# Why are people blaming BP and not Haliburton?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-blaming-bp-and-not-haliburton/542865>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 12, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-blaming-bp-and-not-haliburton/542865 "2010-06-12T00:40:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-blaming-bp-and-not-haliburton/542865/21 "2010-06-17T15:42:37Z")

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> [@lieu](#):
>
> BP was looking to hurry the completion of a well already way over budget and cut corners in several key operational steps that compromised the integrity and, thus, the safety of the effort. They inexplicably did so on a reservoir already deemed potentially lethal enough to have been called a “nightmare.” Their culpability in the disaster is beyond question.

Quite. In a decent world everyone involved in that decision in any way would have been fired and civil action launched by BP to pauperise every last one of them.

Something absolutely draconian has to be done until companies and individuals working for them get the message.

I favour an ‘International Financial and Economic Crimes Against Humanity’ treaty with unlimited sentencing powers.

Hundreds of Masters of The Universe should be waiting their turn in the Hague as well as all the BP senior management and directors.

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**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-blaming-bp-and-not-haliburton/542865/22 "2010-06-17T21:39:07Z")

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> [@Chickenwrangler](#):
>
> I too so that program and was “surprised” that the American “EXPERT” on accidents (he had investigated the Space shuttle disaster and many Rig accidents) who was to investigate this disaster when asked who was to blame for the Gulf blow out said BP.
> 
> Now this does not sound like the sort of statement that the leading “EXPERT” in accident investigation should make BEFORE and inquiry had even begun.
> 
> 😕

It sounds to me like exactly the right thing to say. BP was in charge, therefore BP is to blame, pure and simple. Now, the deeper questions, such as where specifically the failure or failures were, which companies and/or personnel made the decisions that led to those failures, etc. can only be answered after sufficient investigation. The answers to those questions are very important, and should be used to put procedures or requirements in place to prevent this kind of disaster in the future. But those answers are completely irrelevant to where the blame should go: It goes to the one in charge, which is BP.

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