Belt Auction

Did you know that 50% of Americans working in Iraq are private contractors?

Many of these contractors are doing the work that normally would be accomplished by our armed services. These companies (haliburton, blackwater, etc) are being paid for by our taxes, and the contracts have been awarded with non-competitive bids (ie. corporations do not have to compete on a cost basis for the job). Do you think this is cost effective or is it more expensive? According to this site their numbers exceed those of american troops. So if anything 50% is an underestimate. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14554

Public Comments

1. I didn't know. Thanks for sharing.
2. Not true at all. You post was generated by someone who knows zero about the military.
3. Yes. I was one of them... Twice! Until the company I worked for lost their contract... I had to find a new job then. :-( Of course, I was a database administrator... Not doing much military work! LOL There are security companies (private) that help secure convoys, but this is all private stuff... no combat or anything like that... It would be the equivalent to being an armed security gaurd at a bank here...
4. First off the percentage is off, to high, secondly the reason Halliburton was awarded a Non-coompetitive bid, was because they are the only company in the world that does what they do, there is no competition.
5. yes and 40 cents of every dollar spent on the war are going directly to companies that supply them like Cheney's Halliburton. Also their deaths are not included in the over 4000 American deaths.
6. This is one of the scary little truths abou the war. These deals are almost certainly not cost effective (as evidenced buy the $15 haliburton charges the US taxpayer for each can of coke). Also interesting to note is that the 'war dead' statistic generally does not include these contractors. Not that I'm saying it should, but only talking about the nuber of troops that have died underestimates the cost in life that the war has had.
7. Usually what happens, would you like a fake low bid, or a fake minority company in Hallburtions Place
8. Yep! And it is way more expensive. It puts large sums of money into the pockets of big business... all with Bush ties. I'll hand it to Bush, that man knows how to dodge the system!
9. which begs the question..... if we want more oil pumped, right away...... WHO can get it done? Haliburton. no one else can do what they do.
10. Sure. Read "Blackwater". It's an eye-opener. Mercenaries goeth before an empire's fall....