follow the money

For four years, the no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton, Cheney's company, has been a magnet for controversy. The deal allowed the company to become the government's leading contractor in Iraq, and questions were raised over why it received the contract without competition. Then came the questions about money, which mounted as the tab soared into the billions.

Along the way Congress, pundits and bloggers galore focused on the use of the contract, known as Restore Iraqi Oil, or RIO I, to import oil into Iraq. This part of the deal particularly angered Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and other Democrats. In a July 2004 report, they asserted that Halliburton fees "increased the costs to the government by $167 million, an increase of over 90%."

Now comes an audit from the Government Accountability Office about RIO I and some $221 million in questionable costs -- questions raised by the venerable Defense Contract Audit Agency. Almost 80 percent of the questioned costs related to the import of fuel into Iraq.