Thank GOD theses guys didn't have to bid on the contract!!

[mburbank]

How could you possibly know that?

Criminal penalty, since it will never result in the loss of contract, can be factored in as a potential expense by Halliburton. Moreover, since Halliburton in it's current incarnation was designed to be a surrogate for profit branch of government, Tax dollars are funelled directly into speciffic owner and shareholder pockets and cannot end up anywhere else. War becomes a growth industry and war decisions are made by the folks who go in and out of the private comapany they created and funded through a revolving door. As a private entity, This company has rights of secrecy the government does not, making corruption MUCH easier. It's a much more efficient graft factory than the military can ever be, subject to far fewer investigatory rules. The Military Industrial complex was always bad enough (Eisenhouer warned against it) but at least it had two parts. Now the Milindustrial is a single industry.

Some Laissez Faire guy you are. You support a de facto monopoly to whom gigantic contracts are directly handed by the government.