Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers
| Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers | |
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| Directed by | Robert Greenwald |
| Produced by | Robert Greenwald Sarah Feeley Jim Gilliam Devin Smith |
| Starring | Bud Conyers Janis Karpinski James Logsdon Bill Peterson Shane Ratliff Edward Sanchez |
| Music by | Tree Adams |
| Cinematography | Nick Higgins |
| Editing by | Carla Gutierrez Sally Rubin |
| Distributed by | Brave New Films |
| Release date(s) | 2006 |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | U.S.A |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $368,000 |
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is a 2006 documentary film made by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films about the ongoing Iraq War and the behavior of companies with no-bid contracts working in Iraq.
Specifically, the film claims four major contractors - Blackwater, K.B.R.-Halliburton, CACI and Titan - are over-billing the U.S. government and doing substandard work while endangering the lives of American soldiers and private citizens. The documentary contends these companies are composed of ex-military and ex-government workers who unethically help their companies get and keep enormous contracts and milk the American taxpayer.
Halliburton contends the film is "yet another rehash of inaccurate, recycled information."[1] During filming, Greenwald had requested interviews with the contractors, but they turned him down.
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[edit] Production
This was the first film to raise substantial production funds from small donations online: $267,892 from 3,000 people in 10 days.[2]
[edit] Synopsis
The film starts with a look at Blackwater contractors Scott Helveston and Jerry Zovko, who were killed in an ambush in Falujah due to company cost-cutting exercises. The film moves on to look at the involvement of poorly supervised private interrogators and untrained translators from CACI and Titan in the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. The loss of traditional military jobs, particularly in logistics, to private contractor KBR/Halliburton, who put workers like Tony Johnson and Steve Hullet in danger is analysed by the filmmakers, as is the costplus arrangement which encourages private contractors to overspend and overcharge for their services to ensure greater profits. Another major theme which reoccurs throughout the film is that of Corporations legally buying influence, through campaign contributions and a network of connections, at the highest levels of government which allows them to be rewarded sole-source contract without bidding and to cover-up their own failures.
[edit] Participants
- Katy Helveston-Wettengel - Mother of Scott Helveston
- Donna & Jozo Zovko - Parents of Jerry Zovko
- Tom Zovko - Brother of Jerry Zovko
- Chris Lehane - Crisis Communication Expert
- Anthony Lagouranis - Military Interrogator, Abu Ghraib
- Janis Karpinski - Former Brigadier General, Abu Ghraib
- Shereef Akeel - Civil Rights Attorney
- Hassan Al-Azzawi - Abu Ghraib Detainee
- Pratap Chatterjee - Executive Director, CorpWatch
- Al Haj Ali - Abu Ghraib Detainee
- Mark Benjamin - Journalist, Salon.com
- Joshua Casteel - Military Interrogator, Abu Ghraib
- Marwan Mawiri - Titan Linguist, Kirkuk Airbase, Iraq
- Alan Grayson - Grayson and Kubli, P.C.
- Massie Ritsch - Center for Responsive Politics
- Aidan Delgado - SPC, Army Reserve, Nasiriyah & Abu Ghraib
- Doug Brooks - President, IPOA
- David Mann - SPC, US Army
- Geoff Millard - SGT, Army National Guard
- Ed Sanchez - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Kim & April Johnson - Family of Tony Johnson
- Hollie Hullet - Wife of Steve Hullet
- Bill Peterson - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Scott Allen - Cruse, Scott, Henderson & Allen, LLP
- Keith Ashdown - Taxpayers for Common Sense
- Ralph Peters - Lieutenant Colonel (Ret)
- Bunnatine Greenhouse - Former Chief Contracting Officer, USACE
- Ben Carter - KBR/Halliburton Former Water Purification Specialist
- Shane Ratliff - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Marie de Young - KBR/Halliburton Former Contract Administrator
- Stewart Scott - KBR/Halliburton Former Labor Foreman
- James Logsdon - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Bud Conyers - KBR/Halliburton Former Truck Driver
- Kelly Dougherty - SGT, Colorado Army National Guard
- Harry Bunting - KBR/Halliburton Former Procurement Specialist
- Jim Donahue - Halliburton Watch
- Charles Lewis - Fund for Independence in Journalism
- Chris Farrell - Judicial Watch
- Charlie Cray - Center for Corporate Policy
[edit] References
- ^ Dan Harris, ""Documentary slams U.S. companies working in Iraq", ABC News, September 4, 2006 (accessed November 16, 2006)
- ^ William Booth, "His fans greenlight the project", Washington Post, August 20, 2006
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Official Brave New Films website
- Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers at the Internet Movie Database
- L.A. Times review, Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2006
- Being There Magazine review, Being There Magazine
- "Iraq For Sale: documentary about profiteering contractors", Boing Boing, September 24, 2006
- San Francisco Chronicle review, San Francisco Chronicle, September 15, 2006
- New York Times review, New York Times, September 9, 2006
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