First, the company’s own employee blows the whistle on its failure to use water purification equipment. And now a physician serving in Iraq ties an outbreak of bacterial infections among soldiers to foul-smelling water she noticed at Qayyarah Airfield West during the same time period.

As the Houston Chronicle reported on Friday, testing now confirms that water used by the soldiers to bathe and brush their teeth contained coliform and E. coli bacteria.

Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann had the audacity to state that subsidiary (you guessed it) Kellogg Brown & Root provided water "consistent with the army’s standards." This shouldn’t come as a surprise since the company also dismissed larvae spotted by its own employee as "an optical illusion caused by a leak in the toilet fixture."

This is not a liberal, conservative or partisan issue. These are American soldiers, risking their lives, and being hindered by a company that is short on performance and long on excuses. And the lack of corrective action is simply staggering.

Dick Cheney–with all of his bluster about his support of the troops–should personally call for the pulling of his until-now favorite corporate son off of the job. What results does he see to justify the continuing funneling of contracts in its direction? Could it be the earnings reports? The stock’s performance?

Our soldiers can no longer afford for this Administration and a Republican-controlled Congress to turn a blind eye to incompetence and egregious behavior. Only an independent War Profiteering Commission will keep up the pressure for answers and change. In the meantime, I urge shareholders to contact Halliburton and demand an end to the excuses. And all citizens should issue a call to their Representatives that Halliburton be replaced immediately.