Surprised? You Shouldn't Be.

Two Halliburton employees took kickbacks totaling up to $6 million for ensuring that a Kuwait based company was awarded a lucrative contract supplying US troops in Iraq. The Wall Street Journal reports that Halliburton reported the crime, perhaps softening the severity of potential penalties, but it brings even more scrutiny to the company. The company which was once headed by now-Vice President Dick Cheney - and which still provides him with "delayed compensation" - is already under intense scrutiny for charges that it overcharged the military for fuel deliveries by some $61 million.

Here's Tricky Dick on the subject:

Vice President Dick Cheney, who was chairman of Halliburton until he left in 2000, defended the company Wednesday in a Fox Radio Network interview. "They get unfairly maligned simply because of their past association with me," he said.

And perhaps because they have gotten such a huge portion of the contracts for work in Iraq while you are the sitting VP? Here's how the WSJ put it:

KBR [Note: a subsidiary of Halliburton] is now repairing Iraqi oil fields and supplying everything from food and laundry services to housing for U.S. troops and coalition officials in Iraq under two huge contracts valued at up to $16 billion. That work has so far cost nearly $6 billion, well over twice what has gone to all of the other 40 U.S. contractors in Iraq, according to government records.

How is it that this goes so relatively unnoticed? Why hasn't the Pentagon frozen all contract work by this group of thieves? Where is the outrage?

Oh... Dr. Dean has it all.

For very good reason, I'd say.