Shock & Awe in Ft. Worth - Halliburton cronyism.

[reprehensor]

The Sons of RIO Conspiracy

Sheryl Tappan, September 6, 2004

GNN Editor's Note: There are few things as murky as the process in which the U.S. military doles out large contracts, especially in times of war - especially in this war. As a Bechtel consultant, Sheryl Tappan was responsible for the proposal that won the San Francisco-based construction giant a multi-million dollar USAID contract to rebuild the Iraqi civil infrastructure. But the contract was peanuts compared to the billions that have been awarded to Bechtel's competitor Halliburton over the past two years. Tappan was so disgusted with how the money was awarded, she quit her lucrative job and self-published, Shock and Awe in Fort Worth: How the U.S. Army Rigged the 'Free and Open Competition' to Replace Halliburton's Sole-Source Oil Field Contract in Iraq. In the slim, so-frills book, Tappan details how Halliburton KBR was so in bed with the Pentagon that it literally was writing the rules for the bids that it was later awarded. Her story might easily be dismissed as the work of a bitter competitor, but she has the inside documents to back up her claims (you can download them here). And according to watchdogs we talked to, her story holds up. While shooting an upcoming documentary, GNN met up with Tappan at her home in the San Francisco Bay Area recently. She told us that her career as consultant was over. All she has left is the truth. This Friday, she's set to testify in front of Senate Minority leader Tom Daschle. We'll be there:

When the secret $7 billion Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) contract the Pentagon gave Halliburton KBR was revealed in March 2003, Bush administration critics began accusing the Pentagon of cronyism, because of the Cheney-Halliburton connection. In response, the Pentagon began promising to replace that contract by holding a competition for two new contracts as quickly as possible. The irony is the "Sons of RIO" competition turned out to be far more corrupt than the secret sole-source award. Pentagon officials, up and down the chain of command, lied and cheated Halliburton's competitors and broke federal laws to ensure Halliburton kept all of the Iraq oil work. They include generals and high-level political appointees at the Pentagon, as well as lower-level contracting staff at the Army Corps of Engineers' Southwestern Division/Fort Worth District, who conducted the Sons of RIO competition.

Another irony is the evidence of conspiracy, corruption, and procurement fraud is contained in official documents posted on the web by the Corps in July and August of 2003 for the bidders - and the entire world - to see.1 The key evidence is contained in (a) the solicitation (aka request for proposal or RFP), which the Corps issued on July 7, 2003, to start the competition, and (b) the Restoration of Iraqi Oil Infrastructure Final Work Plan, which proved that all of the RIO work had already been committed to Halliburton KBR by the Corps, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, except for a small percentage committed to the Ministry for its own personnel to perform. The Corps withheld this critical information from the bidders - against federal law - until only 13 days before their proposals were due (August 14, 2003). If Halliburton's competitors had known about the plan, developed in the spring with Halliburton KBR's help, the Pentagon would not have had the competition it needed to keep the critics off its back.

So the Sons of RIO competition was a farce - none of the work given to Halliburton would be transferred to the new contractors. This was finally confirmed by the Pentagon the day before the bidders' proposals were due when a Corps spokesman admitted the competition had been a sham when he said, "There might not be enough emergency repair work to merit additional contracts...the main reason the Corps was accepting bids for two new oil contracts was the possibility of more looting and sabotage."2

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Shock and Awe in Fort Worth - the book.

If "Fahrenheit 9/11" is the film they don't want you to see...
"Shock and Awe in Fort Worth" is the book they don't want you to read!

In April, ex-Bechtel consultant Sheryl Tappan published the first hard evidence of political cronyism by the Bush administration. She showed how Pentagon officials are guilty of conspiracy, corruption, and procurement fraud in Shock and Awe in Fort Worth: How the U.S. Army Rigged the "Free and Open Competition" to Replace Halliburton's Sole-Source Oil Field Contract in Iraq. The focus of the book is the “Sons of RIO” competition the Pentagon promised in order to give other contractors a chance at the billions of dollars of Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) work secretly awarded to Halliburton KBR. The irony is the Sons of RIO competition turned out to be far more corrupt than the sole-source mother RIO award!

Shock and Awe in Fort Worth shows how the Army Corps of Engineers lied and cheated Halliburton’s competitors and broke federal laws in order to give Halliburton KBR virtually all of the Iraq oil work. According to the San Francisco Chronicle (7/29/04), Sheryl Tappan "already has made an impact. California Rep. Henry Waxman, one of Halliburton's most persistent critics, used her book as background material for a hearing last week in which he grilled Halliburton executives." The Ranking Minority Member of the House Government Reform Committee, Rep. Waxman told the Chronicle, "She's been very helpful in raising significant concerns about Halliburton's oil work in Iraq. We place a great deal of weight on her information due to her credentials."

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[burythehatchet]

1. and heroes will rise up from many places.