news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article309072.ece
Americas US Army auditor who attacked Halliburton deal is fired By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles Published: 30 August 2005 An American government whistleblower who denounced the decision to give b illions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction contracts to a subsidiary of V ice-President Dick Cheney's old company Halliburton has been fired from her job, ostensibly because of poor performance. Bunnatine Greenhouse, a senior civilian auditor of military contracts for the Army Corps of Engineers, went public last year with her concerns ab out a no-bid contract given to Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR). She told a co ngressional hearing that the decision was "the most blatant and improper abuse I have witnessed" in 20 years as a government contract supervisor . She will now be removed from her post and offered a junior position in a different department. The Pentagon said she was offered the opportunity to retire early, but she turned it down. Three Democratic Congressmen demanded an official investigation before th e demotion goes into effect. Pentagon officials have denied the move has anything to do with her opinions on the KBR contract. As the senior civilian in charge of procurement at the Army Corps of Engi neers, Ms Greenhouse developed a reputation as a stickler for proper pro cedure and won high marks in her performance reviews. Those reviews bega n deteriorating at almost the same time she began speaking out against t he KBR contract, causing her lawyer to accuse the Pentagon of malicious retaliation. Pentagon officials have denied that her demotion is linked to her opinion s on the KBR contract.
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