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It is a lesson learned and relearned in Iraq. The U.S. has awarded billions of dollars' worth of work to American firms in the most ambitious rebuilding project since the Marshall Plan in Europe five decades ago. But nearly two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. is still struggling to deliver electricity, clean water, healthcare and other services.

Iraq's interim government is refusing to make payments on some contracts with foreign companies because they overcharged or failed to deliver everything they promised, an official said. "It's a problem all ministries are dealing with because of the lack of paperwork provided by the U.S.-led administration on contracts they signed before handing over power in June."

Joe Allbaugh, the Oklahoman known for his flat-top haircut and loyalty to President Bush, has a new client: Halliburton, the Houston-based company once led by Vice President Cheney. Allbaugh's wife and partner at the Allbaugh Company, Diane Allbaugh, is also listed on the registration, which was filed last week with the Senate Office of Public Records.

"We are recommending that the Secretary of Defense designate a LOGCAP coordinator, who would be responsible for ensuring that the contract is being used both effectively and efficiently," said the Government Accountability Office, Congress's nonpartisan investigative arm.

The indictment, unsealed here Thursday, is the first involving Halliburton's much-maligned Iraq contracts.

As deforestation erodes rural life, a priest has taken on the timber industry and forced an unofficial freeze. Critics call him inflexible.

The food industry is working with politicians across the United States to rewrite laws in order to shield themselves from lawsuits based on obesity and related health problems.

Phillip H. Morse, a minority partner of the Boston Red Sox, confirmed yesterday that his private jet has been chartered to the CIA and said he was aware that it had been flown to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where more than 500 terrorism suspects are held, as well as other overseas destinations.

Unbeknownst to the driver, at least one canister leaked 330 pounds of glittering silver droplets onto the highway, attracting curious residents of the small farming community called Choropampa.

The industry-favored plan was pushed aside by yet another secret plan, drafted just before the invasion in 2003, which called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan, crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the OPEC cartel through massive increases in production above OPEC quotas.