The Iraq war is many things to different people. It is called a strategic blunder and a monstrous injustice and sometimes even a patriotic mission, much to the chagrin of rational human beings. For many big companies, however, the war is something far different: a lucrative cash-cow. The years-long, ongoing military effort has resurrected fears of the so-called “military-industrial complex.” Media pundits are outraged at private companies scooping up huge, no-questions-asked contracts to manufacture weapons, rebuild infrastructure, or anything else the government deems necessary to win (or plant its flag in Iraq). No matter what your stance on the war, it pays to know where your tax dollars are being spent.
Following is a detailed rundown of the 25 companies squeezing the most profit from this controversial conflict.
1. Halliburton
The first name that comes to everyone’s mind here is Halliburton. According to MSN Money, Halliburton’s KBR, Inc. division bilked government agencies to the tune of $17.2 billion in Iraq war-related revenue from 2003-2006 alone. This is estimated to comprise a whopping one-fifth of KBR’s total revenue for the 2006 fiscal year. The massive payoff is said to have financed the construction and maintenance of military bases, oil field repairs, and various infrastructure rebuilding projects across the war-torn nation. This is just the latest in a long string of military/KBR wartime partnerships, thanks in no small part to Dick Cheney’s former role with the parent company.
2. Veritas Capital Fund/DynCorp
At first blush, a private equity fund (and not, say, Exxon-Mobil) being the number 2 profiteer in the Iraq war might sound strange. However, the cleverly run fund has raked in $1.44 billion through its DynCorp subsidiary. The primary service DynCorp has provided to the war efforts is the training of new Iraqi police forces. Often described as a ‘state within a state‘, the sizable company is headed by Dwight M. Williams, former Chief Security Officer of the upstart U.S. Department of Homeland Security. With this and other close ties to defense agencies, Veritas Capital Fund and DynCorp are well-positioned to capitalize on Iraq even more.
3. Washington Group International
The Washington Group International has parlayed its expertise the repair, restore, and maintenance of high-output oil fields into $931 million in Iraq-related revenue from 2003-2006. The publicly traded 25,000 employee company’s other specialties include the building and maintenance of schools, military bases, and municipal utilities, such as watering systems. Some have complained that Washington Group’s hefty government payoffs have served primarily to raise its trading price on the New York Stock Exchange. One thing is for sure – with oil prices continuing to rise, there will be no shortage of demand for the oil protection services Washington Group International brings to bear.
4. Environmental Chemical
All war zones eventually becomes cluttered with spent ammunition and broken/abandoned weapons, creating a lucrative niche for any company willing to clean it all up. In Iraq, this duty has fallen into the hands of Environmental Chemical. The privately held Burlingame, California company has stockpiled $878 million by the end of fiscal 2006 for munitions disposal, calling upon its “decade of experience planning and conducting UXO removal, investigation, and certification activities.” The company has close ties to several defense agencies and is staffed by graduates of the U.S. Navy’s Explosive Ordinance Schools, as well as the U.S. Army’s Chemical Schools at Anniston.
5. Aegis
Aegis has done the United Kingdom proud after reeling in a contract to coordinate all of Iraq’s private security operations. The Pentagon contract is good for $430 million (incredibly lucrative by any standard) but it has landed Aegis in some hot public relations water. The company’s decision to contribute to Iraq war efforts has lead to a rejected membership application from the International Peace Operations Association. According to The Independent, the influential trade organization does not consider Aegis worthy of inclusion in the “peace and stability industry.” It remains to be seen whether Aegis will continue to be ostracized for participating in the training of Iraqi security forces.
W.
T.
F.
?
DailyKos.com is *that* way, folks. Thought this was a biz blog.
Blackwater?
Disappointing to see you moving more and more to political statements in this blog.
Cool post, but I don’t think Fluor is based in Aliso Viejo.
Great information! I will immediately stop doing business with HSBC because of this. Thanks and keep up the good work.
You got your facts wrong. I work for Perini and we dont do envionmental cleanup. We are construction overhead covers to protect the troops from mortar and rocket attacks.
Poor research my friend.
Tim/Doug – this is a business blog, that’s why he gave a top 25 list of companies that were earning huge profits. Just because they were connected to the war doesn’t make this a political statement.
Wow, I thought Sure Dictator Bush himself would be at the top of the list!
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
The next time an important oil producing country needs to be rebuilt we need to send in a group of high-minded people with no practical skills.
Why isn’t Blackwater on the list?
Just because it is an uncomfortable truth it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its place here.
Is this the Daily KOS or the Huffington Post?
wow are you kidding me? i have news for you, people start a company to make money. i know this is a shock to you, and that most of you still live with your partents. but remeber you start a company to make money. you are liberal fools if you don’t understand this. some one has to make guns, trucks, machines of war. and they should be paid well for it.
I think the new Biz Pundit is starting to get its legs. Contrary to Tim’s comment, I congratulate you on taking on a topic that IS relevant but is avoided by many business news outlets for fear of rocking the conservative boat.
How the government spends billions of dollars is extremely important to business, and how it hands out huge contracts to large corporations is even more important to small business. The politically agnostic tone of the article is highlighted by one tidbit that I found particularly valuable – the Feinstein connection. I may be on the left of the isle, but I don’t blindly adhere to my party or its members when they do bad things.
As the article points out, it doesn’t matter what your views are on the war, it’s important for businesspeople to know these things. (Though I would suggest that businesses who are investing in Iraq with their own money with the intent of rebuilding the economy should be congratulated, as they are taking on a huge risk, as opposed to those who are there on the taxpayer’s dime and will leave as soon as their contract is up.)
While many companies folks have never heard of are profiting greatly from the war, it’s worth remembering that the biggest beneficiaries are the established defense contractors. L3 and General Dynamics are a couple examples, but don’t forget Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Raytheon, SAIC, Pratt and Whitney, General Electric, Northrop Grumman, ITT, and the list goes on.
Those companies have a lot of contracts we can’t see. In some cases they’re working on technologies inspired by the situation in Iraq, but not yet in use. There’s a whole new office called Joint IED Defeat (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/06/president_requests_boost_for_ied_fund/) that is funneling hundreds of millions into these companies. And the war indirectly stuffs their coffers not only through the depletion of existing resources that they get to manufacture anew and sell to the government, but by fostering the cult(ure) of national security that ensures defense appropriations always remain robust.
The defense giants rarely make headlines, but they, and the military officers for whom they are a golden parachute (and the congressmen who rely on them to provide jobs in far-flung constituencies) are the most egregious war-profiteers. Haliburton is peanuts compared to some of those companies I listed.
Shameful that there are so many businesses profiting from dealing in death. I hope they can’t sleep well at night AND that some day they will get theirs.
What do chagrined rational human beings, to paraphrase from your second sentence, call the Iraq war? Just curious, because that didn’t sound particularly “politically agnostic.”
Our Armies exist for one reason and that is to protect and promote the business interests of American corporations. If our soldiers can volunteer their lives for this purpose then it would seem to me to be only right that the corporations whose interests are being protected should volunteer their profits as well. There is no reason why any business should EVER make a dime off of a war that is purported to be protecting our liberty and freedom.
Someone please explain to me, why is it that a soldiers life is expendable but corporate profits are not.
I mean, if the army is protecting our independence and autonomy and if we are in such grave danger from these supposedly evil forces and young men and women can volunteer their lives and their futures then why are corporations making money from their blood?
It just seems to me that it would be the height of patriotism and duty that GE and Westinghouse and Dupont and all the others members of the military industrial complex would stand firmly behind the lives of the soldiers and volunteer to make a much smaller sacrifice, their profit. Anything less, to me, is unconscionable, and these corporate bloodsuckers should be taken out and hanged for dereliction of their American duty and utter failure to value and honor the sacrifice of our volunteer forces.
The rational human being is far from “chagrined.”
This is simply business as usual, folks. The US has been a war profiteer for many straight decades now. War, empire, exploiting people and “their” resources around the world is what makes this country.
Left/Right, D/R, the only that matters to both of them is the bottom line. Don’t think for a second that Democrats will sacrifice profits for ethics. There is no morality in business, especially in business on this scale.
lockheed martin?
As an INDEPENDENDENT voter, a Former U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, I live with my Wife of 56 years on Social Security ONLY, in a One Bedroom Senior Apartment, I an SICKENED by the waste I see above. As we used to say in The U.S. Marine Corps, when attempting to win an impossible argument, ” It is like urinating INTO the wind.”
PLEASE QUOTE THE LATTER. Anything further is as said, Urinating INTO the wind.
P.S. – I used to use enlisted prisoners, IN KOREA DURING THE WAR, to hammer the explosive out of bombs, Tetrolite explosive.
While you do mention income from government contracts, you fail to mention what percentage of company income comes from contracts related to the Iraq war.
CACI does less than 1% of its total business in interrogations in Iraq, and none of its employees have been indicted, nor were any in the abuse photos. Only 36 employees were Iraq interrogators, out of more than 12,000.
Control Risks has employees in more than 100 countries on five continents, and offers dozens of non-military services, including crisis management for businesses and employee screening.
Cummins had $7.9 billion dollars in revenue (before liabilities)… which means that the “huge” $45 million contract was 0.005% of their total business last year.
Profits mean nothing without a out of context. How about some Rate of Return figures, or total earnings data?
Shoddy economic reporting – you tried too hard to prove a political point here. Anyone with dial-up internet could prove that more than half the companies on this list don’t belong here.
What’s more important is who are the chairmans, primary investors, etc… And on and on…
Rarely, if ever, will it be found, a system in which every corporation and a White House along with a Senate and Congress so corrupt with out of control greed supported by the most incompetent ignorance ever displayed at one and the same time for the ostensible purpose of promoting total corruption, fraud, torture, dismemberment, murder and mayhem upon it’s own citizens. One of the sorriest and most despicable chapters in the history of America written, orchestrated, and perpetrated by the Republican party, Republican led Congress and Republican led Senate (12 years they ruled) led by the most corrupt Republican White House in the history of the United States of America
Bechtel, Kroll, Bluewater & blackwater.
How could you make a list like this and leave off Blackwater?
Good point on Blackwater but overall a good post. Add in Katrina related work and then lets see where things stack up.
Quite amusing to see the closed minded comments coming from people who can’t understand how this article is related to business. Don’t you know you can’t say “business” and “ethics” in the same sentence in the USA without ending up on a CIA list. I am happy that someone pointed out that in the US war has always been about profits…yes ever since the revolution when the businessmen revolted against the government. (the worst act of terrorism ever committed on U.S. soil)
Didn’t Bush start this whole war to line his business buddies pockets and give himself a nice retirement fund? Humans are a parasitic species by nature so making money out of the death and destruction of war is normal behaviour. Sad truth but truth none the less the truth. Every “conflict” in human history has fed profiteers.
As an American living in the UK we get a less censored version of information and the US is a laughing stock and will continue to be so as long as the Republicans are in power.
Article has too many flaws, poor investigation. Check here next time, you will be supprised how little you know:
http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/
To say nothing of the oil companies now moving in to secure their interests/control of the oil – the granddaddy reason for the fiasco that has so bankrupted our people (present and future.) Funny how it barely gets a fleeting blip in the media.
To all those bashing this article for “their Iraq money doesn’t make up much of their overall revenue” reasons…
The article *never claimed* to be listing companies with the largest Iraq profits as a percentage of revenue. It was an article naming the companies who have made the most money there. $40 million is a huge amount of money whether it comprises a huge chunk of the overall pie or not.
Try judging the article on its stated purpose, not the one you’re trying to refit it for.
To Ron, et al.
It’s extraordinarily relevant how much money a company makes from the war as a percentage. Companies making 80-100% *could* be called profiteers – they’re dependent on it. Companies making 1% – regardless of how much the dollar figure is – barely have the Iraq market on their radar screens.
Someone here on *business* pundit ought to explain why profits are so wrong in the first place. Profits ensure a corporation (or individual’s) survival and are its razon d’entre).
I’m not questioning whether it makes sense to ever track which companies are profiting from war (or peace or our love of ice cream). What I object to is the smartass tone set by the very first sentence.
Most surely that made your buds in the dorm smile, but for me it renders everything that follows as suspect.
Thomas – no one for a second thinks profits are bad; bilking taxpayers is bad; poor fiscal management of foreign affairs is bad; the infamous $1,000 hammer is bad. Moreover, just because a company’s misdeeds only contribute marginally to its bottom line does not make it right. If a wealthy man steals $10,000, is he not guilty of theft because he has millions more in the bank?
This is not to suggest that all the companies on the list are thieving evil-doers. However, one cannot immunize them all from public scorn solely because their unsavory actions do not materially impact their balance sheet.
Tim – who is the smartass, the author who makes a presumptive statement that all rational people disagree with an endless war (when statistically this is likely true), or you, who makes a silly quip about the lack of education or experience of either the author or all people who disagree with you? THIS author graduated with his undergrad degree in business a LONG time ago, as well as a law degree, ran several successful start-ups, and currently enjoys a great law practice. I think I can comfortably assume to be your intellectual equal.
What? No Blackwater?
179 days till the end of the Bush administration!
I can’t offer an argument for or against the accuracy in minute detail or figures here or even in one case a correct representation of what the company’s business is. Also I didn’t try to divine the author’s agenda or intent however, it’s quite a tell how people are so offended by being reminded of the nation’s hand-in-glove-love-affair between our major corporations and the business of war.
I gather that many of the regulars here are unaware that at it’s core the U S has a Keynesian-military economy with military bases sprinkled liberally but with purpose, in practically every state – a gift to the proles from their representatives which soon became our addiction, fed by the ‘dealers’ of our corporations? I wonder how these people think USans gained control of all the land, water, oil, resources and inputs of business and industry. Obviously they learnned what they know about history in or before the fifth grade.
You think being reminded is offensive to you? Imagine how I feel!
I guess this website is all about business punditry. Of course that means telling only the truth to the nation and the world about the condition of American business. No cheerleading, no wishful thinking, just the facts!
Glad to see that some would have the reputation of American capitalism remain squeaky clean while striving for the highest ethics and ideals, as it always has been.
And what United States Senator has earned the most from his investments in defense contractors? Hint: He served in Viet Nam.
“Lawmakers’ investments in these contractors yielded them between $15.8 million and $62 million in income from 2004 through 2006, through dividends, capital gains, royalties and interest, the Center found. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who are two of Congress’s wealthiest members, were among the lawmakers who earned the most income from these contractors between 2004 and 2006, with Sensenbrenner making at least $3.2 million and Kerry reaping at least $2.6 million.”
http://www.opensecrets.org/capital_eye/inside.php?ID=342
Does it occur to anyone that war profiteering means encouraging warfare in order to make money from making implements and services of war?
I think what most people fail to understand is that many of these companies have the MOST influencial lobbyist groups in existance today. So between the oil companies, weapons manuctacturer’s and nation rebuilder’s (haliburton), do you really wonder why we are constantly in a state of war in oil-based countries? Is it that hard to see?
They have TOO much influence over our foreign policy.
I don’t mind profiting at all, that’s the FOUNDATION of our economy. However, some of these companies have too much vested interest in perpetual war and have accumulated entirely too much influence to go with it.
BILDERBERG GROUP.
Check it out on Wikipedia
Ben Bernake attended their conference in Virginia earlier this year.
WHY WASN’T THIS IN THE NEWS?
Because the peons of the world DON’T NEED TO KNOW what the neocons are doing to our country/WORLD.
Interesting article. It will be enlightening to hear who got rich off the Oil for Food Scam that was going on between Saddam and his cohorts in the U.N. prior to the invasion of Iraq.
You do have an article in progress on that, don’t you?
Oh, and let’s not forget the war profiteers who raked in big bucks for Bill Clinton’s little excursion into Kosovo.
By the way, does the name Loral Aerospace mean anything to you?
Thanks for keeping your eye on the rascals and keep up the good work!
The Pentagon and the Military Industrial Complex in the US needs Wars to sustain itself.
All these companies are part of it.
They will never want PEACE because they then face extinction.
Jim says he ‘doesn’t mind profiteering,’ ?? I wonder, did he actually mean war profiteering or merely turning a profit.
That suggests how we have ‘evolved’ over the years – from the time when George Washington said a nation should NOT have a standing army because of the temptations of greed and profits. He considered profiteering by men who had a part in decision making regarding war, to be treason and I may be wrong but as I recall, he mentioned hanging! If we hung all of our treasonous war profiteers right now – we’d have…. A FRESH START!!
Many (a majority of?) Americans believe that democracy and capitalism are inextricably linked too! What a nation! God’s ‘chosen people’!
Anyway it explains how we all manage not to think of all those little Arab children, wounded, dismembered and burned by our weapons. Maybe we still think the Iraqis attacked us on 9-11 and those brown skinned babies are just the collateral damage of a ‘just war’??
Suppose we knew that there was a vicious criminal hiding out in an American neighborhood? How would we feel about the Police captain who just indiscriminately bombed the neighborhood? Now, tell me how that’s different than what we did ‘to rid Iraq of Sadaam’ or ‘to bring democracy to Iraq’?
Google General Smedley Butler…
So many people have quoted (mis-quoted) Eisenhower’s warning about the Military Industrial Complex, it would be good to hear ALL that he had to say about it. Not just what the neo-communist Left wants you to hear.
“A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.”
Furthermore…
” American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.”
There is one group Eisenhower warned us about… but that warning has been nearly forgotten – in favor of the oft misued quote about the Military Industrial Complex…
” The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.”
Of course, since the people who are constantly warning us about the EVILS of the Military Industrial Complex are part of the group Eisnehower warned us about in this last quote, is it any wonder that this last warning of Eisenhower has been nearly lost to memory?
Thanks, GEJ,
That clarification was important to the discussion AND would have been equally helpful without the name calling.
I presume that you have a ‘rule’ that one must never quote a part of any statement, paper, book or testament without quoting the entire thing? If so, you just broke your own rule quoting the parts that you thought at least, supported your point of view.
Are you suggesting somehow, that you don’t interpret that last sentence as a warning against the potential evils of such a military-industrial-complex and it’s involvement, it’s inveigling itself into all other aspects of our lives?
Now perhaps you’d like to edify us ‘neo-communists’ with a summary of our last 100 wars, what they were fought for and what exactly qualifies any of the last 100 as a ‘just war’ – a war of self defense?!?! OR maybe you’d prefer just the most recent 10?
C’mon, give it a go!
Well, since you’ve completely ignored my point about Eisenhower stating the need for the Military Industrial Complex, I feel no need to answer your non-sequitur about “just wars” (after all “War Profiteering can occur in “just wars” too).
Just how do you define profiteering? Just because a company that makes arms or provides services to the military makes a profit, is that “profiteering?”
And where is the “connection”? The Number 4 company on the list, which disposes of unexploded bombs is supposed to be an evil war profiteer because it hires graduates of the U.S. Explosive Ordinance Disposal School (or so the author implies)?
Well, call me old fashioned, but I don’t want some Liberal Arts Major from U.C. Berkley messing around with unexploded bombs!
“Jim says he ‘doesn’t mind profiteering,’ ?? I wonder, did he actually mean war profiteering or merely turning a profit.”
Fredo, I meant profiteering in general. The problem I have is that our congress is more influenced by corporate interests and that’s led us to create policies (both foreign and domestic) that are so far off from the constitution and bill of rights that’s it’s just downright scary.
“Now perhaps you’d like to edify us ‘neo-communists’ with a summary of our last 100 wars, what they were fought for and what exactly qualifies any of the last 100 as a ‘just war’ – a war of self defense?!?! OR maybe you’d prefer just the most recent 10?”
Just wanted to bring up a point here in that we have also developed a disturbing trend with these “pre-emptive” wars of late. We’ve opened a Pandora’s Box with that line
and creates a whole litany of issues, the least of which is how we determine the scale of threat and where do we draw the line? And the way congress has given up their powers of declaring war over and over again, it just depends on what the Executive Branch feels like doing based on the input they are given.
Sorry to get off topic…
I was named as the “Headhunter for the Private Military Industry” in The Military Times approx: June 2004. I worked with CB, DynCorp, BW offered to buy my company and I was given the Exclusive Contract for Recruiting all positions by another large PMF that thought they had to have me on board to compete with the others for a DOS Contract. After they used my name, my company name and my reputation as one of the top recruiters in the Domestic Executive Security Industry in their DOS Rebid they began breeching every part of the Contract I had insisted on before I moved my Company across State Lines into their Facility. Within 6 months they unilaterally canceled all parts of my Contract except for the DOS $700M Contract they had named me in as their answer to any problems in recruiting the vast number of qualified operators necessary to compete with BW, DynCorp & others. When I asked them to negotiate they hired away my employees, stole my proprietary database info, and started a Character Assasination Campaign that ruined me in my Profession of 25 years. Now it is apparent from their CEO’s Depo that they had conspired to defraud me from the get go and never intended to honor the Contract. I have sent hundreds overseas and so many have been defrauded and abused because some PMF’s believe they are above the Law. These ruthless Merc Companies need to be exposed for how flagrantly they not only abuse the indigenous populations but just as ruthlessly the Operators who find out the hardway that these guys are drunk with power and corruption and the Government has turned a blind eye. American Heroes and their Families who have been lied to, defrauded and damaged in so many ways deserve to have some sort of Legal Aid Fund and Legal Counsel as to how they can hold these amoral Mercs accountable. The Private Military Industry is one of the fastest growing Economic Sectors in the World and the War could not have been prosecuted without them. But its about time they were regulated and held accountable in our American Justice System.
You guys are just jealous. Who cares about the deaths of a bunch of faceless monkeys? I say milk this baby for all she’s worth. Money is money. Where it comes from or how it’s made doesn’t really matter.
Also, Blackwater is covered by Haliburton I think.
Liberalism is Polluting the minds of americans with thoughts that defense contractor and other private business are benefit from the lives of young men and women, like capitalism will destroy us all because the rich will get richer and the poor poorer but what about government, i think they are more evil than private, we as americans are supposed to lean on government to redistribute the wealth( obama’s plan) which is effectively socialism, so yes this is definitely and political , GOD forbide we ever think about something and tell others about it
Bush Administration, INCOMPETENCE!
Except Dick Cheney, Heir Karl Rove, Tom Delay, and Newt Gingrich, very competent to destroy this country and pull the right strings on Georgy Boy.
There is BUSH a history to that name it has roots all the way to Prescott ( the American traitor), G.H.W. Bush, same as his daddy, G.W.Bush, same as his daddy, and Jeb Bush same as his daddy and Americans keep voting these bums in?
Got what we deserved, DEATH, WAR, WAR CRIMES, FRAUD, SCANDAL, CORRUPTION, GREED, LIES, DECEIT, MANIPULATIONS, MURDER, DESTRUCTION of our CONSTITUTION, TRUE CRONYISM, …ETC…
Impeachment, nah, the Democrats Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi , Barny Frank and H. Waxman, Diane Feinstein, PHONIES!! They are a corrupt bunch themselves so how can they stand up fighting the good fight on behalf of the American people? Some have even PROFITED from the war against Iraq, Senators profiting from war, not a CRIME!
Two infected wings of the same bird and we expect a healthy bird to fly?
Like a dog with mange, untreated it just spreads, like a LEGAL MOB?
So, the Bush legacy continues and so does the corruption of our government ELECTED officials, WE THE PEOPLE KNOWINGLY elect the same SLIME and expect a different result, they call that INSANITY!
Does America care what is happening, we’ll find out in the 2010 election of seating the same OLD Senators or a new bunch with strict ENFORCED ETHICS laws!
Comment by Thomas Armstrong on January 7th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Liberalism is Polluting the minds of americans with thoughts that defense contractor and other private business are benefit from the lives of young men and women, like capitalism will destroy us all because the rich will get richer and the poor poorer but what about government, i think they are more evil than private, we as americans are supposed to lean on government to redistribute the wealth( obama’s plan) which is effectively socialism, so yes this is definitely and political , GOD forbide we ever think about something and tell others about it
*************************************************************
Thomas, I agree with you to a point, YES, the corruption is in the government, No, we don’t mind profiting under ETHICAL & MORAL conditions, unfortunately it is not happening like that nor w/i our govt., especially, Diane Feinstein. For a Senator of our government who is profiting from war, we have a definite problem. How can we depend on those lawmakers to make a JUST decision on war if they are profiting from it?
As for your comment about socialism, “…redistribute the wealth( obama’s plan) which is effectively socialism”, I’ll take that distribution any day, you see for years under Regan to Bush #41 & #43 the socialistic view of “trickle down effect” as it was put to us, has been for the wealthy and well connected (because we aint seen it trickle down yet), we the people have received ONLY the burden of paying for this to occur and keep the money at the TOP we get stuck with the bill for the corruption using TAX PAYER money, ya know, atrocities against the American people.
EXAMPLE: The present economic crises = no regulations, no oversight via Dick Cheney/G Bush. Unemployment = tax breaks to corporations removing American jobs and going overseas, very POOR trading policies such as NAFTA and this Colombia trade treaty that will not go through, amongst others = Exploitation of other countries SLAVE/worker policies=child workers,low wages, no benefits to pay, no environmental laws to deal with, no unions to haggle with = PURE PROFITS,CEO & executive bonuses/perks& etc…
So, Thomas when you try and propagate GOP points, we know you don’t know what your talking about and your too blind to see the reality of the situation because chances are your fixated on the FOX network for jokes passed as information & news.
Where is the crack cocaine business on this list ??
The “connected” people bring it up from South America through “friendly” governments and onto Military basses ??
When the planes are caught with tons of coke…The people just skate away. The owners of the planes aren’t arrested! See http://www.madcowprod.com/12212007.html
After the stuff is safe in the U.S. it is made into crack and sold at local schools to enliven the students.
It’s better than Ritalin for concentrating the young minds.
The only trouble is that its not schoolwerk that is on their minds…its getting MORE MONEY, coke $ SEX that smoking crack focuses..
Is Bush & the Government in bed with CIA Cocaine smugglers?
What can Obama DO about CIA coke smugglers????????????????
Hi, I’m writing a 10 pg. essay on who profited from the war in Iraq. Does anyone know of any reliable websites I could use?
thanks
Liberal Propaganda? I think so…
Let’s not forget – Northrup Grummen, Raytheon, and many more. The American Govt is bought by Corporate America!!! They run our govt. it wasn’t oil or weapons of mass distruction….corporate American wanted to make lots of money and Bush and his goons saw to it that they did!!! The present administration is not any better and none will be until Congress changes…We should move to 2 terms max for these people…they sure stay there for a long time don’t they?
listen to your self you guys dont make any sense at all!!
“The next time an important oil producing country needs to be rebuilt we need to send in a group of high-minded people with no practical skills.”
Sooooo, Dick, is your point that practical skills trump business ethics? Did it even occur that one MIGHT actually be so ‘high-minded’ as to expect both’?
Do you know anything about the history of Halliburton and KBR in Iraq?
Could your memory hark back as far as to recall when this particular, ‘important, oil producing country DIDN’T EVEN require rebuilding? OR who ‘made a mess’ of it and how?
Do you imagine in your conformist mind, that our all important oil supply is more important than any other need or wish, trumping ethics, safety, human life or humanity in general, along with the earth’s environment?
You one of those ‘drill baby drill’, kinda guys, worshiping at the feet of Cheney-Palin?
I’m guessing all you high-minded folks who find the idea of making money off the war effort have completely reviewed your portfolios and divested yourselves of any and all stock or other financial interest in all of these companies and their multiple divisions, subsidiaries, etc. Just checking.
I see I am late on this, but I wanted to reply to the individual who speaks of companies earning money and that this is why they go into business in the first place. We understand all of that and take no issue with earning money, but here comes the unthinkable that no one here has mentioned because to consider it would cause every last one of us to lose faith in American leaders.
What if your desire to make money exceeds the safety and welfare of the citizens of the country where you do business?
In other words what if certain events are permitted to occur so that we have a convenient way to usher ourselves into a war thereby creating a need to produce weapons…? I don’t really want to know what goes on in the upper ranks because there is not a one of us who wouldn’t pack our bags and move.
The elitists do not draw lines between political parties, race, faith or any of the other superficial categories that keep you and me separate from one another. Proof in the pudding is how the Bush family (Prescott Bush) aided the 3rd Reich by accepting Hitler’s money (Jews’ wealth) and banking it for them. Prescott owned a bank and served on the board of 3 or 4 other banks. (Prescott is the father of George HW Bush). Then there is Kennedy (father) who also supported the 3rd Reich. SEE? 2 different political parties yet they seem to agree with Hitler at the end of the day.
There is the Bin Laden family and its ties to the entire Bush dynasty. The Bin Ladens facilitated the opening of H.W. Bush’s three oil companies in the late 70′s.
Halliburton is an after thought by the time you read all the dirt that exists in all of these families in the upper echelon. We are the fools for bickering and arguing, because if you think for one minute they are doing the same thing, you are foolish. They could care less. Their only goal is to keep us separate because of the threat we pose to them if we pulled our resources and power together and battled the “system” as we know it today. Clinton, Bush, Obama, Reagan… all have their roles to play (good cop-bad cop) but there is nothing that takes place without the stamp of approval from those in true power. Isn’t this elementary by now.
Great blog-don’t be intimidated by talking about business and politics and war. They are all intertwined my friend and anyone who wants to skip through the lilly fields may do so at another site. Thanks for having the guts.
Posted by…Matty Gillette
You got your facts wrong. I work for Perini and we dont do envionmental cleanup. We are construction overhead covers to protect the troops from mortar and rocket attacks.
Poor research my friend.
Matty I believe you have you facts wrong and you say you work for them..
In 1988 Perini sought further growth through a joint venture in the hazardous waste cleanup market. The company joined with Ashland Technology and Versar Inc. to form Perland Environmental Technologies Inc., which provides scientific, environmental engineering and construction services for hazardous-waste management and cleanup.
I agree with Sporty, Perini does not do environmental cleanup. Perini has a solid foothold in the hazardous waste cleanup market, but I have never seen any indicators that they make overhead covers to protect troops. Perhaps you work for a contractor who works for Perini. I have a family member who was contracted by them to do plastic injection molding.
the problem is not war profiteers but the fact that they can pay off politicians and gain easy access to the powers that get us into war. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Are you suggesting that no one is suppose to make a profit during wartime? Many of these companies are the only companies that do the type of job that was needed.
When you start getting into political commentary I become rather suspicious of your advice on other things.