Revolving- Door Monsters  Published: October 11, 2002  President
Bush and Vice President Cheney portray Saddam Hussein as so
menacing and terrifying that one might think they've lain awake
at night for years worrying about him.  But when Mr. Cheney was
running Halliburton, the oil services firm, it sold more
equipment to Iraq than any other company did. As first reported
by The Financial Times on Nov. 3, 2000, Halliburton subsidiaries
submitted $23.8 million worth of contracts with Iraq to the
United Nations in 1998 and 1999 for approval by its sanctions
committee.  Now let me say right up front that this wasn't
illegal -- or even, in my view, sleazy. This was legitimate
business conducted through joint ventures that had been acquired
as part of a larger takeover in September 1998. Zelma Branch, a
Halliburton spokeswoman, says that the subsidiaries completed
their pre-existing Iraq contracts but did not seek new ones.  So
this is not evidence of scandalous conduct or egregious
misjudgment. This is not like a