Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers
Encyclopedia
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is a 2006
documentary
film made by Robert Greenwald
and Brave New Films
about the ongoing Iraq War and the behavior of companies with no-bid contract
s working in Iraq
.
Specifically, the film claims four major contractors - Blackwater
, K.B.R.-Halliburton
, CACI
and Titan - are over-billing the U.S. government and doing substandard work while endangering the lives of American soldiers and private citizens. The documentary contends these companies are composed of ex-military and ex-government workers who unethically help their companies get and keep enormous contracts and milk the American taxpayer.
Halliburton
contends the film is "yet another rehash of inaccurate, recycled information." During filming, Greenwald had requested interviews with the contractors, but they turned him down.
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
film made by Robert Greenwald
Robert Greenwald
Robert Greenwald is an American film director, film producer, and political activist.-Early life:Greenwald was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ruth and Harold Greenwald. He attended the city's High School of Performing Arts...
and Brave New Films
Brave New Films
Brave New Films is a media company founded by filmmaker Robert Greenwald. Viral videos produced by Brave New Films have been widely circulated on the internet, during the 2008 United States presidential election campaign, and generally disparage Republican candidate John McCain and other prominent...
about the ongoing Iraq War and the behavior of companies with no-bid contract
No-bid contract
The term "no-bid contract" is a popular phrase for what is officially known as a "sole source contract". A sole source contract implies that there is only one person or company that can provide the contractual services needed, and any attempt to obtain bids would only result in one person or...
s working in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
Specifically, the film claims four major contractors - Blackwater
Blackwater USA
Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...
, K.B.R.-Halliburton
Halliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
, CACI
CACI
CACI International Inc is a professional services and information technology company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. CACI is a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies and the Russell 2000 index. The company has approximately 13,700 employees in over 120 offices in the U.S. and...
and Titan - are over-billing the U.S. government and doing substandard work while endangering the lives of American soldiers and private citizens. The documentary contends these companies are composed of ex-military and ex-government workers who unethically help their companies get and keep enormous contracts and milk the American taxpayer.
Halliburton
Halliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
contends the film is "yet another rehash of inaccurate, recycled information." During filming, Greenwald had requested interviews with the contractors, but they turned him down.
Production
This was the first film to raise substantial production funds from small donations online: $267,892 from 3,000 people in 10 days.Synopsis
The film starts with a look at Blackwater contractors Scott Helveston and Jerry Zovko, who were killed in an ambush in Falujah due to company cost-cutting exercises. The film moves on to look at the involvement of poorly supervised private interrogators and untrained translators from CACI and Titan in the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. The loss of traditional military jobs, particularly in logistics, to private contractor KBR/Halliburton, who put workers like Tony Johnson and Steve Hullet in danger is analysed by the filmmakers, as is the costplus arrangement which encourages private contractors to overspend and overcharge for their services to ensure greater profits. Another major theme which reoccurs throughout the film is that of Corporations legally buying influence, through campaign contributions and a network of connections, at the highest levels of government which allows them to be rewarded sole-source contract without bidding and to cover-up their own failures.Participants
- Katy Helveston-Wettengel - Mother of Scott Helveston
- Donna & Jozo Zovko - Parents of Jerry Zovko
- Tom Zovko - Brother of Jerry Zovko
- Chris LehaneChris LehaneChristopher Stephen Lehane is an American political consultant and crisis communications expert who has served as a lawyer, spokesperson and expert in opposition research for the Clinton White House, Democratic candidates for public office and various business, Labor, entertainment and...
- Crisis Communication Expert
- Anthony Lagouranis - Military Interrogator, Abu Ghraib
- Janis KarpinskiJanis KarpinskiJanis Leigh Karpinski is a central figure in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal.Karpinski retired as a colonel in the US Army Reserve. She was demoted from Brigadier General in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal for dereliction of duty, making a material misrepresentation to...
- Former Brigadier General, Abu Ghraib - Shereef AkeelShereef AkeelShereef Akeel is an American lawyer of Egyptian descent notable for pursuing human rights and civil liberties cases on the behalf of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.-Early life and education:...
- Civil Rights Attorney - Hassan Al-Azzawi - Abu Ghraib Detainee
- Pratap ChatterjeePratap ChatterjeePratap Chatterjee is an Indian/Sri Lankan investigative journalist and progressive author. He is a British citizen and was raised in India, although he has lived in California for many years. He served as the executive director of CorpWatch, an Oakland-based corporate accountability organization...
- Executive Director, CorpWatch - Al Haj Ali - Abu Ghraib Detainee
- Mark Benjamin - Journalist, Salon.com
- Joshua Casteel - Military Interrogator, Abu Ghraib
- Marwan Mawiri - Titan Linguist, Kirkuk Airbase, Iraq
- Alan GraysonAlan GraysonAlan Mark Grayson is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party and loves cookies. After losing the election he moved to Austin to start stand-up comedy and a cookie business. The district Grayson represented lies in central Florida...
- Grayson and Kubli, P.C. - Massie Ritsch - Center for Responsive Politics
- Aidan DelgadoAidan DelgadoAidan Delgado is a lawyer and former soldier in the 320th Military Police Company of the United States Army, best known for having become a conscientious objector in April 2003 during his deployment to Iraq and for disclosing information about Abu Ghraib.-Army career:Delgado states that he joined...
- SPC, Army Reserve, Nasiriyah & Abu Ghraib
- Doug Brooks - President, IPOA
- David Mann - SPC, US Army
- Geoff Millard - SGT, Army National Guard
- Ed Sanchez - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Kim & April Johnson - Family of Tony Johnson
- Hollie Hullet - Wife of Steve Hullet
- Bill Peterson - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Scott Allen - Cruse, Scott, Henderson & Allen, LLP
- Keith Ashdown - Taxpayers for Common Sense
- Ralph PetersRalph PetersRalph Peters is a retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel andauthor. As a novelist he has sometimes written under the pen name Owen Parry.-Personal:...
- Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) - Bunnatine Greenhouse - Former Chief Contracting Officer, USACE
- Ben Carter - KBR/Halliburton Former Water Purification Specialist
- Shane Ratliff - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Marie de Young - KBR/Halliburton Former Contract Administrator
- Stewart Scott - KBR/Halliburton Former Labor Foreman
- James Logsdon - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Bud Conyers - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Kelly Dougherty - SGT, Colorado Army National Guard
- Harry Bunting - KBR/Halliburton Former Procurement Specialist
- Jim Donahue - Halliburton Watch
- Charles LewisCharles Lewis (journalist)Charles Lewis is an investigative journalist based in Washington D.C. since 1977. Charles Lewis founded the Center for Public Integrity and three other nonprofit organizations and is currently the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University School of...
- Fund for Independence in Journalism - Chris Farrell - Judicial Watch
- Charlie Cray - Center for Corporate Policy
External links
- Official website
- Official Brave New Films website
- L.A. Times review, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, September 8, 2006 - Being There Magazine review, Being There Magazine
- "Iraq For Sale: documentary about profiteering contractors", Boing BoingBoing BoingBoing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
, September 24, 2006 - San Francisco Chronicle review, San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, September 15, 2006 - New York Times review, New York Times, September 9, 2006