Administration Concealed Halliburton Overcharges

A quick update on the latest Halliburton scandal that we reported yesterday.

As you may recall, news came out that the Houston-based contractor overcharged the Pentagon $108 million for a single task order in their contract to operate Iraq's oil infrastructure.

Today, Rep. Waxman (D-CA) has revealed that administration officials -- acting at the request of Halliburton -- concealed information about the overcharges in a Pentagon report that was made to international auditors overseeing the Development Fund for Iraq.

This moved beyond mere cronyism to outright corruption a long time ago. Contact your elected officials today and demand a new Truman Committee to investigate military contracts and rein in the war profiteers.

UPDATE 6:35 pm: For two good in-depth stories on war profiteering, check out Ken Silverstein and T. Christian Miller's piece in today's Los Angeles Times, as well as Vanity Fair's story this month by Michael Shnayerson. Thankfully, print reporters aren't letting this story go. The TV networks are another story.