Say Anything Blog

Forget that KBR, the contractor in question, hasn’t been associated with Halliburton for nearly a year now.  And Dick Cheney hasn’t been CEO of Halliburton for almost a decade now.  But that won’t stop the Associated Press from describing the contractor responsible for not properly filtering water in Iraq as “a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company.”

WASHINGTON - Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using “unmonitored and potentially unsafe” water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company, the Pentagon’s internal watchdog says.

The article doesn’t get around to mentioning the contractor in question, Kellog, Brown & Root (KBR) until the fourth paragraph.  Halliburton isn’t named until the 10th paragraph.  But Dick Cheney gets mentioned in the first paragraph.

Because that’s fair.

I’m sure, the next time the Associated Press is harping on Wal-Mart for paying low wages or violating some labor law, they’ll describe the company as being “Hillary Clinton’s former company.” Since she served on Wal-Mart’s board of directors.

Because that’s fair too, right?

As for the issue in the story, KBR apparently wasn’t filtering water used for showers and laundry (this wasn’t drinking water) properly.  According to the story there was no definitive link between the soldiers’ sicknesses and the water, but the filtered water wasn’t up to spec so that point may be moot.

Regardless, an audit determined the wrong-doing and corrective action has been taken.  Case closed, except for the media’s need to sensationalize it and try to hang it around Dick Cheney’s neck.