President Obama has declared that the Iraq war is over. He is claiming responsibility for the end of the war as if it was his doing. But this all bs. President Bush made an agreement with the new Iraqi government that the US military would be out of Iraq by January 1st, 2012. President Obama tried to extend this deadline but was unable to because the Iraqi's wanted the US out. It is also convenient for Obama because the election is fast approaching and 72% percent of the US population wanted the war to be over. The problem is that the end of the occupation is an illusion. The occupation is still occurring just in a different manner then a military occupation. Many US corporations still have contracts with the Iraqi and US governments for the reconstruction of Iraq as well as the hundreds of military bases the US has set up in Iraq.
Now that the US troops are gone, what does US involvement in Iraq look like. Well, it will look a lot like it did during the war, minus the men in boots. US companies and the new Iraqi government will be wasting, mismanaging, and embezzling billions away from the people of Iraq for their board rooms benefit. Up to 2007 and the US Congress' investigation of the contracts in Iraq, $23 billion dollars had been lost, embezzled, or given away. This money came from US taxpayers or Iraqi oil. And this is just the money that has not been accounted for. This does not mention the trillions of dollars poured into Iraq for reconstruction that has primarily benefited the Corporate board rooms of American companies and not the Iraqi people. This has been the largest foreign aid program since the Marshall Plan. I just want to address the way this reconstruction has operated.
Let's look at the example of Custer Battles first. Scott Custer and Mike Battles, both contributors to the Republican party were given the opportunity to start companies in order to profit in Iraq. Some call them the ultimate war-profiteers, in that they make money out of chaos. An example of what their company did was they stole forklifts from the Iraqi airport, then leased them to the US government for $20,000 per forklift, per month. They started a company that was based out of the Cayman Islands, it wasn't a true company that did anything. It was started with the intention to go to Iraq and try to make profit off of the war. Custer Battles bought trucks in the local Baghdad market, intended to transport money for the US government. A lot of the time, these trucks did not even work or were not even really purchased. In the first few months, Custer Battles had spend an actual $3 million, but had received $10 million in return. They were authorized to buy and do anything they wanted. They came to Iraq with very little and by the end of the first year had been given $100 million in contracts by the US government.
This was possible because most of the contracts in Iraq were "cost plus" contracts. This means that the contracts would cover the companies costs as well as a percentage on top. Essentially, the more money a company can show that they spent, the more money they can make. All corporations, with what seems to be the governments encouragement, took complete advantage of this. A Halliburton subsidiary, which brought Burger King and Subway etc., to the American soldiers, charged for thousands of meals that they didn't even serve. At one site alone, it was estimated in US Congress investigation that $10-15 million had been overcharged in just the first few months. These policies encouraged companies to not worry about the cost because the more it costs, the more they can make.
There are Federal laws in place to prohibit the preferential treatment of companies in the awarding of government contracts. Bunny Greenhouse, the civilian in the DoD that is in charge of oversight of these contracts, found a $7 billion dollar contract on her desk to rebuild oil infrastructure in Iraq. The contract was accompanied by only one bid, Halliburton. No other companies were aware or were considered for this contract. Greenhouse cited these laws and argued that the government should hear other bids, and if not she recommended a 1 year contract for Halliburton. She argued that the government should be getting the best value for the money it was spending. She was overruled, Halliburton was given a 5 year contract, and the Greenhouse was demoted for "poor work performance". Her replacement now sits as an executive with Halliburton. Here is a speech about the military industrial complex made by Greenhouse since.
We all know why Halliburton should not have been but was receiving contracts, Vice President Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney was also the CEO of Halliburton and the Defense Secretary under George H.W Bush. Cheney declared that he had no role in influencing the decision on contracts. An email was leaked that clearly showed that the contracts with Halliburton had been coordinated through Dick Cheney's office and with his Chief of Staff, Lewis Libby. This seems to be a clear conflict of interest. Cheney held large stock options in Halliburton which saw its stock price rice from $10 a share in Jan 2003 to $49 a share in June 2008.
KBR, which is essentially a splinter off of Halliburton was contracted to transport weapons, ammo and fuel. KBR offered good pay and the promise of security and safety to their drivers. But the latter did not happen. No troops were allotted to the protection of these trucks. Currently there are over 20 ex-truck drivers suing KBR for not protected them as promised. But the horrible thing is that KBR would run empty trucks all the time, part of the "cost plus" contracts. KBR overcharged the US government $108 million dollars in transporting fuel and fuel costs. There is a total of $1.2 billion unaccounted for costs just in KBR contracts.
Another example of this corruption is the Howell's. The Howell's live in California and own 2 companies, one specializing in kitchen design, the other call Northstar. Northstar was contracted by the US government to be an oversight company for a portion of money changing hands between the US government and corporations in Iraq. The contract called for certified public accountants, Northstar had a total of 0. $8 billion dollars that Northstar was supposed to be overseeing in now not accounted for. They were contracted by the Pentagon and there were no competing bids. It appears as if the government handed them some cash and told them to keep quiet.
CACI, an American Technology Corporation, was contracted to supply interrogators for some of the secret jails in Iraq, such as Abu Ghraib. We know Abu Ghraib as the prison where innocent Iraqis were tortured. CACI received a contract from the US government worth 66 million. According to the CEO, Paul Cofoni, all the photos that we have all seen from Abu Ghraib are just the tip of the iceberg. Much worse things have happened to prisoners and happened much more frequently then we can imagine. He said that there was no one to report to, no government oversight at all. The company was essentially reporting to themselves.
Stewart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction was appointed by Congress in order to investigate the missing money and the use of the money in Iraq. He is the one that called Iraq reconstruction "the largest foreign aid program since the Marshall Plan". Bowen states that mismanagement and waste of funds is the worst problems but that there is also money that has just disappeared.
If you take a look at Project Hope, which we remember was endorsed by First Lady, Laura Bush, as a way to bring health to the Iraqi people, especially the children. Bechtel was contracted $50 million to build a childrens hospital in Basrah. The cost of the hospital eventually tripled. A bomb left 24 local workers dead and Bechtel quit the project and blamed the insurgency. They did not give any of the money back so the US Army engineers had to finish the hospital.
Hospitals in Iraq were supposed to be one of the largest projects there. The US swore to bring state of the art hospitals in the hundreds so that Iraqis could be provided with health care. One company, Parsons, was contracted to build 150 hospitals in Iraq. Bowen calls this the single largest failure of any program in Iraq. The company was given $186 million to start the project. With that Parsons finished a total of 6 hospitals which were turned over to the Iraqi control, 6. This program that would really help the Iraqis fell apart. Parsons blamed underfunding.
We all know about Blackwater who continues to operate in Iraq, only under a different name. The Obama administration has given them contracts in Iraq. Blackwater is operating under the name Academi now. Through 2008, Blackwater was involved in 195 shootings that had been reported. In 8 out of 10, Blackwater agents had shot first. They were held to no legal framework. No one has been even tried. A law was passed giving contractors immunity from any laws in Iraq. They were and continue to be encouraged to operate withing the parameters they determine necessary. Blackwater was given over $1 billion dollars in contracts to defend US diplomats and generals. No clue yet how much they will receive as Academi considering the US has way more contractors in Iraq then soldiers and will continue to put more.
Judge Radhi al Radhi, head of Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity has claimed that in the first three years of operation, the new Iraqi leadership had embezzled $9 billion dollars from the country. He believes that corruption is inherent in the Iraq political environment but it is much worse now then it was before. The US hand picked the new administration, no experience was necessary. Only that the new government would be helpful to US interest, it does not matter that they are corrupt. The new leadership follows the US lead. The Defense Ministry goes on a weapons buying spree. They contracted most of their weapons deals with Poland instead of investing in top of the line weapons from the US or Britain. The money was given to the Defense Ministry, it appeared that the weapons had been paid for, but mainly faulty weapons arrived if any at all. The government claimed they bought quality weapons, received the money to do so, then funneled the money into their bank accounts. Rahdi house was bombed and 38 of his investigators were killed. The US really doesn't care what kind of government is in Iraq, the war was about money.
Iraq has the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world. Before the invasion foreign companies were limited in their ability to invest in Iraqi oil. Saddam did not want foreign companies to benefit from the oil profits. So as you can imagine, with the writing of a new Constitution, there are specific articles that ensure the open access to Iraqi oil for foreign investment. The US made sure these provisions were in the Constitution. One example is Hunt Oil, based in Texas. Ray Hunt sat on Bush's foreign intelligence committee, which ensured him pivotal information about Iraq oil. Hunt had given 35 million dollars to the Bush campaign to ensure his interest. He was rewarded with some of the most oil rich land in Iraq. But the war was not just about oil.
Most people believed this war was about oil, which it was, but not just oil. It was about these large corporations getting their piece at the expense of the Iraqi people. It was a convenient way for big corporations to make money, and the US government knew this.But we must understand that this is not just going to end with a declaration by Obama that the war is over. People in Baghdad don't have safe water or electricity. These companies are not there to help the Iraqi people, they never were. It was only a convenient guise. Bush and Obama have both ensured the US corporations will be in Iraq for a very long time to come, benefiting themselves and not the Iraq people. Obama is using the end of the war as a way to get support, that is it. It is not some prophetic decision he made on his own as a moral being. The US positioned its interests as much as it could and now it was time for the military to leave. But the US is still there, in huge numbers. Beginning the real war, the exploitation of a population and its resources for its own wealth.
Here are some documentaries to check out if you want.... Thanks so much for reading and please become a member, just takes a second.
Iraq for Sale
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6621486727392146155
Daylight Robbery
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/daylight-robbery/
Iraq's Secret War Files (WikiLeaks Special)
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/iraq-secret-war-files-wikileaks-special/
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