Robert Greenwald wanted to show this video containing clips from his documentary about war profiteering to Congress when he testified on May 10th. His request was blocked by Republicans who apparently were too embarrassed by it. The transcript of the statement Greenwald read is now available.
Also, here’s an article about the whole hearing:
[Author Jeremy] Scahill told lawmakers that heavy reliance on private contractors has enabled the Bush administration to nearly double the number of U.S. forces in Iraq without the general knowledge of U.S. taxpayers.
Afghanistan was/is a war about terrorism. But is there anyone left in the country world who really still thinks this war in Iraq was conceived of because of something other than profits and getting control of the region (using Iraq as the US center of operations) to eventually generate more profits in assorted ways? 9/11 gave a handy excuse to move forward with what was already in the planning stages. With the Democrats in control, I bet the pile of dirty laundry we’ve seen so far will turn out to be a mountain that will bury the Republicans next year as the ‘best’ stuff appears just before the elections.
I would look more into what President Bush will be doing as a job / career after next year.
Seems like a particular Gov’t subcontractor could really use a spokesperson . . .
Seriously, what is there to gain from controlling a ME country? Oil?
Russia & China seem to be the big winners $$$ wise.
Kudo’s to the British PM for stepping down with such grace & etiquette.
Iraq was to make profits? These guys will make profits wherever there’s a war. Not being in Iraq just means more fighting in Afghanistan as AlQaeda goes there instead (supported by Saddam).
why? why are men so greedy? what have we become?
Have you ever tried to interrogate a video? I mean the liberals love the boob tube because they don’t have to answer questions. Yes, just before the next election, the liberals will deluge the internet with misleading videos similar to the one that had Bush blowing up the WTC.
MikeN (#2),
There is zero evidence that Saddam Hussein ever supported Al-Qaeda. One of the great fallacies that led us into the war in Iraq…
4. So I take it you agree with the way this is being handled? Or just that its not enough proof for you? What would constitute proff for you Timbo?
http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=warfu9.png
If you know the elitists plan, you can make some money…
#4 Your right, internet innuendo is the only proper way to win an election. Good old Rove proved that two times, with a little crooked vote counting thrown in. Halliburton Cheney has already moved his company off shore, where will Bush hide when the hammer falls.
I believe this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
There was a time when the world wondered why the hell the U.S. would go into Iraq when the terrorists and their sponsors were obviously in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In fact, they are still there.
As usual, the answer to such a question is always the same old journalist’s trick: follow the money.
Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why not get out of Iraq and let them move along with their civil war. The U.S. could then return to Afghanistan, defeat the Taliban and finally start going after Al Qaeda and bin Laden to finally avenge September 11th. Does that make too much sense or something?
If people are worried about the fact the U.S. introduced Al Qaeda into Iraq, don’t worry. The Iraqis never liked or trusted Al Qaeda (including Saddam, who considered Al Qaeda an enemy) and I expect the Iraqis would make short work of the ‘foreign fighters’ as soon as the U.S. left, using different, more extreme measures.
Enough of this war for financial profit! It’s time to just win the damned thing and bring home some very brave and dedicated people.
These Haliburton stories tend not to propel the debate on the current state of Iraq, at least in any meaningful, intellectually stimulating manner. So to the parties interested, here is a link to a Charlie Rose interview with Christopher Hitchens who talks about his new book, in relation to the current situation in Iraq ( http://tinyurl.com/2z7kdw ). He puts forth both sides of the arguments that are being made here, but with a little more penchant of rationality.
I’m surprised that people are surprised at this. I just took it for granted that people knew that large government and corporations routinely did idiotic money wasting BS.
I once saw a large corp bury over 1 million dollars worth of perfectly good tools because an employee misused a type of tool, got himself hurt (minorlly, 5 stitches in his thumb) and lied about it by blaming the tool. So this Corp in their wisdom rounded up all the tools of a certain brand and buried them. Most of the mechanics were delighted, they got to order newer more expensive toys errr tools.
It’s like the Republicans are trying to lose the next election on purpose..
TIME for a federal AUDIT…
#5, If you believe him, George Tenet has facts connecting Saddam to AlQaeda in his book. Richard Clarke said he thought Osama would ‘boogie to Baghdad’ if he got scared in Afghanistan. Abu Nidal fled Italy on an Iraqi diplomatic passport. Saddam sent operatives to meet with Bin Laden, and got Osama to make speeches in support of Iraq after that. What do you think was offered in return?
> There is zero evidence that Saddam Hussein ever
> supported Al-Qaeda. One of the great fallacies
> that led us into the war in Iraq…
A. There is plenty of evidence Al Qaida was aided by people in Iraq. Whether or not Hussein was personally aware that Al Qaida was operating in this country is another question.
B. It was questioned whether Hussein and the Iraqi government were doing anything to stop terrorism from festering in their country which was pointed out to them.
C. al-Zarqawi was not only killed in Iraq (after the invasion), he was spotted in Iraq prior to the invasion.
Your tax money at work.
15,
And under those Ideas/thoughts, why not invade IRAN, TURKEY, and 1/2 the other nations of the middle east??
I find that when people usually are for senseless things, such as being prowar in Iraq given the facts we know now, it usually winds up being about money. If Congress passed a law taxing the crap out of war profiteering, we would be out of Iraq yesterday. Instead they pass a law that Bush easily vetos.
In the mean time, look at Halliburton’s stock price,
http://www.smartmoney.com/eqsnaps/index.cfm?story=charting&symbol=HAL, they have gone from $5 a share before the war to $33. War has been berry, berry good to them.
Cheney used to be CEO of Halliburton. I think he more than Bush is responsible for this debacle. Interesting that when the executive branch has had its ass being paid off by Halliburton/Brown and Root, America gets into a stupid war. The real reason for Vietnam was LBJ was on the take from Brown and Root.
#17 – … why not invade IRAN, TURKEY, and 1/2 the other nations of the middle east??
Why stop there? I’ve heard that Iceland is a breeding ground for international terrorism.
#17
I suspect that the EU nations and Turkey, our NATO ally, would probably frown on invasion. As for Iran, that may yet happen. As for the other nations of the middle east, that may not be necessary depending on how much pressure we are able to put on them from Iraq and Afghanistan.