Iraq for sale, a film by Robert Greenwald

Here is the film I was talking about in an earlier post of Blackwater. I'll add some more information of the film as soon as I watch it myself. Feel free to watch it and comment if you must. The video requires divx (latest), and therefore won't work in school! I know, what a pain.

Crony Capitalism.

Capitalism, a word that's supposed to stand for free enterprise and yet, in combination with the word Crony, which extends from Cronyism, enterprise no longer appears to be free in it's true nature, democratically anyway. Cronyism refers to an apparent inclination towards those with close relationships and is the means to receiving authority and power, diametrically opposed to Meritocracy.

As shown on this corruption index (to the left), the higher the index, the less corrupt and the lower obviously means more corruption, also indicated by the darker values of red. The United States is a surprisingly 7-7.9 yellow; guess you have democracy to thank for that. However, it also means that the U.S. is not pure of (generalized) corruption, and when combined with a capitalistic society, it would not mix well in favor democracy, hence crony capitalism.

Although, Jane Jacobs, a writer and activist, believes that any capitalist system will eventually fall into the trap of crony capitalism, and therefore no way to avoid it. She reasons that capitalism enables businesses, and these businesses could inevitably become profitable and with money they obtain (political) power; the connection is established between businesses being able to influence the government at one point. [link]

In relevance with my Corruption and Scandal theme, Halliburton, a multinational corporation has obvious connections with the former vice President, Dick Cheney. This association increases the likeliness of no-bid-contracting, a term which I will discuss in a latter post. [Ties with Dick Cheney]

No Bid Contracting Becoming Common Practice These Days.

The term, No bid contracting is known as "sole source contract," which is much more accurate as it refers to a single corporation being given a contract, as opposed to the more lengthier process of competitive contract. "Urgency is often the rationale for sole source contracts."

The Bush Administration, especially after Hurricane Katrina made many no bid contracts, where companies such as Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), an American engineering and construction company were able to profit off of the disaster of Katrina, not to mention the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Specifically, a part of the corruption of no bid contracts is what is described as "contracting charge pyramids," where the company doing the actual renovation receive an inadequate amount of the taxpayer's money given in the contracts.

In other cases, the Department of Homeland Security's counter-narcotics office was able to receive it's contract through the no-bidding process last year, a contract worth up to $579,000.

"Though small by government standards, the counter-narcotics contract illustrates the government's steady move away from relying on competition to secure the best deals for products and services.

A recent congressional report estimated that federal spending on contracts awarded without "full and open" competition has tripled, to $207 billion, since 2000, with a $60 billion increase last year alone. The category includes deals in which officials take advantage of provisions allowing them to sidestep competition for speed and convenience and cases in which the government sharply limits the number of bidders or expands work under open-ended contracts." [link]

The result of this increase in no-bid-contracting practice is higher prices for tax payers and an unreliable and limited number of contracts.

other sources:
Halliburton

War Profiteers.

War profiteers are people that seek to make money off of disasters, similar to Hurricane Katrina, but this time, they promote the disaster of war.

“...the links among corporations, institutions, and government officials that profit from endless war. The US War of Terror is not about liberation, democracy, or UN resolutions. Plainly put, the War of Terror--whether in Iraq, Colombia, Afghanistan, or the USA--is about subjugation, resource extraction, and opening markets: a practice once referred to more honestly as colonialism.” [link] From the quote, it describes the nature of the US War of Terror in it's most simplistic state.

One example of a war profiteer, George H. W. Bush., the 41st President He developed Zapata petroleum in 1953, along with Liedtkd Brothers. He profited off of wars like the Gulf War, where there is now a permanent establishment of U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia. Currently, he's working with the Carlyle Group, which specializes in "Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Consumer & Retail, Energy & Power, Healthcare, Real Estate, Technology & Business Services, Telecommunications & Media, and Transportation"

Corporations such as Blackwater, and KBR Halliburton profit from the war in Iraq, as shown in "Iraq for sale." They "are over-billing the U.S. Government and doing substandard work while endangering the lives of American soldiers and private citizens"

Halliburton, Profits and Spoils.

[link]
Halliburton, who's former CEO was vice President Dick Cheney has failed in terms of providing quality in Operation Iraqi Freedom and reconstruction for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and yet the government is still offering no-bid contracts to them, as shown from the cartoon.

in 2003, Halliburton has made more than $1.7 billion in Iraq and it's probable they are making a third of the $3.9 billion cost to maintain and keep U.S. troops in Iraq. Though Halliburton KBR, the services they provide are building / managing military bases, logistical support of intelligence officers, delivering mail and making millions of hot meals. Halliburton employees have become an significant part of the army life in Iraq, because they are the sole source corporation under the no-bid contract. [link]

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, no-bid contracts were preferred because of the urgency of the situation. "Normally contracts are supposed to be openly advertised for 30 days, but in an emergency government officials can cut this process to just two to three days through a limited bidding system to a few selected companies."

"In Iraq, limited accountability, corruption, massive cost overruns, and devastating failures fed the chaotic mess that has followed the 2003 fall of Baghdad. Nonetheless, the largest Katrina contracts have been won by many of the same politically connected companies that oversaw that failed reconstruction. And it is perhaps no coincidence, since many of the same people in the Army Corps of Engineers are awarding them–and in much the same manner: as open-ended, no- or hastily bid contracts with guaranteed profit margins." The connection here shows the sort-of crony capitalism, where any logic besides the logic of profit and cronyism fails. It is irrational to use the same corrupt corporations from previously failed excursions, again only for the same results of high priced no-bid contracts with sub-par effort and quality.

In relevance to Halliburton, there is a lack of employee safety, as shown in the case of September 20th, 2005. ". . . a Halliburton convoy of four trucks was ambushed north of Baghdad. All four trucks were struck by IEDs and were disabled." Three of the four truck drivers were killed by insurgents while Preston Wheeler, the remaining driver and sole survivor captured the event on video. A more detailed version of this event can be found here.

Blackwater Involvement.

"Blackwater has recruited key individuals from the government (Cofer Black, Joseph Schmitz), and now Blackwater is getting key governmental contracts. You do the math."

Blackwater Worldwide is a private military corporation, specializing in tactical training up to 40,000 people a year. After Hurricane Katrina, Blackwater assisted by acting as the law enforcement in areas of the catastrophe. Even then, Blackwater was also offered no-bid contracts along with the other corrupt corporations, costing up to $240,000 of U.S. taxpayer's money each day as their ambition was obviously profitable. [link]

Other criticisms of Blackwater is their image a private military tactical training corporation, a similarity between them and that of mercenaries. Blackwater has stated that they are "the most responsive, cost-effective means of affecting the strategic balance in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere," but critics suggest that Blackwater is a key to the development of mercenary armies and a hazard to democracy while heading towards the creation of a contemporary Praetorian Guard, described as a special force of guards used by Roman Emperors. Critics / Journalists such as Jeremy Scahill, wrote a book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, analyzing Blackwater's history and it's similarity to that of the special force of roman guards in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting high political and possibly corrupt authority figures.

In December of last year, the former Blackwater USA aided in the escape of a supposedly corrupt Iraqi politician, Ayham al-Samarie, from Iraq to Jordan. Ayaham feared being killed or kidnapped or killed if he stayed in prison. Upon his arrival in Chicago on January 9th, surprisingly enough, U.S. officials have supported Blackwater's actions, assuring Ayaham, that the U.S. would not surrender (extradite) him to Iraq.

The CACI, Titan & Bechtel Corporations.

CACI (Consolidated Analysis Center, Incorporated), one of the major corporations that profited off of Iraq for their "substandard work while endangering the lives of American soldiers and private citizens." CACI deals with systems integration, engineering services, managed network services and knowledge management

Titan corp, another of the major corporations under the no-bid contracts operating in Operation Iraqi Freedom. "They have specialized in providing information and communications products, solutions and services for intelligence agencies and the Department of Homeland Security." In 2003, they were hired by the U.S. military for translation services, receiving $112.1 million.

Both CACI and Titan corp were suggested to be linked to the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. CACI denies any of the claim, stating that they no longer provide interrogation services (in Iraq), no employees were in the photographs and there was no indication of misconduct in connection with this work.



Bechtel, the largest engineering computer in the U.S., another of the corporations that took part in the profiteering after Hurricane Katrina. "The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)and the Army have budgeted at least $62.5 billion in emergency aid for Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, (not including rebuilding the levees), creating a boom for construction companies. " [link]

These three corporations, along with the more notorious KBR Halliburton and Blackwater have been profiteering off of these disasters and catastrophes of Hurricane Katrina and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, that it almost goes against the Neo-conservative objective of creating evil icons so that the U.S. has a role as the savior for the world. In this case, it seems that corrupt corporations only establish these events only to profit off of resource extraction, providing military resources and rebuilding efforts. However, there can be greedy neo-conservatives I suppose.