Sigh

We Care About Money, Remember?

In Iraq right now, there are a number of private contractors doing the work that used to be done by the military itself. Everything from digging latrines, to providing meals, to security, to the torturous interrogation of detainees is done by private firms like KBR, Global Risk Strategies and Blackwater. Then there are the contracts for building Iraqi infrastructure: schools, hospitals, roads, water systems, electrical grids. You know, the stuff that was there before but has to be rebuilt because we blew it up.

Things aren't going very well for these private contractors. That should be qualified, these private companies are making butt loads of money. In that regard, the only measure that may matter to some, these contractors are doing quite well. There is a lot of work for them to do. In fact the longer the occupation the more they make- guaranteed. The building contractors profit even if they don't get the job done. Their pay is typically based on a formula that guarantees them a profit whether they finish a job on schedule, under budget, or ever. The more it costs them, the more they get paid.

The security firms do not fall under military authority- technically they aren't combatants- but their bullets and bombs don't understand that technicality. The security contractors' missions are that of their clients: protecting cargo, passengers, gathering information- whatever. Their goals are profit, not necessarily the stabilization of Iraq. Similarly, the rebuilders of Iraq are not primarily concerned with stabilization or recovery- they get paid whether a job is done or not and the government agency responsible for auditing and overseeing progress and spending has been shut down and only recently (post November 7) has there been any talk about it reopening. For a few, Iraq and its people are a veritable pinata, whose burst open body and broken limbs are an ever flowing stream of goodies. The more it's hit, the more it gives. The head of Halliburton has made over $100,000,000 in stock value since the war began. Cool huh?

When I say things aren't going well for the private contractors, I mean they've been involved in torturing Iraqis, building shitty buildings and, falling short of their goals because of the government that governs least sends the least troops mentality that has fostered such a violent occupation. All in all we're paying a lot for the opportunity to crap on the Iraqis, and then charging them (and us again) for a shower that doesn't work. Making friends.

This is no accident, and while mercenaries and profiteers aren't new, they are present in unheard of numbers for an American conflict. This is the new military envisioned by a certain ideology- this is the military and a war of privatization. It's making Iraq more dangerous for everyone there. It is making troops and Iraqis less safe. And it costs a lot. Someone could easily say that profit is the priority in this situation. It definitely seems to be the most clearly outlined and pursued goal.

Blah blah blah...

So is this due solely to corporate greed? Is it an inevitable outcome of privatization? Is it just incompetence? Is it evil?

It's hard to describe this simply as a financial issue, because it isn't. Still, spending $300,000,000,000 to not catch Osama bin Laden is something.