Iraq for Sale

I just watched "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" last night. I was astounded to learn of even more money being wasted on the Iraq war. This documentary featured 4 major contractors (Blackwater, K.B.R.-Halliburton, CACI and Titan) who are getting contracts without even bidding first. The CEOs of the featured contractors all have significant ties with Washington to help them get the contracts. These contracts are privatizing war and lack government oversight.

Here's a few of the things that stood out to me:

The quote below is from a soldier working in Iraq that realized that he could make more money if he was honorably discharged.

"There was a little phrase that we threw around, 'Food for Freedom.' That if you wanted to get paid more you should start eating more so you'd get booted out for being overweight. And it's an honorable discharge and it would boost your pay, your net worth by about 5 times if you were to do such a thing. And it worked." -- Joshua Casteel

Enlisted soldiers have little incentive to reenlist when they could be earning 6 times as much by working for a civilian contractor.

One soldier started washing his laundry in the sink because every time his clothes came back from the laundry (that charged $99/bag) they still felt dirty. He was told the he must put his clothes through the laundry.



Check out the current Cost of War. And watch this movie to ask "Who's getting killed and who's making a killing?"