by TChris

Twenty years of experience with government procurement taught Bunnatine Greenhouse to recognize a bad deal. Her experience didn't prepare her for the consequences of asking questions that the Bush adminsitration expected to remain unvoiced.

A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance.

Greenhouse rejected a pointed suggestion to take early retirement, and her lawyer says the Army secretary's approval of her demotion violates a commitment to wait until the inspector general had finished his investigation.

Mr. Kohn said that when he telephoned Dan Meyer, director of civilian reprisal investigations in the inspector general's office, on Aug. 24, Mr. Meyer was "shocked" to learn that the corps had proceeded against Ms. Greenhouse. Mr. Meyer said that he was immediately opening a "civilian reprisal" investigation and faxed forms to Mr. Kohn to initiate the process, Mr. Kohn said.