War profiteering

[Zarxrax]

Interesting info, gumboot. The no bid thing was probably one of the least important aspects of the film though, but it's good to understand how that actually worked. Like you say there, these companies get fixed profit margins... the point being made in this movie is that they are being incredibly wasteful and doing everything in their power to drive their costs sky-high, thus increasing the amount of money they get from the profit margin.

 

[ZenFountain]

Haliburton and Bechtel didn't take government contracts to skim money off food services and Iraqi reconstruction projects, they took them so they would be in position to gobble up contracts from the Iraqi government after the war. Iraq was supposed to be the last big bonanza in the Middle East that would make Dubai look like a playground, but it's been a disaster for all parties. Bechtel and many other engineering contractors actually left as soon as they possibly could. The only businesses making boat loads of money in Iraq now are private security companies. I don't pity the contractors but people need to accept that war is war, it's inherently an enterprise of inefficiency and corruption.

 

[george@etcorngods.co]

This forum is where 9/11 deniers/"debunkers" hang out to reinforce their preconceived illogical views and maliciously attack anyone who stands up to their nonsense and psuedo-science. These people are anything but objective and rational.

If you have questions about the 9/11 content of Zeitgeist, I strongly suggest you look elsewhere for answers. This is the last place to go for good information.

You couldn't have said it better. This is a mutual admiration society, a church social.

 

[T.A.M.]

You couldn't have said it better. This is a mutual admiration society, a church social.

As opposed to Woo Forums where everybody argues with everybody, and noone agrees right.

Give me a break...welcome to the way the world works. This is a skeptics forum, so OBVIOUSLY it will be populated predominantly by skeptics. As a result, like most forums where one group predominates, most get along, and agree.

TAM

 

[OneShotKi11]

This forum is where 9/11 deniers/"debunkers" hang out to reinforce their preconceived illogical views and maliciously attack anyone who stands up to their nonsense and psuedo-science. These people are anything but objective and rational.

If you have questions about the 9/11 content of Zeitgeist, I strongly suggest you look elsewhere for answers. This is the last place to go for good information.

Worst answer/response to a question ever.
He did not even mention 9/11 yet someone felt the urge to bring it up!!!

 

[Beerina]

This war is the perfect profiteering storm. Not only do they get arms sales and whatnot ("support" contracts, a new invention), but, as oil men, they get massive profits on oil barrels from the instability in the region.

 

[Darth Rotor]

This war is the perfect profiteering storm. Not only do they get arms sales and whatnot ("support" contracts, a new invention), but, as oil men, they get massive profits on oil barrels from the instability in the region.

Nope.

My second cousin worked for IBM in Viet Nam, in the 1960's, as a support contractor.

KBR was contracted to provide significant logistic support in Rwanda when the hundreds of thousands of refugees needed simple things like potable water. US Army ROPU teams (Reverse Osmosis Processing Units) were able to provide less than 10% of the requirement. KBR didn't use RO, they used a simpler method of getting ahold of water in large tanker trucks from whatever source, treating it, and distributing it.

This sort of support work, also done in Bosnia and elsewhere, was one way to keep the military manpower head count down (which in the long term saves Congress money in training and entitlement costs) and still be able to provide some support services of a logistic nature on an ad hoc basis, mission by mission. It's one way the Clinton era Congress and DoD saved money on the O & M budget . . . or so they claimed.

DR

 

[BPSCG]

I can't speak for flat tyres or laundry, but I can address the "no bids" thing.

The US Army has a contract it awards, which is called LOGCAP (Logistics Civil Augmentation Program). Basically, the Army recognised that in the event of operations there's an enormous amount of support work that it needs done. Getting the Army itself to do the work burns up valuable military resources, but they can't afford to sit around waiting for a bidding process for vital work.

Thus LOGCAP was born. It's basically a long term contract, without guarantee of work.

Thanks - this was very informative.