If they were the only bidder on the contract and didn't win NEITHER WOULD ANYONE ELSE CAUSE THEY DIDNT BID ON IT.
did you read the link? it doesn't say they where the only company to bid. it says it was a no-bid contract.
No-bid means that no bids where taken. nobody else could compete because nobody else new there was anything to compete for.
no matter how fast you spin it, that means the Bush administration gave the contract to Halliburton without soliciting bids from any other contractors. anybody who can't/won't see a conflict in using this type of system for awarding contracts to a company for whom the VP was CEO until the election is just hiding their head in the sand.
in fact the deal was made before the war started and wasn't announced publicly until later.
how could anybody else bid on a job that was hidden from them until Halliburton had the deal inked?
as a matter of fact Halliburton is a major player in the war for profit industry. and while I don't think they would have it as sweet as they do now, they would still make a lot of profit off this war, even if they competed fairly (there are many jobs that they just have a lot more experience at). I find it a conflict of interest for any top gov't official to own interests in companies who make a significant portion of their profits from war.
how much crying would their be if Kerry gets elected and awards a no-bid contract to his wifes company to provide ketchup for our school lunches at $2 a serving? (and at least in this scenario no Americans would have to die for them to steal from our treasury)