Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers

Robert Greenwald is a filmmaker I'm familiar with well from his very prolific output of politically charged documentaries (with one regular dramatic feature also) from the past several years, my favorite being Outfoxed. Now he comes with Iraq for Sale, a documentary aimed at exposing one of the gravest injustices to come out of the invasion of Iraq. The contractors who have been given carte-blanche (primarily Haliburton aka KBR) to take control of how the military is taken care of and that just to turn a profit (albeit a major, huge one) people who didn't sign up to fight for the USA die off. Greenwald, as in other docs, takes on the subject matter from two angles- the emotional side, where those close to those who died air their grievances and outrage at losing members of their family and friends; and the factual side, where it's laid out pretty plainly the message- something very, very corrupt and fascist is going on in both the so-called protection of the soldiers and in the Abu-Gharib scandal.

Greenwald's film-making style isn't too bad at all, and is held back from being flashy with the usage of graphics and charts and such when interviewing his subjects. And a lot of the archival footage and testimonies do all add up to something that leaves one with a feeling of near hopelessness (saying near because there should still be hope that this can change). But at the same time I also felt that Greenwald could only go for so much in the 70 minute running time. He un-earths a couple of things I didn't know of, such as the corporations Caci and Titan, one of which was partly responsible for the torture in the prisons (half in military get-up, half in just regular attire, all torturing mostly random civilians). The numbers are also pretty staggering at times, though at this point with the practically one-party rule in the country- where corporate interests go hand in pocketed hand with lobbyists and firms- things shouldn't be surprising at this point. But that it feels a little rushed at times too is my only real complaint overall about the picture.

It's really worth a viewing though, regardless of political affiliation (even as the Right would get uncomfortable and have to take their views into account when seeing Bush and Rumsfeld on screen). It deals with things that should be of consequence to all Americans, who are the ones paying out their tax dollars to intolerable problems in monopolized power structures. It almost comes off towards the last part, in discussing Halburton, like watching something out of a ice-cold communist structure where people in high places getting paid a lot give menial, awful conditions to those who are technically those to take care of. As Greenwald shows to his most prominent point, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and in this case during this 'war on terror' going on in Iraq.

The math is very simple. Contribute a couple of million dollars to key congressional figures and the Republican party and get $19 BILLION dollars worth of contracts in Iraq. You figure out the profit percentage. It's far more that your bank is paying you for your savings. How about a $4.5 million dollar investment by Halliburton resulting in so many billions of dollars in contracts that the CEO makes over $40 million. Do you really believe that the Vice-president, the former head of Halliburton, is not actively involved? Military that were involved in abuse of Abu Gahrib were court-martial-ed and jailed, while civilian contractors, after killing Iraqis were simply sent home to come back later with another contractor. At this the President dances and jokes and grins like a monkey.

The billions of dollars that we are spending in Iraq is going to companies that are major Republican contributers and they are not accountable for the fraud, waste, and abuse they are perpetrating on the American people.

It should be the obligation of every American to see this film before they cast another vote.

This film shows how our tax dollars were wasted! We are paying contractors at prices far higher than what it costs us for the same thing. For example, buying new trucks every time one of them gets a minor maintenance problem. Another example of abuse is the fact that we are paying $99 per bag of laundry to get it washed by a contractor. Still another example of abuse, is that one of the contractors is supplying water to our troops that contains diseases in it for people to shower in. Also, it shows in detail how we paid to torture war prisoners. Another shocking detail was how the contractors did not get the proper equipment to protect themselves. Additionally, the contract workers were saying in 5-star hotels at night, while our troops were getting tents. What is even more shocking is the connections these companies have with officials, and how contracts to them were awarded without taking bids.

Our country needs to stand up, and hold our people in the white house, congress, the justice department, and our military accountable for these actions. We have spent almost a half a trillion dollars on the Iraq War now, and billions of it were wasted in this abuse of our money by these private contractors. Thanks to Robert Greenwald for getting out the truth to the American public again!!!!!

Yet another documentary which gives you the right directions to uncover the tremendous amount of lies and greed of gain which lies within the US government and capitalistic systems in general today. Take this film as a eye opener, as a teaser to activate your own motivations in finding and judging these criminal acts that go unpunished these days. I'm no American but German. Nevertheless, corruption, profit, oppression, exploitation all these terms count as much in Germany as they do in the US.

Don't take this film as the ultimate documentary, but see it as one of those small pieces which fit into the big picture of what our modern world has become.

8/10 worth seeing

Finally the country is waking up to the realization that things are not as they should be. Either here or overseas. The wrong people have the power and the money and wrong people are suffering on account of it. But what can we do? How can I be apart of making it all change or shift gears?

Now there is one strategy placed at your doorsteps. In the driving cinematic film Iraq for Sale. It is a documentary that the masses should see. It is is informative, engrossing, and enraging. Giving us the low down about War Profiteering and its ugly bi product, corporate greed. Is it possible that people could be making money from this unnecessary war? Why, yes it is. I wouldn't be surprised if the very necessity of the current state of affairs stems from this corrupt connection between the companies profiting and the politicians supporting them.

Iraq for Sale is a unique tool that can be used to make a difference simply by joining the grass roots movement and sharing it with the people you know. Host a screening, buy one for a friend, inform people about the movie and its website. In order to move in the direction of change you half to first take one step in the right direction. And that step has always begun with arming the people with knowledge.