Army to probe contracts

WASHINGTON – The Army has agreed to a Pentagon investigation into claims by a top contracting official that a Halliburton subsidiary unfairly won no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars for work in Iraq and the Balkans, according to Army documents obtained Sunday.

The complaint alleges the award of contracts to KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary, without competition to restore Iraq’s oil industry and to supply U.S. troops in the Balkans, puts at risk “the integrity of the federal contracting program as it relates to a major defense contractor.”

It also seeks protection from retaliation for the whistle-blower, Bunnatine Greenhouse, chief contracting officer of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Iraq contract with Halliburton has been a focus of the presidential campaign because of Vice President Dick Cheney’s past ties to the company. Cheney was chief executive officer of Halliburton and continues to receive deferred compensation from the company.

In a letter to Greenhouse’s lawyer, an Army attorney said the matter is being referred to the Defense Department’s inspector general for “review and action, as appropriate.”