War Profiteering Exposed To The Light Of Day

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_thomas_l_070208_war_profiteering_exp.htm

<snip>Yes folks, this war and its uniquely Republican method of steering billions, not millions of taxpayers' dollars toward the dreamy GOP philosophy of privatization, has been an unprecedented boon for these corporations.

Let me be clear here; the deaths of our young soldiers has been good---damned good, for these companies.

Want some examples?

Lockheed Martin has made $94 billion on Iraq. That's about $30 million per dead kid. Boeing was second, with $81 billion. Raytheon weighs in with $40 billion, and Northrup Grumman and General Dynamics have each pocketed about $34 billion. Lockheed Martin has spent over $53 million in lobbying, and six million dollars in campaign donations since 2000. Lockheed gets more money annually from our government than do either the Departments of Justice or Energy.

Since the Iraqi invasion, Halliburton profits have risen 500%. Halliburton was fined $8 million last month for overcharging our government during military operations in the Balkans while Cheney ran Halliburton. In January of last year, the administration overrode the Pentagon in a battle with Halliburton over $199 million in disputed charges, ordering the Pentagon to pay the bill. That same month, Halliburton reported 2005 profits as being "the best in our 86-year history." After taking a $30+ million dollar retirement for five years service, Cheney received over $400k in deferred earnings. While he was their CEO, he doubled government contracts, at the same time doubling their political contributions. Imagine that.

[rumpel]

1. something to think about come April...

:mad:

[Old and In the Way]

2. Dick Cheney - World-Class Warmonger - World-Class War Profiteer

World-Class asshole.

[fooj]

4. World-Class War Criminal

:grr:

[malaise]

11. Bingo

but make that plural. World class war criminals.

[Virginian]

20. Off to The Hague with him! n/t

[maddezmom]

3. K&R

:kick:

[GreenTea]

5. The war for profit indeed serves BushCo in so many ways...

Billions upon billions of corporate money still to be made...Cheney told us " we will have never ending war"...Its GREAT for business...imperialism is the fascist way, there's still a lot of oil left to steal and control...I'm sure those huge oil fields in Iran look mighty delicious to these greedy fucks...more oil to over-change and gouge us at the pumps, for their record profits, lots of unmetered oil flowing in Iraq...Its ALL about war for profit.

And Bush the dictator needs war to keep himself deliberately and by design a "war time president" it gives him an excuse to invade, ignore the Constitution & laws, while legislating our civil rights out of existence... that's what dictators do...they are always at war.. it creates more wealth for the richest 1%... Bush's whole bullshit economy is propped up by this war time economy meant to keep the corporations riches flowing.

They have stolen the American tax payers blind, and there's a lot more left to steal...Bush will get his 100 BILLION more of our tax dollars (for the contractors & corporations to exploit & steal) they say it's to "support the troops" that always works!

Not least of which Bush's war for profit serves to purposely bankrupt the country and the needs of the people...with the excuse that there is no money left for Social Security, public education, health care, environmental concerns, veterans needs and our crumbling infrastructure because of Bush's phony "war on terrorism".

The Democratic congress has no plans to stop this bankrupting war for profit ...They voted on a non binding resolution on Bush's so called "surge".. more of Karl Roves handy work, a smokescreen for debate as the war for profit will keep on rolling for years to come..

Bombing Iran, by instigating and using doctored evidence & lies, (where have we heard this before) will insure this attack and force congress to continue funding the hundreds of billions more to serve Bush's corporate empire building, imperialism and bankrupting us!

[In Truth We Trust]

6. five deferrment cheney profits from war! what an asshole.

[Bandit]

7. And this doesn't even mention the twelve billion in cold hard cash

that just plain vanished....363 tons of bundled hundred dollar bills. No one knows anything...:shrug: This is the era of "super profits" on War.....

[Octafish]

8. Privateers Wanted - GOP Only Need Apply

Thanks for the Great OpEdNews article, Don.

Here's more on the subject: The money's only for connected turds.

Republicans Only Need Apply?

February 15, 2007 12:02 PM

Rhonda Schwartz and Maddy Sauer Report:

The Pentagon rejected qualified experts for reconstruction work in Iraq because they were not deemed loyal to the Republican party, according to the former chief of staff of the Washington Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Frederick Smith.

"Some people were overlooked because they didn't meet the political saliva test," Smith, now retired, told ABC News.

Smith said political appointees at the Pentagon, including a special assistant to the secretary of defense and White House liaison, James O'Beirne, led the screening.

"We needed to get the best people out there," Smith said, "not just because they were a member of the Young Republicans Club at Michigan State."

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is now investigating the role of O'Beirne and allegations of what Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called "an organized and systematic screening process."

CONTINUED...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/02/republicans_onl.html

I wonder what they did with all the war profiteers in the old days?

[PsN2Wind]

15. James O'Beirne, husband of

Kate O'Beirne, conservative talking head, defender of Dubya and all things war. Never recall seeing this little fact divulged on any of the shows she shills on.

[Octafish]

16. Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq

WaPo ran an excellent excerpt from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran:

Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq

Early U.S. Missteps in the Green Zone

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 17, 2006; A01

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.

O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade .

Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April 2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance -- but had applied for a White House job -- was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.

The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration's gravest errors. Many of those selected because of their political fidelity spent their time trying to impose a conservative agenda on the postwar occupation, which sidetracked more important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill among the Iraqi people, according to many people who participated in the reconstruction effort.

CONTINUED...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193.html

Crooks do business with crooks.



That way, there's trust.

[Kurovski]

9. K&R

bookmarked.

[Kurovski]

10. Kick(nt)

[B Calm]

12. I like to know where all that Iraqi oil money is going...

[MasonJar]

13. There is only one way to stop these maniacs and that is a country-

wide refusal to pay taxes. Maybe if we organized so that everyone took October deadline, we would get their attention. No money, no war.

[w4rma]

18. Vote them and their friends out of every office. That is the only way to stop them.

There is no way that any country-wide refusal to pay taxes is capable of being organized.

[War Pigs]

14. Google: David H. Brooks- war profiteer sometime...

took the big $$ and screwed the troops at the same time. Where's the RW outrage??

[sanskritwarrior]

17. I abhor war profiteering

but are you implying this is strictly a Republican anomaly? Because I have been in the Army 13 years and I have seen defense contractors profits increase under both Bush and Clinton.....Both parties are feeding at this particular sick trough.........

[StrictlyRockers]

19. Making money from the death of the poorest Americans.

No shame.