Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Rick Faurot]

Kerry vows to target Bush over Halliburton
By Thomas Catan in Washington
Published: August 11 2004 20:54 / Last updated: August 12 2004 00:19
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0dd82514-ebcf-11d8-82f7-00000e2511c8.html
John Kerry's campaign signalled its intention on Wednesday to place the controversy surrounding Halliburton, the oil services giant formerly headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney, as a central theme of its bid for the White House.

The announcement of the strategy followed the leaking of a report by Pentagon auditors, who concluded that Halliburton had inadequately accounted for work in Iraq and Kuwait worth several billion dollars.

Political opponents immediately seized on the finding, with Mr Kerry promising to exploit what they said was mounting public anger over Halliburton's links to the Bush administration and the perception that it had profiteered from the war in Iraq.

“We think that it is emerging as a real issue in the campaign,” said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign. “[Voters are] very upset about it and it hurts the president very badly.” He said research from focus groups showed that Halliburton had become a “top-of-mind” issue for voters ranking alongside traditional concerns such as jobs and healthcare.

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