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Private Contractors Have Banked $100 Billion Since Iraq Invasion
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release a report later today showing that the federal government has paid private contractors $100 billion since the 2003 Iraq invasion. The report will place "the first official price tag on contracting in Iraq and [raise] troubling questions about the degree to which the war has been privatized," according to the New York Times. Between 2003 and 2007, the U.S. government awarded $85 billion in contracts for services ranging from security to construction to food preparation to translation. At the current pace, contracts will exceed $100 billion by year's end, a figure that might be low, given the chaotic state of contracting during the Iraq War's early years. There are currently at least 180,000 contractors working in Iraq, far outnumbering U.S. troops in theater.
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This might be tinfoil hat stuff, but has anyone thought of the "seven degrees of separation" thing? To wit, do most of the contracts somehow relate back to a central point?
Dick Cheney, anyone?
For years my brother has been involved in construction project management for infrastructure-type projects (roads, bridges, sewage treatment plants, etc.). The war started, the funding for US projects went away, and he was soon out of work with a mortgage. He's now in Iraq working for KBR (formerly Halliburton) building an airport, while my 80-year old parents are now raising his teen-age son. KBR in Houston "processes" about 400 folks every 2 weeks for similar jobs in Iraq. They pay no taxes, are treated well, and many are doing multiple hitches at around $100K and up. One of his peers, a 67-year old woman, is on her 3rd hitch driving tanker trucks -- she says she needs it for her retirement and health care. The moral of the story: If you want new roads and bridges and airports and would also like to be financially secure, follow the money! Go to Iraq with KBR!