Halliburton Products & Services Ltd has done good business. According to its last annual report it got between 30 and 40 Million dollars for oil field service work in 2003 alone. According to a spokesman for Halliburton Co it is all perfectly legal US sanctions preventing US companies from doing business do not matter if the foreign subsidiary is not controlled by US executives. According to Halliburton Co the business of Halliburton Products & Services Ltd does with Iran is all perfectly legal – every last $Million of it.

You remember Iran, don’t you? All that unpleasantness during the Reagan Administration that happened while G. H. W. Bush was out of the loop? Iran is the Middle East country that does have a nuclear weapons program. Iran is the Middle East country that does have close ties with Al Qaeda. Iran is the Middle East country that secretly gave 9 or 10 of the 911 assassins safe passage on their way from Afghanistan to the United States and their destiny. Iran is the Middle East country that is so easily confused with Iraq – just one letter difference on the keyboard. None of that is any reason why a perfectly legal foreign subsidiary of a US company should not do perfectly legal business with Iran. Of course not, and especially not if that business is perfectly legally tax free. That is just good business – Texas style. While Halliburton is cleaning up with no-bid contracts in Iraq, fixing the things that the US broke in its Second Iraqi War Halliburton Products & Services Ltd is cleaning up keeping the oil flowing for Iran. It sure keeps Dick Cheney’s retirement checks from bouncing.

The Bush campaign calls the news just another baseless Democratic attack on the Vice President. He retired after he set up Halliburton Products & Services Ltd. He doesn’t have anything to do with running the company any more. All he does is watch for the mail at the end of the month and cash the checks. That is just good business – Texas style.