HALLIBURTON STRIKES OUT... BLINDLY

Do you think somewhere in our country there's a high school civics teacher or American history teacher asking his class to think about/talk about/write about FDR's famous World War II quote "I don't want to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result of this world disaster"? Wisconsin maverick senator, Robert La Follette, an organized labor-supporting Republican who later founded the Progressive Party, referred to the war profiteers as "enemies of democracy in the homeland." Harry Truman (D-MO) went even further, pointing out they-- people like Bush's grandfather-- were guilty of treason. Before he became Vice President he chaired a Senate Committee that investigated "unpatriotic" profiteering. It was probably the heroic status he achieved in rooting out corrupt corporate sleazebags that led to him becoming VP in 1944.

Don't look for either of Missouri's U.S. senators doing something like that today. Both are heavily on the take from Big Business interests-- to the tune of millions of dollars. And yet the magnitude and brazenness of the war profiteering under Bush vastly outweighs anything that took place during any other war. I bet you remember the little "human interest story" featuring David Brooks less than a year ago. "

In November 2005, bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks made national headlines when he blew a pile of his war windfalls on a celebrity-studded bash in New York City's Rainbow Room. For Brooks, the highlight of the $10 million gala was a performance by rockers from Aerosmith. So pumped was the middle-aged Long Island businessman that he reportedly donned a hot pink, metal-studded suede pantsuit to cavort onstage with Steven Tyler.

While Brooks was enjoying his rock star fantasy, dark clouds were forming over him and his company, DHB Industries. The stock was in the toilet, the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating him, and then there was the mood-killing matter of the military recalling his company's bulletproof vests over concerns about their bulletproofness. In hindsight, the pink-suited Brooks showed all the symptoms of a man who feared his partying days were numbered.

Many of us read with astonishment Charlie Cray's 10 Worst Profiteers list a couple weeks ago. " The history of American war profiteering is rife with egregious examples of incompetence, fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, bribery and misconduct. As war historian Stuart Brandes has suggested, each new war is infected with new forms of war profiteering. Iraq is no exception. From criminal mismanagement of Iraq's oil revenues to armed private security contractors operating with virtual impunity, this war has created opportunities for an appalling amount of corruption. What follows is a list of some of the worst Iraq war profiteers who have bilked American taxpayers and undermined the military's mission."


But no one has gotten away with the outrageous war profiteering of the company, Halliburton once run by the man who calls the shots about what is allowable today in this arena today, Dick Cheney. In early August I went to see a startling film, Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers which has been having a profound impact on the people who have seen it. It is not surprising that Halliburton, one of the many culprits of the film-- just like in real life!-- is pissed off. No one likes being exposed, especially not when exposure could endanger the bottom line.

Last week Halliburton struck back with a very professional-sounding press release-- professional-sounding, but created explicitly to mislead and deceive.

Although the press release admits no one from the company has seen the film, that certainly doesn't prevent them from immediately branding it "inaccurate." Halliburton faults the film for not swallowing the corporate line "publicly available on the Company's Web site." Magnanimously Condescendingly, Halliburton grants that Brave New Films has a right to free speech. Yet the company can't seem to fathom why someone would make a film giving voice to the survivors of Halliburton's catastrophic, if not criminal, activities in Iraq. Why make a movie with all these widows and orphans of dead people when Halliburton has a far more upbeat picture to present?

One can only hope that Halliburton will get to tell their side of the story... first in front of Congress and eventually in tribunals and courts of law. Meanwhile, I want to reiterate what I wrote on August 2nd: go see this film and take everyone you know.


AFTERTHOUGHT: HALLIBURTON COMES CLEAN?

What if corporate CEOs and war profiteers told the truth? If Halliburton were truthful, they might do a TV ad like this one:




UPDATE: WILL BYRON DORGAN REPRISE THE TRUMAN WAR PROFITEERING COMMITTEE?

I was looking back through the FireDogLake stories I missed this weekend and I came across one I want to share-- about a press conference tomorrow. "DPC Chairman Byron Dorgan is getting together with Robert Greenwald for a press conference in Washington DC at the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room SD-124 at 11:00 AM this Monday to talk about the need for oversight of war profiteering.  Several former Halliburton and KBR employees who appear in Robert’s film, Iraq For Sale, will also be there. Then at 2pm, the DPC will be holding an oversight hearing to 'seek accountability for contracting abuses in Iraq.' In attendance will be Dorgan, Harry Reid, Patrick Leahy, Jeff Bingaman and Mark Dayton. Witnesses include many who appear in the film, Iraq for Sale." More on this tomorrow evening.