By Colum Lynch

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, July 16, 2004; Page A16

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 -- The Bush administration is withholding information from U.N.-sanctioned auditors examining more than $1 billion in contracts awarded to Halliburton Co. and other companies in Iraq without competitive bidding, the head of the international auditing board said Thursday.

And, of course, the Bush Administration assures us - gives its word - that everything is hunky-dory and that there's no mis-management whatsoever with the open-contracts to Halliburton or the Iraqi oil sales. Nope, nope, nope - everything is peachy-keeno.

Start the clock because this will likely prove another blatant violation of Trust, Law, and who knows what else. The Bush Administration had repeatedly shown that it's not honest and in matters of money is beholden only to its financial allies. When the Truth eventually comes out and we discover how much money was siphoned out of Iraq (and the U.S.) to these companies rebuilding Iraq, will we shake our heads in disgust (again) or will we see action? "Bush Behind Bars" has a nice headline appeal, don't ya think?