The Larry Kane Report

KBR. It is not a network although some of you might think it is a network of intrigue when you check the facts out. KBR might be considered AWOL as far as the military is concerned.

Hidden beyond front page headlines is the latest episode of clandestine ripoffs from KBR, a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company. By its own account, the Pentagon has declared that the civilian contractor has overcharged the government in Iraq and Kuwait by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now, government auditors report that the company, in its report on how it is billing the Petagon, is claiming that the information is too secret to reveal to the public. This latest move means that competition is stifled, and once again, Donald Rumsfeld looks the other way as his own investigators tell him there is a problem.

Note: This is the same company that failed to purify the water for our troops in Iraq; the same company that fixed oil driling stations already fixed by Iraqi crews; the same company that charged 30, 40, sometimes 100 dollars to do a load of laundry for the troops.

Examples of over billing are so rampant that when  all the bills are counted, some lawmakers expect this to be the biggest ripoff scandal in the history of the government utilizing private contractors.

I’ve been following this mess for about a year, and I am horrified by the reports from former workers for KBR and the apparent indifference by the Department of Defense.

When I think of the sacrifices being made by our forces in Iraq, and I keep learning about Halliburton’s excesses, i winder how this company gets off the hook.

If you want a real eye opener, do an internet search for KBR. You’ll get a fast education on how billions of your tax dollars have been spent.