Iraq For Sale...A Most Disturbing Documentary

To wage a war, whether in antiquity or the modern world, takes money. Money to equip and pay troops, for the weapons of war, and for many other things. There are those that profit politically and economically from war. The documentary Iraq For Sale lays the current war profiteers bare for all to see. The video can be found here, for viewing online or downloading.

Some of the things featured on the video:

• Much of the actual diplomatic security in Iraq is done by outside contractors, not the U.S. military.
  

• There are many military personnel that do not re-enlist because they can work for one of the contractors at a greater rate of pay. What a soldier makes in one month is surpassed by what he can make as a contracted employee in a week. There are representatives from these contracting firms that actually are in Iraq and actively 'recruit' soldiers out of the military and into their company. A contractor can make more money in a week, doing the same job, as a soldier makes in a month.
  

• Civilian contract workers are routinely put into harm's way unnecessarily. There are interviews with former contract employees that desribe this in gruesome detail.

• Contractors are in charge of doing military personnel laundry. They use small net bags that laundry is put into and washed. The fee for this service? $99 a bag. There is an interview with an Army Seargent where he says that his clothes don't get clean in the washers, so he washed his own in a sink. He was reprimanded and given an order that he was not to do this. All clothes must be washed by the contractor.
  

• Most mess halls are run by contractors. These contractors keep strict schedules oftimes for meals. The insurgents have figured out when these times are, and take advantage of the long lines of soldiers to attack. When this was pointed out to the contractors and a request was made by the military to stagger the meal times to avoid this, the contractors refused, as that would be less cost-effective.

• Contractors provide many vehicles, such as tanker trucks. The cost of these is around $75,000. When a truck needs repair, or even gets a flat tire, there are no spare parts. The vehicle is subsequently of no use, and is burned to avoid theft by the insurgents. It is then replaced by a new vehicle.
  

And that's just a few instances. Every American, regardless of their position on the issue of Iraq, should see this documentary. This is what much of the taxpayer's money is really going towards: The gaining of obscene economic benefit by war profiteering corporations, with the cooperation of our government, at the cost of human lives. Support the troops? Indeed!