Halliburton, which rocketed to being the sixth largest US Defense contractor during the war in Iraq, is opening a corporate headquarters in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. The engineering and oil services giant claims that a change of scene will better position it for new business in the oil-rich region.
Reuters broke the story on Sunday. AND THE NEWS IS WHIPPING UP A STORM: Outraged Democrats are already discussing possible congressional hearings on the matter.

Charlie Cray on Huffington Post surveys the scandals: Halliburton Flees the Scene of the Crime
The Houston Chronicle takes stock: Investors Unfazed.
Halliburton already makes use of offices outside the United States, including a Cayman Island subsidiary, Service Employees International, Inc., which employs an estimated 70 percent of its workers for its military support contract in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Halliburton’s subsidiary, KBR, ranks as the Pentagon’s largest contractor in Iraq. KBR has billed some $20 billion or more in revenues from its Iraq work. Government and congressional investigators have repeatedly targeted KBR for its billing practices.
SPIN OFF: Halliburton plans to spin off the KBR subsidiary. (Before or after the move?) Can’t wait to see the SEC filing on that one.
The Los Angeles Times rounded up a consensus of analyst opinions and concludes that business considerations rather than politics probably drove the decision to move. One unnamed Washington corporate lobbyist cautioned: “If there’s a huge tax shift, then it’s taking money from U.S. taxpayers while they’re taking no-bid contracts.”
And so it goes.