Tappan represented Bechtel Corp in its Iraq contract and has suggested Halliburton drafted parts of the second contract to favour its own bid in her book Shock and Awe in Fort Worth.
Speaking to a panel of congressional Democrats Tappan added, “The Pentagon should have allowed other firms to bid on the first contract. It’s request for bids on follow-up work in the Iraqi oil fields [is] a sham.”
The Army Corp of Engineers, which administered the contracts, has defended the deals and has declared the second award “full and open”.
Halliburton has denied the allegations and its contract purchasing policies and practices was given the all-clear by the Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency.
“We are concerned that there frequently seems to be an uninformed, one-sided rush to judgment about the work of Halliburton and KBR in Iraq,” it said.
