The things that stood out for me are:
War in Iraq cost $1.7 trillion dollars
PLUS $490 billion in immediate benefits owed to veterans
PLUS lifetime benefits owed to them or their next of kin
Privatization of US military operations rose to unprecedented levels
Private contractors (companies)
received min. $138 billion of US taxpayer money for contracts doled out by US govt
Half (52%) of that went to 10 govt contracts
Biggest recipients:
KBR, Inc
ie parent, oilfield services provider Halliburton Co
received: $39.5 billion in Iraq-related contracts over past decade
Agility Logistics (of Kuwait)
& state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp
Kuwait contractors received $13.5 billion of US contracts (jointly)
Private enterprise entered the war zone at unprecedented levels
Amount of corruption ballooned
Costs higher than paying government employees
Professional, disciplined soldiers - displaced
No wind-back by Obama admin on doling out contracts (without public tender process) - on contrary: increase of such contracts
Iraq = private contractors remain on the ground, although US military has largely pulled out of Iraq
eg. $3 billion taxpayer money to private guards for USG sprawling embassy in Baghdad
This is really mindblowing.
The amount of money that is made by PRIVATE companies enriching themselves through war is staggering.
Bear in mind also, that those who PROFIT from war will lobby FOR WAR.
What is also staggering is that the functions of the US military have been farmed out.
The danger of that is lack of (a) accountability and (b) transparency.
So, really, the government is pulling a stunt where they've probably got an 'anything goes' thing happening, because what's going on is contracted and therefore beyond public scrutiny.
Hopefully, that makes sense. I don't have a way with words. But I hope that idea comes across.
If the military screws up, it is on government heads. But if private contractors screw up, it is passed off as a bad apple, renamed and redeployed as a mercenary.
The 'decommissioning' of the US military for these private contractor forces or functionaries is worthwhile considering.
And there's also the costs incurred by the taxpayer funding those that:
- do the job at higher price than professional soldiers
- introduce corruption
- and those that don't even compete (put in tenders)
but I think these aspects aren't half as important as the establishment of 'private' State armies and functionaries that are arm's length and beyond public accountability and scrutiny.
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