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Whistle Blower Fights On

by TChris

Bunnatine Greenhouse will not go gently into retirement -- much to the displeasure of the Army Corps of Engineers. Greenhouse is the Corps' contracting director, and she continues to criticize the network of "good ole boys" who funneled government funds to Halliburton to repair oil fields in Iraq, bypassing procedures that require competitive bidding.

With the bluntness and rectitude that has angered some of her superiors, she explained why she was not taking the vested retirement her commander had pointedly dangled. "When our officers don't understand that a decision is giving one company an exceptional advantage," she said, "when they don't understand that a decision doesn't protect the public trust, then it's my job to make them understand it."

In addition to questioning the $7 billion contract to repair oil fields, Greenhouse expressed displeasure that the Corps went behind her back to approve the inflated prices a Halliburton subsidiary charged for fuel that was transported to Iraq. She also questioned the extension of an expiring Halliburton contract in the Balkans, at a cost of $165 million.

"There is no legitimate explanation for what I witnessed," she said last week of the succession of disputes. The Corps, she said, "was at the point of knowingly violating federal acquisition regulations in favor of Halliburton. It can't get much worse than that."

Critics are not welcome in this administration, so it should come as no surprise that the commander of the Corps informed Greenhouse that "less than fully successful" performance reviews dictate her removal from her job as chief of contracting -- despite the sworn statement of a former commander that Greenhouse was doing "an outstanding job." He says that senior Corp officials have resisted Greenhouse's "strict and ethical application" of rules encouraging competition because they prefer to throw business to their "favorite companies."

Fortunately, Greenhouse has the courage and integrity to resist the Corps' efforts to silence her. Still, she has watched while her staff has been reduced and has listened while superiors make sarcastic remarks about whistle-blowers. Her battle will not be easy to win, but she soldiers on bravely.

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