The idea behind US presidential power is often to retain the power at all costs. The Commander-in-Chief of the armed services is a very powerful person and has been so for decades if not historically centuries.
Re: Halliburton, I don't think anyone says that the CEOs are doing a bad job for the corporation. That's not the issue. The question is this, who stands to gain financially for the reconstruction of Iraq? Do you honestly think it will be the Iraqi people? Or European contracts?
BTW, what ever happened to the reconstruction of Afghanistan?