The Merchants of Death Inc.

Sam Stein
The Huffington Post

War Contracts To Controversial Companies On The Rise
November 19, 2007 07:00 PM

Read More: Blackwater, Dyncorp, Haliburton, Iraq War Contracts, Iraq War. Contracts On The Rise, Kbr, Breaking Politics News
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The U.S. government awarded more than $16 billion in federal contracts to the former Halliburton subsidiary KBR between 2004 and 2006, despite controversial charging practices and allegations of overcharging in Iraq, according to a new report released Monday.
According to the Center For Public Integrity, the investigative journalism group, KBR's contracts amounted to more than nine times the total given to the second largest contractor, DynCorp International, the private security firm that has been recently implicated in the shooting of an Iraqi civilian. (AND the sex slave trade!)

Another private contracting firm accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians, Blackwater USA, was 12th on the list of companies and joint ventures, with $485 million in contracts.

"These problems do not seem to have any reflection on the total or renewal of contracts. The money keeps going up as if these problems did not exist," the center's Executive Director Bill Buzenberg, told the Huffington Post.

"With these contracts it is more money, more complexity and less oversight."



In all, U.S. expenditures in Iraq far exceeded those in Afghanistan, by a factor of more than seven. The money, regardless of the region, is massive. U.S. government contracts have grown more than 50 percent annually, from $11 billion in 2004 to almost $17 billion in 2005 and more than $25 billion in 2006.
The report, which follows a previous project in 2003, revealed that, over a three year period, more than $20 billion in war contracts went to foreign companies whose identities were impossible to determine. These contracts, along with the $20 billion awarded to the "unidentified" companies, accounted for about 45 percent of all funds awarded to the top 100 contractors.





"You want to fight a war, but not know where the money is going and not keep track of it?" said Buzenberg. "Someday there will be a real accounting of what has happened and what this government has done."
Editors Note: An earlier version of this article stated that KBR received $16 million in contracts. The total, not surprisingly, should have been $!6 billion. Thanks to multiple readers for pointing that out.


While private contractors, identified or not, prowl the world committing terror at will in the name of the United States of America. If you have any natural resources at all..watch out... they are...






the congress gave them a pass a l-ong time ago.


Heck Rumsfeld had to run and hide in France recently, he is running out of countries. He is wanted in Germany and the Bush family has had a suit filed in Germany as well - holocaust survivors from Auschwitz would like some retribution from the funders of Hitler and those who profited on their agony.


As long as the United States and the news media keep tip toeing around these Nazis and insisting the world act as if these are decent people who are accredited to be in their positions this nightmare will continue. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, Rice, Powell, and the lot of them should be under arrest for obstruction of justice, treason, propaganda leading to an illegal, immoral war, misuse of the military.

My ninety year old grandmother just threw a chair at the TV when Blitzer suggested "the surge is a success." For whom Wolf, for whom?