Dem says Cheney's staff involved
from start in Halliburton contract

From the Houston Chronicle:

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, was briefed in October 2002 on a proposal to assign Halliburton the task of drawing up a secret plan for putting out oil-well fires and rebuilding Iraq infrastructure in the event of war in Iraq, said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., whose staff was briefed last week by Pentagon officials.

The following March, Halliburton -- without facing competition from any other bidders -- was awarded the contract to implement that plan.

At other critical junctures in the decision-making chain, political appointees insisted on hiring Halliburton, despite the objections of career employees at the Pentagon, Waxman said.

"For months, Vice President Cheney has been saying that his office was not consulted before the award of the Halliburton contracts, but that does not appear to be true," Waxman, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, said in a statement released Sunday.

Waxman, insisting lawmakers are not "getting straight answers from the White House," called for an independent congressional investigation.

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