on not being surprised...

HALLIBURTON – THE BIG PAYOFF: In "great news" for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, the United States Army will depart from normal policy and "not withhold future payments to Halliburton Co., despite audit reports…that said the giant logistical contractor had not properly accounted for a wide variety of work in Iraq and Kuwait." The Army's decision, which would bankroll $60 million a month more to Vice President Cheney's former firm, comes in direct opposition to the counsel of its own auditors that had recommended the withholding of 15 percent of payments while the "billing disputes" were being figured out. There have been repeated questions as to "whether Halliburton received favored treatment" thanks to its relationship to the vice president.

from today's American Progress Report.