Robber Barons

It seems that Halliburton is trying to put KBR, the subsidiary that is handling the Iraq contract, up for sale. Why would they do this? Well, it seems like the Iraq work is highly unprofitable, dangerous, and damaging to the company's reputation and its stock price.

Separating KBR from Halliburton has been advocated by many of the company's investors for some time. The profit margins for KBR's work in Iraq are significantly lower than those at other parts of Halliburton.

I could point out that if Halliburton was just handed the contracts as a benevolent gesture from their political allies in the White House, they sure did a poor job negotiating. Or I could point out that corporate interests seem to be more important to this company than political interests, so the whole idea that Halliburton was abusing the system in the contract negotiations seems bogus. But I'm tired and I don't feel it's worth it.

Still, you've got to wonder how Kerry, who has made it a point to portray Halliburton's activities in Iraq as plunderers and robber-barons is going to spin this. He has pledged to put an end to "Halliburton-type" abuses. Maybe he's advocating getting some other company in there to turn a profit on the deal?

As a good friend of mine who works in the oil business said, "There are only two companies in the world who were large enough to handle the Iraq contracts. Halliburton and Schlumberger. And we sure as hell weren't giving it to a French company."