Blackwater contract exposed on eve of House hearings

UPDATE: You can watch the Waxman hearings live online here. And welcome, Daily Kos and David Sirota/Working for Change readers.

Hearings on Waste, Fraud and Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars, the focus will shift to North Carolina-based Blackwater International.

The secretive security firm made headlines in Iraq when, in March 2004, four Blackwater employees were ambushed and gruesomely killed. Six more were killed in April 2005 when their Mi-8 helicopter was shot down.

Blackwater's ill-fated presence in Iraq has been especially curious because, for many of their missions, no one could find the U.S. contract that actually authorized them to working there.

Until now. Yesterday, the Army finally disclosed who had sub-contracted Blackwater's operations -- and it's none other than our good friends Halliburton (via AP):

After numerous denials, the Pentagon has confirmed that a North Carolina company provided armed security guards in Iraq under a subcontract that was buried so deeply the government could not find it.

The secretary of the Army on Tuesday wrote two Democratic lawmakers that the Blackwater USA contract was part of a huge military support operation by run by Halliburton subsidiary KBR.

Vice President Dick Cheney ran Halliburton before he became vice president.

Several times last year, Pentagon officials told inquiring lawmakers they could find no evidence of the Blackwater contract. Blackwater, of Moyock, North Carolina, did not respond to several requests for comment.

As the AP notes, the Halliburton/Blackwater episode not only exposes the (intentionally?) impenetrable maze of military contracting; it was also likely against the law:

The discovery shows the dense world of Iraq contracting, where the main contractor hires subcontractors who then hire additional subcontractors. Each company tacks on a charge for overhead, a cost that works its way up to U.S. taxpayers. [...]

The hidden contract not only cost taxpayers money, it also might have been illegal. The Halliburton subsidiary's main contract for military support services prohibited hiring subcontractors to provide armed security. That job is left to the U.S. military, unless the theater commander decides otherwise.

Armed with these new revelations, Waxman's hearings today promise to be full of fireworks. The hearings will include testimony from four widows/family members of killed Blackwater employees, including Kristal Batalona (daughter of Wesley Batalona); Kathryn Helvenston-Wettengel (mother of Stephen Helvenston); Rhonda Teague (wife of Michael Teague); and Donna Zovko (mother of Jerry Zovko).

Spokespeople for Blackwater, the Army, and other contractors will also say their piece -- and will likely face some tough questions, if Waxman's description of today's hearings is any guide:

Family members of four Blackwater employees killed in Fallujah will testify about what they view as profiteering by Blackwater USA, including the company's alleged failure to provide armored vehicles and other critical safety equipment. The Committee will also examine in detail Blackwater's security operations in Iraq under multiple layers of contracts and subcontracts that compound costs to the taxpayer.

Can we now suspend further contracts for Halliburton (pdf)? Or set up a Truman Commission to oversee war contracts and hold profiteers accountable?

For more coverage of Blackwater, see Jeremy Scahill's excellent investigations in The Nation and in the LA Times.