A Pentagon audit says Halliburton and its now-bankrupt subsidiary Kellog Brown & Root did not account for $1.8 billion it made in Kuwait and Iraq. Of course, the Pentagon hasn't stopped paying them, but what's a billion here or there?
The audit, part of a report dated Aug. 4 that has yet to be made public, found that KBR's "internal control policies" are "inadequate for providing verifiable, supportable, and documented cost estimates that are acceptable for negotiating a fair and reasonable price." Pentagon officials told the newspaper that that no defense contractor has had its estimating system ruled "inadequate" in years.
Of course, the wicked pissa smaht people at KBR dont' think this is a problem:
"The fact that we have negotiated and continue to negotiate proposals proves that our estimating system is valid," an unidentified KBR official was quoted as saying. "This is the same system that the company has used for more than 10 years."
Ten years? When Cheney was CEO? Of course, since DoD can't account for over $2 billion worth of equipment it sent to Iraq, I guess they're not in a position to criticize.
