MovieChat Forums > Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006) Discussion > Come on, Are people really buying this?

Come on, Are people really buying this?


OOOHHH people are making money for their services... how bad is that?
First they say oh they killed these people - NOT TRUE, and then when that wouldn’t run they say oh they are stealing from us....
WARS COST MONEY, and GOVERNMENT WASTE HAS BEEN GOING ON EVER SINCE THERE WAS A GOVERNMENT

What happened to the two other families from Blackwater? What did they have to say?
And the 5 other families from Halliburton gas convoy that died or went missing?
those families that are shown have a logical discrepancy... if the contractors are all about money then so are they... because over and over its... he wanted the money... oh yeah for our family...
They take the money and then complain about how it was earned and who gave it to them....

A lot of these people have grudges against the contractors, the military, or the government; they miss what’s going on... the people that killed them was not the contractors it was a few Iraqi people that didn’t like them being there... and by the way not all Iraqi people hate Americans... don’t believe what the Conspiracy News Network (CNN) would have you believe.

Just because no amendment has actually passed must mean there is some backdoor stuff going on...right??? NO

They are holding CACI responsible for the actions of some of its rogue nterrogators? oh and by the way, it has been proven that they were not at fault that is why none of them are in jail and the two idiot MP's are...

The video interviews are very cut to make them say what the producers want you to hear and only that...

Their "witnesses" that came from the prison beside having their interview cut to shreds to say what was wanted to be said... seem very shady in the way they are "recounting" their happenings...seems too scripted

The end montage of them calling and asking for the contractors to appear in the film, we never once heard the actual contractors say they did not want to be on the film... hmmm who does that benefit... only the makers of this documentary that’s for sure.

Don’t buy into this whole thing... its propaganda against: the war, any presidency we will ever have that supports a better tomorrow for the world, and against our very way of life in America...

They were right when they said, "It's about the money..." but they were talking about the wrong people... For themselves it's about the money... others have it and they don't and they think that’s wrong...

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From what I understand of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs (families of the Blackwater mercs) are claiming damages from Blackwater for sending their employees (plaitiffs' family members) into a known hostile area (Fallujah) under-armed, under-equipped and without proper pre-mission briefing or intel.

They may have a case, because from what I've read, Blackwater seems to have a history of this, perceiving themselves to be beyond reach of accountability - claiming to be part of the U.S. "total force" and therefore not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act...

So far, the Federal Courts have agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling that the lawsuits cannot be pursued in Federal Courts since Blackwater is a private business venture and not a branch of the U.S. Military or Government.

The way I see it, Blackwater can't have it both ways - operating with impunity outside the Universal Code of Military Justice while simultaneously claiming protection under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

"I do not want to not live because of my fear of what could happen."
- Laird Hamilton

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twilight chalice would like to live in a world where the people who profit from war (contractors and the military industry), once in government (the current administration, the lbj administration, etc.), suddenly forget about their bank accounts and start thinking about main street usa. people like twilight chalice smoke crack and then watch bill o'reilly when they are cooked and fried.

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wow, did you really think that tirade up all by yourself?
I do not smoke crack, in fact i think its repugnant. I also do not believe in total distribution of wealth, most people that have money have worked to get there...
Saying corporations should make people think about what there is to lose before hiring them to do an obviously dangerous job is ludicrous. These people were not forced to do anything, they knew the dangers and the consequences yet they went anyways... I think that movies like this one only degrade the memory of men and women like these who have gone over and gave their lives...
but of course people like you will always say any persons ideas that are contrary to their own are way off base and crazy... whatever, it seems the people who are attacking our government are more close minded than those supporting it... go figure on that...
but go on and live your life, one day you will see that sometimes there isnt a conspiracy around every corner....

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I don't really think that you smoke crack; it's call joking.

I forgot that all the manual laborers around the world don't work hard and deserve to continue scrubbing for nickels and that fat-cats are all pinnacles of ability industry and quality travail. I apologize for thinking that fat cats are the children, usually, of other fat cats.

"Saying corporations should make people think about what there is to lose before hiring them to do an obviously dangerous job is ludicrous. These people were not forced to do anything, they knew the dangers and the consequences yet they went anyways..."
Yep, they chose to go and they died and that's not why the movie upsets me - I don't like the mercenary army; that we're outsourcing our military services; that contractors are triple dipping; that this $#!T is now going to be domestic, too.

"I think that movies like this one only degrade the memory of men and women like these who have gone over and gave their lives... "
Since the families and friends of the dead appear in these kinds of films, and you and I are just mojos, I guess they have a little more credence in that department.

"but of course people like you will always say any persons ideas that are contrary to their own are way off base and crazy..."
cuz you know who i am.

"whatever, it seems the people who are attacking our government are more close minded than those supporting it... go figure on that..."
Criticism and questioning is not attacking. Flying planes into the Pentagon is attacking. I criticize and question the government - it's one of the rights I would actually fight for. It's one of the things that makes our country great - we don't get boiled for questioning. So yes, I'll continue, because I am a patriot and always think we can improve.

"but go on and live your life, one day you will see that sometimes there isnt a conspiracy around every corner...."
It's not a conspiracy, lemming. It's many large corporations openly bidding for huge contracts in a privatized war that everyone is watching - it's pretty public. I'm just not a lemming.

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I admire you, nosnojsirhc. I gave up long ago. I'm glad there are people around like you to carry the torch of reason; and especially the fact that you do it so eloquently. I didn't even know where to start with that person. And what would be the use, except to hopefully disabuse those whom innocently wander in, intrigued by the provocative title, from believing the "iconoclastic" chicanery offered up as "sage analysis"?

But that's my disillusioned cynicism (I hope you forgive me, but this administration has cemented that natural tendency of mine). In truth, I don't think any one is 'that' ill-informed (?!).

By the way, the word conspiracy comes from the Latin 'conspirare', meaning 'to breath together', roughly. There's nothing intrinsically "X-Files" about it. I prefer the less loaded 'collusion' anyway.

What is so sad, is that this information is out there. We have a reasonably open government (that old chestnut of the delicate balance between National Security and oversight/accountability), and all our freedoms which we enjoy as American citizens. But we're all too apathetic (or busy and exhausted, doing underpayed labor) to be pissed-off what our taxes are being used for, and what is being done in the name of our flag, and already atrocious global reputation.

I don't need a history lesson, nor do you nosnojsirhc. Yes there's always been waste. Yes wars are messy. Wow. Thanks. Didn't know that. –But, might I bring up the prescient words of Eisenhower again... nah, too cliché. Like I said, it boggles the mind. I wouldn't even know where to start.

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Thanks for the compliment, and don't be depressed! Yes, nothing's changing and yes, people seem complacent. I've moved beyond it. If this is the bed that humanity wants to lie in, then they will enjoy it as we are all swallowed by the 4 horsemen of our own gluttonous creation - unfortunately, the rest of the species are directly affected as well. Meanwhile, I continue to try (and we can only try in this day and age - there is no full success) to live within my means, leaving as little trace as possible, without adversely affecting the world. I just don't talk about it or advertise it. I learned something from Fox News - the negative screaming just stalls sensible people from going about their affairs. So I don't partake. The warnings have all been sounded, time and again. Go hiking, drink fresh water and implant a strong memory of it for future reference on your brain, and enjoy life as it can still be found off the highway. Conquer your fears. End your addictions. Tone up your physique. Make, do, be art. Read all the classics, call loved ones often, and try to do the things on the 'before i die' list. Why not? If we're wrong and everything's hunky dorey, we'll STILL have had a better time than the bloated consumer with anal leakage slouching to the office cube for another bitchy day of there-is-nothing-wrong-with-this-picture. Or the fist-shaking 'patriot' neocon puppet. Or the insane nut floating to armageddon on koran/bible pillows. Or the... sorry, can't keep rolling through the old tired images, I'm off to enjoy what's left of life, earth and us!

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So what your saying is that Halliburton and KBR aren't really doing anything wrong, just making money like any other corporation. OK, lets go with that since this film was pretty one sided. But what about the firms that KBR subcontracted to who exploited and lured third country nationals to work in Iraq under false promises. I'm pretty sure that wasn't covered in the doc., even that on its own says something about Halliburton & KBRs ethics, not to mention their social responsibility or lack of.

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They got the contracts because they gave the Republicans in congress hand jobs. I honestly am against this because these companies have a monopoly that makes competition impossible, which is the exact opposite of what capitalism is all about.

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"most people that have money have worked to get there... " I'm sure Paris Hilton agrees with you.

Companies make a profit, that's capitalism. Unfortunately, in Iraq, there has been very little oversight in the spending of funds - OUR TAX DOLLARS. It was our tax dollars that paid for soldiers to wash in unclean water for their showers (and our tax dollars that paid for the medical care needed from the unclean water). It was our tax dollars that paid for shoddy electrical wiring near soldiers' shower facilities. It's our tax dollars that pay over $600 per day per person for Blackwater mercenaries.

Personally, I'd rather see my tax money spent in a much better fashion.

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I know someone who handles all the logistics. Which is pretty much handling the ordering and delivering of all the equipment,materials,etc. He pretty much said they over-order things because by the time it gets there plenty is gone. They would order a dozen chairs for deliver to Iraq and only 5 show up.Thats just a small scale example. Imagine all the things that disappear together. Crap like that is one of many problems. This document really didn't cover crap. There is a hell of a lot more money and materials disappearing and not being accounted for by this bastard government. A great waste of tax money.






Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

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Obviously some things are somewhat overstated in this documentary. The companies did not literally, intentionally kill or toture anybody, for instance. They SHOULD have made more effort to get the other side of the story instead of relying entirely on grieving families or disgruntled ex-employees as some of you said. There is also nothing wrong with privatization or companies making a profit SOMETIMES.

There IS, however, a BIG problem with no-bid, "cost-plus" contracts and the cozy, incestuous relationship between politicians and military contractors (read the speech that crazy, wild-eyed liberal Dwight Eisenhower made back in 1959). This is NOT the free market, but a terrible corruption of the free market. Conservatives complain about the wasteful inefficiency of big government while liberals complain about the unfettered greed of corporations--well, here you have the worst of both worlds, and it really should concern EVERYBODY. War profiteering is always a problem, especially when you're trying to capture the "hearts and minds" of the local population. And the even greater danger is to make war itself profitable. I'm not quite cynical enough to believe Bush, Cheney et. al. went into this ill-advised war just to make their friends money, but they did probably chalk that up as a big win in what they regarded as a win-win situation, and it helped blind them to the considerable downside of the invasion.

I might also add as a child I lived through what was arguably a "sucessful" US intervention (the Chilean coup of 1973)and some of the free market experiments of Americans during the subsequent Pinochet era (many of which were eventually quite sucessful). It is very easy to be logical or reasonable when you are NOT one of the innocent people being tortured in Abu Gahraib or driven into exile or "disappeared" by some "friend" of America like Pinochet. And even sucessful free-market experiments aren't always so fun when you're the guinea pig.

This documentary will probably not get the attention of more shrill, much less deserving stuff like "Fahrenheit 911", but these problems are not going away regardless of whether you switch on the ole right-wing rationalization/"spin" machine and just dismiss this as so-much liberal propaganda.

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Great post lazarillo, you really brought forth a balanced, and very much needed, perspective.

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I respect your right to your opinion, however I do not respect your lack of knowledge or your cavalier attitude towards war, suffering and profiteering. I am a decorated combat vet and I only hope you'll take my word you have it mostly wrong.

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" WASHINGTON - The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees.
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Arthur Brennan, who briefly served in Baghdad as head of the department's Office of Accountability and Transparency last year, and James Mattil, who worked as the chief of staff, told Senate Democrats on Monday that their office was understaffed and its warnings and recommendations ignored.

Brennan also alleges the State Department prevented a congressional staffer visiting Baghdad from talking with staffers by insisting they were too busy. In reality, Brennan said, the staffers were watching movies at the embassy and on their computers. The staffers' workload had been cut dramatically because of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's "evisceration" of Iraq's top anti-corruption office, he said.

The State Department's policies "not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," Brennan told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

The U.S. embassy "effort against corruption — including its new centerpiece, the now-defunct Office of Accountability and Transparency — was little more than 'window dressing,'" he added."


come on, Are people really buying this? *eyes roll*

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