War For Profit

As oil, arms, private security and many other industries plundered Iraq’s economy, it became clear that companies often profit from war and conflict. Claims of corporate influence at Washington suggest that some companies go so far as to fuel conflict for their own ends. And even those companies which may believe they are merely restoring commerce and production to a war ravaged economy are unable to deny that they themselves are dependent on security apparatuses complicit in human rights abuses, in turn fuelling violence and poverty. Reference Links ... *Making a Killing: Corporations, Conflict & Poverty *Advocates of War Now Profit Of important Bush appointees, 32 have ties to top weapons contractors as former executives, consultants, or major shareholders. These include the secretary of the Navy, previously a General Dynamics vice president, and the undersecretary of the Air Force. These men, who will return to private industry in a few years, have an indisputable material interest in pushing ever-greater military spending. It is estimated that by 2007 the "defense" budget will be $469 billion, 11 percent more than the Cold War average. Reference Link ... *The Profit-Driven War on Iraq The offices of the Carlyle Group are on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, midway between the White House and the Capitol building, and within a stone's throw of the headquarters of the FBI and numerous government departments. The address reflects Carlyle's position at the very center of the Washington establishment, but amid the frenetic politicking that has occupied the higher reaches of that world in recent weeks, few have paid it much attention. But since the start of the "war on terrorism", the firm - unofficially valued at $13.5bn - has taken on an added significance. Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president's father. Reference Links ... *The ex-presidents' club *Bush Sr. Could Profit From War *Bush adviser quits in conflict over profit from war The 2003 war was not only about Saddam's regime and weapons of mass destruction, but about who will control the second-largest oil reserve in the world. U.S. oil reserves (at current production levels) would only last only a decade if the U.S. was cut off from all other oil sources. Iraqi oil reserves (at their current use levels) would last about 526 years. Iraq has a reserve of about 112 billion barrels of oil. Now that Saddam Hussein has been removed from power, the Iraqi oil industry is up for grabs. It will depend on a new Iraqi government to decide how it will distribute the oil. Reference Link ... *Oil Connections to War Soldiers have lived for months in primitive shelters without windows or air conditioning. Some are without fresh food and showers and telephones and toilets. For a time they weren't even getting their mail. Although news stories say conditions have improved, soldiers continue to write the Stars and Stripes and David Hackworth's web site with tales of deprivation. "Units spend their lives preparing for 2 week warfighters and one month NTC rotations and never think, "okay, how are we going to live out here for six months or a year." Its just not part of the Army's thinking anymore and it s a shame." Reference Link ... *War and Profit We had a war because there are powerful interests in our country that are geared toward making money from war. There are companies that fix what gets broken, such as Bechtel and Halliburton. There are companies that protect people as they break things and as they fix what's broken, such as Blackwater and Vinnell Corp. There are companies that want our government to smash across borders so they may bring new products and infrastructure, companies that we will see set up shop in that country. There are companies that want our government to smash across other countries' borders so they may suck the resources out from underneath the people there, such as the big oil companies. There are companies that like the US to attack other countries so they may have something entertaining to tell their audiences in the time between commercials: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN. This is war profiteering! Reference Link ... *The Profit-Driven War Every step toward war fills Bush pockets quite literally with gold. That's the way they operate, these liars and thieves in thousand-dollar suits, these secretive fronts who profit from war, fear, blood and greasy palms. Reference Links ... *War is Golden for the Bush Administration *Bush ally set to profit from the war on terror Because of the bombing there is going to be the need for a massive amount of rebuilding, an undertaking that will very likely be considerably more than the $100 billion that has been estimated as the cost of the war. The opportunity to bid was put out in secret under rules that permit U.S. agencies to avoid open and competitive bidding procedures when deemed necessary to meet emergency needs. The companies that are being permitted to bid include Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Dick Cheney's Haliburton Co., Bechtel Group, Inc. Parsons Corp., Louis Berger Group and Fluor Corp. (As an aside, and not wanting to suggest anything inappropriate, the Journal notes, as should I, that those companies made political contributions of more than $2.8 million between 1999 and 2002, more than two-thirds of which went to Republicans.) Reference Link ... *Who Will Profit From War in Iraq? Even before the Iraqi war, the Pentagon was spending about 8 percent of its overall budget -- at least $30 billion -- on private military companies. Gone is the familiar World War II template of our self-sufficient Armed Forces defending our shores and beleaguered friends in distant lands without much outside help. With the downsizing of the American military came a quiet Pentagon reaction: outsourcing every thinkable job to the private sector. Reference Link ... *Bush Cronies Profit from War in Iraq Of the 67 countries which have received or are set to receive U.S. military aid, 32 have been identified by the State Department as having "poor" or worse human rights records. Congress has approved a staggeringly large sum of military aid for regimes fighting an ill-defined "war on terror," and is working to ensure that there will be little or no public scrutiny of how such aid is spent. From 1991 to 2000, the U.S. delivered $74 billion worth of military equipment, services and training to countries in the Middle East. "Foreign [military] assistance to the Middle East," noted West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd in 2001, "virtually ignores the spiraling violence in the region." Reference Links ... *New World Disorder *The Perpetual War Portfolio Other War Fraud "Brand new $85,000 trucks that were left on the side of the road because of a flat tire and then subsequently burned. 25 tons, 50,000 pounds, of nails ordered by Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the wrong size, that are laying in the sands of Iraq. 42,000 meals a day charged to the taxpayers by Halliburton and only 14,000 are actually served." Reference Link ... *GOP Kills Senate Bill to Police Halliburton Stumble It!

War For Profit

As oil, arms, private security and many other industries plundered Iraq’s economy, it became clear that companies often profit from war and conflict. Claims of corporate influence at Washington suggest that some companies go so far as to fuel conflict for their own ends. And even those companies which may believe they are merely restoring commerce and production to a war ravaged economy are unable to deny that they themselves are dependent on security apparatuses complicit in human rights abuses, in turn fuelling violence and poverty. Reference Links ... *Making a Killing: Corporations, Conflict & Poverty *Advocates of War Now Profit Of important Bush appointees, 32 have ties to top weapons contractors as former executives, consultants, or major shareholders. These include the secretary of the Navy, previously a General Dynamics vice president, and the undersecretary of the Air Force. These men, who will return to private industry in a few years, have an indisputable material interest in pushing ever-greater military spending. It is estimated that by 2007 the "defense" budget will be $469 billion, 11 percent more than the Cold War average. Reference Link ... *The Profit-Driven War on Iraq The offices of the Carlyle Group are on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, midway between the White House and the Capitol building, and within a stone's throw of the headquarters of the FBI and numerous government departments. The address reflects Carlyle's position at the very center of the Washington establishment, but amid the frenetic politicking that has occupied the higher reaches of that world in recent weeks, few have paid it much attention. But since the start of the "war on terrorism", the firm - unofficially valued at $13.5bn - has taken on an added significance. Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president's father. Reference Links ... *The ex-presidents' club *Bush Sr. Could Profit From War *Bush adviser quits in conflict over profit from war The 2003 war was not only about Saddam's regime and weapons of mass destruction, but about who will control the second-largest oil reserve in the world. U.S. oil reserves (at current production levels) would only last only a decade if the U.S. was cut off from all other oil sources. Iraqi oil reserves (at their current use levels) would last about 526 years. Iraq has a reserve of about 112 billion barrels of oil. Now that Saddam Hussein has been removed from power, the Iraqi oil industry is up for grabs. It will depend on a new Iraqi government to decide how it will distribute the oil. Reference Link ... *Oil Connections to War Soldiers have lived for months in primitive shelters without windows or air conditioning. Some are without fresh food and showers and telephones and toilets. For a time they weren't even getting their mail. Although news stories say conditions have improved, soldiers continue to write the Stars and Stripes and David Hackworth's web site with tales of deprivation. "Units spend their lives preparing for 2 week warfighters and one month NTC rotations and never think, "okay, how are we going to live out here for six months or a year." Its just not part of the Army's thinking anymore and it s a shame." Reference Link ... *War and Profit We had a war because there are powerful interests in our country that are geared toward making money from war. There are companies that fix what gets broken, such as Bechtel and Halliburton. There are companies that protect people as they break things and as they fix what's broken, such as Blackwater and Vinnell Corp. There are companies that want our government to smash across borders so they may bring new products and infrastructure, companies that we will see set up shop in that country. There are companies that want our government to smash across other countries' borders so they may suck the resources out from underneath the people there, such as the big oil companies. There are companies that like the US to attack other countries so they may have something entertaining to tell their audiences in the time between commercials: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN. This is war profiteering! Reference Link ... *The Profit-Driven War Every step toward war fills Bush pockets quite literally with gold. That's the way they operate, these liars and thieves in thousand-dollar suits, these secretive fronts who profit from war, fear, blood and greasy palms. Reference Links ... *War is Golden for the Bush Administration *Bush ally set to profit from the war on terror Because of the bombing there is going to be the need for a massive amount of rebuilding, an undertaking that will very likely be considerably more than the $100 billion that has been estimated as the cost of the war. The opportunity to bid was put out in secret under rules that permit U.S. agencies to avoid open and competitive bidding procedures when deemed necessary to meet emergency needs. The companies that are being permitted to bid include Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Dick Cheney's Haliburton Co., Bechtel Group, Inc. Parsons Corp., Louis Berger Group and Fluor Corp. (As an aside, and not wanting to suggest anything inappropriate, the Journal notes, as should I, that those companies made political contributions of more than $2.8 million between 1999 and 2002, more than two-thirds of which went to Republicans.) Reference Link ... *Who Will Profit From War in Iraq? Even before the Iraqi war, the Pentagon was spending about 8 percent of its overall budget -- at least $30 billion -- on private military companies. Gone is the familiar World War II template of our self-sufficient Armed Forces defending our shores and beleaguered friends in distant lands without much outside help. With the downsizing of the American military came a quiet Pentagon reaction: outsourcing every thinkable job to the private sector. Reference Link ... *Bush Cronies Profit from War in Iraq Of the 67 countries which have received or are set to receive U.S. military aid, 32 have been identified by the State Department as having "poor" or worse human rights records. Congress has approved a staggeringly large sum of military aid for regimes fighting an ill-defined "war on terror," and is working to ensure that there will be little or no public scrutiny of how such aid is spent. From 1991 to 2000, the U.S. delivered $74 billion worth of military equipment, services and training to countries in the Middle East. "Foreign [military] assistance to the Middle East," noted West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd in 2001, "virtually ignores the spiraling violence in the region." Reference Links ... *New World Disorder *The Perpetual War Portfolio Other War Fraud "Brand new $85,000 trucks that were left on the side of the road because of a flat tire and then subsequently burned. 25 tons, 50,000 pounds, of nails ordered by Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the wrong size, that are laying in the sands of Iraq. 42,000 meals a day charged to the taxpayers by Halliburton and only 14,000 are actually served." Reference Link ... *GOP Kills Senate Bill to Police Halliburton