opening have alarmed members of Congress, some of whom regard the troubled project as the latest in a series of State Department management problems in Iraq. The department has been criticized for failing to send enough reconstruction specialists to assist U.S. forces in Baghdad and for not providing adequate oversight of its principal private security force, Blackwater USA, whose personnel have been accused of using excessive force to protect U.S. diplomats." ... "Department officials contend that some of the delays are a result of poor workmanship by the project's primary contractor, First Kuwaiti General Trade and Contracting, a Middle Eastern firm. Apparent building and safety blunders in a facility to house embassy security guards have made it unsafe to open. Originally due to open last December, the facility is still not operational because of formaldehyde fumes in 252 prefabricated residential trailers." ... "A Sept. 18 internal report on problems with the guard facility's electrical system, prepared for Charles E. Williams, the director of building operations, suggested that KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary hired to run the facility, was responsible for overloading the system." (1, 2) -By Glenn Kessler -WashingtonPost

---

US - Iraq - Military - Construction - Money - Politics - Government - Accounting - Investigations - Texas - Oil - Water - "Iraq Contractors Tap Law Firms: A civil 'war zone' of investigation." ... "The war in Iraq has an army of high-profile attorneys working to steer defense contractors through a minefield of lawsuits and federal investigations involving war profiteering and fraud." ... "During the past year, several defense contractors hired to help rebuild Iraq have come under federal investigation or faced litigation for allegedly defrauding the government. Government officials estimate that $10 billion in Iraq-related contracts are unaccounted for and may have been lost to fraud or other misconduct." ... "Currently, about 80 federal investigations looking into contract fraud are under way, and more than 20 cases have been referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution, according to congressional testimony offered by federal auditors. During the last three years, contract fraud investigations have yielded 10 arrests, five indictments, five convictions and two imprisonments." ... "High-caliber law firms have lined up to help guide defense contractors through investigations and prosecutions and relieve their fears of prosecution, not receiving payment or being banned from doing business with the government." ... "Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Vinson & Elkins of Houston [Texas] are representing former Halliburton subsidiary KBR Inc., which is facing scrutiny over a $25.7 billion contract to help rebuild oil services in Iraq." ... "Patton Boggs of Washington has come to the aid of Halliburton, the largest private contractor in Iraq, which is facing congressional scrutiny." ... "Washington's Brand Law Group is advising Fluor, a U.S. engineering and construction firm that is facing questions over its $1.1 billion water and sewage contract in Iraq. " -By Tresa Baldas -NLJ.com via -Law.com

---

United Arab Emirates -US- Texas - Iraq - Oil - Cheney - Government - Money - Politics - "Halliburton Will Move HQ to Dubai." ... "Oil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston [Texas] to the Mideast financial powerhouse of Dubai [United Arab Emirates], chief executive Dave Lesar announced Sunday." ... "In 2006, Halliburton _ once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney _ earned profits of $2.3 billion on revenues of $22.6 billion." ... "Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive from 1995-2000 and the Bush administration has been accused of favoring the conglomerate with lucrative no-bid contracts in Iraq." ... "Federal investigators last month alleged Halliburton was responsible for $2.7 billion of the $10 billion in contractor waste and overcharging in Iraq." -By Jim Krane -AP via -HoustonChronicle.com

---

US- Iraq - Government - Military - Money - Accounting - Politics - Cheney - CA - TX - "Waxman Probes Iraq Contracting, Missing $12 Billion (Update1)." ... "[California's Democratic] Representative Henry Waxman, kicking off hearings on government contracting, questioned former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer today on what happened to as much as $12 billion in unaccounted-for cash spent when he was in charge of rebuilding Iraq." ... "A report from Waxman's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said the money represented more than half of Bremer's budget from May 2003 to June 2004. The report described contractors being told to bring big bags to collect shrink- wrapped bundles of money and one episode where a Bremer staff member was allegedly told to spend $6.75 million in a week." ... "``We have no way of knowing if the cash that was shipped into the green zone ended up in enemy hands,'' Waxman, a California Democrat, said at today's hearing. ``We owe it to the American people to do everything we can to find out where the $12 billion went.''" ... "The hearings, which fulfill a Democratic campaign promise, will spotlight the use of contractors in Iraq and on homeland security under President George W. Bush, as well as spending on Medicare and Medicaid." ... "Representatives of eight companies -- among them Halliburton Co.'s KBR Inc. subsidiary, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. -- have been called to testify. The committee will also hear from family members of four Blackwater USA contractors who were killed in Fallujah in March 2004, their bodies burned and dragged through the streets. The families have accused Blackwater of failing to protect the men." ... "In addition to Bremer, Waxman today will call Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction. In a report to Congress last week, he said [Texas] Houston-based KBR, the largest U.S. military contractor in Iraq, failed to account for $22.3 million of items surveyed in two audits in 2004." ... "KBR, 80 percent owned by Halliburton [which has an ongoing compensation arrangement with Republican Vice President Cheney], transports war supplies and provides food to U.S. troops in Iraq. " -By Jay Newton-Small -Bloomberg

---