Large contracts awarded to the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root have been a focus of questions and criticism since even before the Iraq invasion in 2003 , in part because some were awarded without competition and because of allegations that the company , formerly led by Dick Cheney before he became vice president , was aided by political connections .
Dick Cheney /business/person/company Halliburton
JJ NNS VBN TO DT NNP NN NNP NNP CC NN VBP VBN DT NN IN NNS CC NN IN RB IN DT NNP NN IN CD , IN NN IN DT VBD VBN IN NN CC IN IN NNS IN DT NN , RB VBN IN NNP NNP IN PRP VBD NN NN , VBD VBN IN JJ NNS .
Dick Cheney
PERSON
Halliburton
ORGANIZATION
/business/person/company