Halliburton is so innocent

President George Bush has said he expects $61 million to be repaid to the US government if a Pentagon probe determines a Halliburton subsidiary overcharged for fuel deliveries in Iraq.

"Their investigation will lay the facts out for everybody to see. And if there's an overcharge like we think there is we expect that money to be repaid," Bush told reporters in Washington on Friday.  article

Tough talkin' Georgie. We expect, if. Let's see...

The Houston-based company denied that its Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) unit, which has performed engineering services for the military since World War II, overcharged the government by more than $120 million for fuel deliveries and meal services in Iraq under two contracts.

So, let's talk about that other $59 million. Do they get to keep that?

The fuel deliveries come under a contract, awarded in March with no competition, to restore Iraq's oil fields. So far the company has billed $2 billion under the contract, which has a cap of $7 billion. Halliburton receives a small portion of the costs as income...Halliburton "only makes a few cents on the dollar" for the fuel deliveries [according KBR to Chairman and Chief Executive Dave Lesar].

What's a "few cents"? Three? Thirty? What's a "few cents" on the dollar of $7 billion?

The company also inflated costs for serving meals to the military by $67 million, the Pentagon probers found, under a 10-year logistics contract (LOGCAP) awarded to KBR in 2001.

Oh, hey. Pre-war screwing, too. So, do they get to keep that $67 million as well?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.