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Halliburton has a multi-billion dollar contract to feed and house the troops in Iraq. But there are problems. A food subcontractor that runs 10 percent of the dining facilities in Iraq claims it hasn't been paid by Halliburton for months, and is threatening to stop serving hot meals.
The company, Event Source, serves 100,000 meals a day in Iraq under a contract with a Halliburton subsidiary. Event Source claims Halliburton owes it $87 million, including payment for President Bush's Thanksgiving dinner with the troops.
"When you get stuck out there for $87 million dollars," explains Event Source Chief Executive Officer Phil Morrell, "it's a question of economics."
In an interview with NBC News, Morrell says he's already laid off employees in the United States and soon will have to feed sandwiches to the troops, instead of hot meals, because his company is running low on money.
Last month, Halliburton was accused of overcharging the government for feeding troops and agreed to forego further payments until the issue is resolved.
Morrell says he believes Halliburton and its other food service contractors did overcharge, billing the government not for meals actually served, but for meals a facility could have served.
I didn't think Lisa Myers could get through an entire report without mentioning Clinton.