News and Politics | July 25, 2008 | 40 comments

25 companies benefiting from Iraq war

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/25/iraq-war-profiteers-25-co_n_115004.html

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Psychedelic
The most vicious Iraq war profiteers: the Iraq war is many things to different people. It is called a strategic blunder and a monstrous injustice and sometimes even a patriotic mission, much to the chagrin of rational human beings. For many big companies, however, the war is something far different: a lucrative cash-cow. The years-long, ongoing military effort has resurrected fears of the so-called “military-industrial complex.” Media pundits are outraged at private companies scooping up huge, no-questions-asked contracts to manufacture weapons, rebuild infrastructure, or anything else the government deems necessary to win (or plant its flag in Iraq). No matter what your stance on the war, it pays to know where your tax dollars are being spent.

Following is a detailed rundown of the 25 companies squeezing the most profit from this controversial conflict.

1. Halliburton
The first name that comes to everyone’s mind here is Halliburton. According to MSN Money, Halliburton’s KBR, Inc. division bilked government agencies to the tune of $17.2 billion in Iraq war-related revenue from 2003-2006 alone. This is estimated to comprise a whopping one-fifth of KBR’s total revenue for the 2006 fiscal year. The massive payoff is said to have financed the construction and maintenance of military bases, oil field repairs, and various infrastructure rebuilding projects across the war-torn nation. This is just the latest in a long string of military/KBR wartime partnerships, thanks in no small part to Dick Cheney’s former role with the parent company.
2. Veritas Capital Fund/DynCorp
At first blush, a private equity fund (and not, say, Exxon-Mobil) being the number 2 profiteer in the Iraq war might sound strange. However, the cleverly run fund has raked in $1.44 billion through its DynCorp subsidiary. The primary service DynCorp has provided to the war efforts is the training of new Iraqi police forces. Often described as a ‘state within a state‘, the sizable company is headed by Dwight M. Williams, former Chief Security Officer of the upstart U.S. Department of Homeland Security. With this and other close ties to defense agencies, Veritas Capital Fund and DynCorp are well-positioned to capitalize on Iraq even more.
3. Washington Group International
The Washington Group International has parlayed its expertise the repair, restore, and maintenance of high-output oil fields into $931 million in Iraq-related revenue from 2003-2006. The publicly traded 25,000 employee company’s other specialties include the building and maintenance of schools, military bases, and municipal utilities, such as watering systems. Some have complained that Washington Group’s hefty government payoffs have served primarily to raise its trading price on the New York Stock Exchange. One thing is for sure - with oil prices continuing to rise, there will be no shortage of demand for the oil protection services Washington Group International brings to bear.
4. Environmental Chemical
All war zones eventually becomes cluttered with spent ammunition and broken/abandoned weapons, creating a lucrative niche for any company willing to clean it all up. In Iraq, this duty has fallen into the hands of Environmental Chemical. The privately held Burlingame, California company has stockpiled $878 million by the end of fiscal 2006 for munitions disposal, calling upon its “decade of experience planning and conducting UXO removal, investigation, and certification activities.” The company has close ties to several defense agencies and is staffed by graduates of the U.S. Navy’s Explosive Ordinance Schools, as well as the U.S. Army’s Chemical Schools at Anniston.
5. Aegis

6. International American Products

7. Erinys

8. Fluor

9. Perini

10. URS Corporation
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40 comments // 25 companies benefiting from Iraq war

  • Chellin_OftheCross
    • 0
      Chellin_OftheCross  

    • old money in the white house...that is what is corrupting our government!

      when the government learns to serve their ppl the way they serve to their war profiteering companies maybe then we'll have a TRUE and HONEST nation our forefathers envisioned.

      this article NEEDS to be aired... please vote this article up!

    • 3 years ago
  • HuantedWorld
    • 0
      HuantedWorld  

    • Are we all the little alter boys being scwed here or what for the greater of a country ruled by self indulgent Psychotic killers.The founding fathers of this country would be ashamed of what it has become.It is time we see the truth that this is not a country based on freedom but profit.

    • 3 years ago
  • intelligenceisacurse
  • Cynic2
  • TouchArt
  • TouchArt
    • 0
      TouchArt  

    • There is big money in war, destruction and rebuilding.

      Always has been. Study history.

      People for Peace must unite to limit the profit made from killing.

      Boycott all these companies and spread the word.

    • 3 years ago
  • phoenix_fire999
    • 0
      phoenix_fire999  

    • Plusaf,

      Yes, I was talking to you. What Halliburton is doing is not standard business. They bilk the government 2 billion dollars a day. They throw away brand new equipment, including cars and trucks simply because they ran out of gas while the soldiers in their care don't even get a bed to sleep on - they sleep in moldy cots, in moldy tents, and don't even get chlorinated water to shower in. The water they do shower in are infested with ecoli, chlorea and other lovely bacterial diseases that could easily be treated if Halliburton had chlorinated their water. All that to save a few mighty bucks and increase their profit margins.

      Would you call that profiteering? You tell me.

    • 3 years ago
  • live066
  • phoenix_fire999
  • phoenix_fire999
    • 0
      phoenix_fire999  

    • war profiteering - it's something you won't hear from the "mainstream" news media but is costing lives and 2 billion dollars a day. It's the elephant in the room in our national discourse.

    • 3 years ago
  • Leonidis
  • themanwithadog
    • 0
      themanwithadog  
    • Leonidis:

      You betcha,he was top dog proir to becoming VP and still with high connections to Haliburton. Why do you think that his old company gets first refusal on any high profit contracts awarded, including the no tender ones awarded to them ,similar to Exxon Mobil Total no tender scams.

    • 3 years ago
  • intelligenceisacurse
  • rube
    • 0
      rube  

    • The current bunch of politicos are fascists...
      radicals, plutocrats, neocons, and war profiteers!

      They are the most un-American administration in history!

      And McCain voted with them over 90% of the time- whats that say about McCain?

    • 3 years ago
  • clayjj05
  • intelligenceisacurse
    • 0
      intelligenceisacurse  

    • I'm surprised that this story has been voted down so much.

      So the viewers of Current.com are more corrupt than
      one might think....

      The point of the Iraq war is the have an Iraq war.
      The whole point is just to be there.
      To keep feeding the billions to these politician run companies.

      It's all about redirecting our money into their pockets
      and them not having to go to jail over it.

      ...

      Nothing different here than the earmarks we're used
      to in our government, just this is one gigantic earmark
      labeled the Iraqi War.

      You've been stolen from America!!
      So what are you going to do about it?

      Nothing, that's what you're going to do.

      Nothing.

      So lie down and take it you bitches.
      You're going to anyway.

      sheep.

    • 3 years ago
  • Leonidis
  • johnmcstupid
  • intelligenceisacurse
    • 0
      intelligenceisacurse  
    • intelligenceisacurse:

      Well, this is what I do about it, since you all need to know:

      I built a house that's energy, water and all else independent.
      I converted my two vehicles to Lithium-Ion electric vehicles.

      So there I've ended my dependence on this government
      and these corporations for fuel, power and basics.

      That's a big step number one.

      I'm growing my own food to protect myself against Monsanto
      and their deadly GM crops.

      I write to my congressional representatives and I
      support Ron Paul for president. I could not and will not
      vote for any of the current running for pres. candidates.

      I educate others, many others.
      This is probably the best thing I can and do do.
      I engage in coversation, share online information and
      do my best to inform every single person I know on a
      personal and professional level of what is happening
      in our country at this time.

      I sound disappointed though don't I? Because I am.
      It's like nobody cares that they're stupid, in debt, losing
      freedoms, being stolen from and on and on. Ignorance
      is bliss I'm told, and that's all the populous seems to
      really want. Ignorance. They don't care to be educated as
      a whole and I rarely find people that even care to remember
      what I tell them.

      What can one person do really? Not a ton, but enough
      I suppose.

    • 3 years ago
  • clayjj05
  • Byshguy
    • 0
      Byshguy  
    • clayjj05:

      Ya Zeitgeist is sooo factually accurate. Did you even bother to check any of his so called sources? The guy is a talented film maker, that's all.

      The real ironic thing about that movie is that even though the message is not to believe everything you see or here, people watch the movie and believe everything they see and hear in it!

    • 3 years ago
  • Tradiggy
  • riverdeer
  • iOw
  • scabbio
  • soberwood
    • 0
      soberwood  

    • This United States is a product of European wealth. They bought the ships, employed the people, handled the products, shipped the products, determined the worth of our money, what we produced and what we could charge for it in their markets. These United states, in our infancy were built by wealthy men and they increased their wealth on our forefather's backs. Was it such a bad thing. We took nearly a hundred years to become independent of those greedy people and lost many lives throwing off the yoke. Was it neccesary? Sure was, for it made us united and strong, with a common purpose and common belief. It remains to be seen if the iraqi people can unite and survive if we just give them their inheritance without them having to throw us out.

    • 3 years ago
  • extblues
    • 0
      extblues  

    • So, when precisely did the so-called "military-industrial complex" die in order for it to be "resurrected" again by the current conflict?

      War, no matter where it happens to be or who's doing the fighting, has always been good for someones bottom line. This was as true in Alexander's day when he decided to take his little tour of Asia as it was when the M1's first rolled into Baghdad (...both conflicts which, ironically, involved Persia to some degree or another).

      While I admit the amounts involved are staggering, especially when on takes into consideration some of the other things such money and resources might have accomplished on a domestic level (...universal health care anyone?), it really shouldn't come as all that much of a shock.

      What's more troubling about this particular blood bath is the gross mismanagement of the funds that were allocated to many of these corporations, the shoddy work that's often done by sub-sub-contractors, and why the GAO isn't investigating these problems with more gusto.

    • 3 years ago
  • rwylie
    • 0
      rwylie  

    • This is the true face and purpose of the war: millions of mindless hicks in the US are so easily put off by the smokescreen of "we're protecting america y'all", and the big guys are laughing all the way to the bank.

      NEWSFLASH: The so called 'threats' to America, have about 1% of America's military power, and are thousands of miles away in the Middle East. 9/11 was ONE INCIDENT, does it justify killing ten times that many innocent people in other countries?! People are so blind I can't quite believe it.

    • 3 years ago
  • Byshguy
    • 0
      Byshguy  
    • rwylie:

      Ok I get it, anyone who supports the war is an idiot. I'll never understand why so many people on Current are such blind haters. Why is someone a redneck if they support this war. Is that your definition of redneck, supporting this war? Why can't you just have a civil conversation without breaking out your bigoted vocabulary for groups of people you despise.

    • 3 years ago
  • petarro
  • daboz
    • 0
      daboz  

    • "The war in Iraq is quickly becoming more expensive than the war in Vietnam, and we've been in Iraq for less than half as long."

      And we lost 55000 men in Nam, How much is a soldiers life worth to you???

    • 3 years ago
  • kewal91
  • Elevator
  • Byshguy
    • 0
      Byshguy  
    • daboz:

      Great point Dobaz. The same people bitching about the cost are the same ones who rail on the Defense Department for not providing every soldier with a full suit of body armor, every Hum-Vee with super thick armor plating, etc. You can't have it both ways.

    • 3 years ago
  • Mulcahey
    • 0
      Mulcahey  
    • Image

    • The war in Iraq is quickly becoming more expensive than the war in Vietnam, and we've been in Iraq for less than half as long. When you add the cost of the Afghan campaign, the 9/11 wars are WAY more expensive than Vietnam. Thanks defense industry!

    • 3 years ago
  • Dmitri_Molotov
    • 0
      Dmitri_Molotov  

    • Well... you can't really call Environmental Chemical very evil. I mean, clearing land mines and blowing up unexploded artillery shells is a pretty damn noble cause.

    • 3 years ago
  • Bovey
  • kewal91
    • 0
      kewal91  
    • Dmitri_Molotov:

      aww get real... nobody does things for free.... war is one of the most profitable things in the US since the dawn of time..... (thats what got us and the world out of the big depression)............ any1 that even tried to do it for free would have raked up huge debts and would have been striked down by the bank

    • 3 years ago
  • Byshguy
    • 0
      Byshguy  
    • Dmitri_Molotov:

      If you're so noble Bovey why don't you start a not for profit and bid on these contracts. Let's see how easy it is to convince hundreds of people to go over to Iraq and clear land mines for free.

    • 3 years ago
  • hollowman218
    • 0
      hollowman218  

    • This is an Awesome article. I think the more people follow the dollar bills, the easier it will be to find the caused of this war, as opposed to settling for whoever the media chooses to blame.

    • 3 years ago
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