Talk:Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers
---Why is this so *&^#$ing bare?---
Someone please help with this article. I can't believe I'm one of the only ones who has seen this historic documentary and thinks it's important/historic enough to have lengthy info here at Wikipedia while Goddamn Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen has an entry that dwarfs this. My God, is America heading for a downfall or what? Don't any of you idiots CARE? Anyway... I'll be honest... I'm so incredibly furious after watching this doc, I'm not sure I'm capable of being unbiased. It's taking everything in my power to not to completely freak out. Someone who hates America, please come in here and reedit it to make this Documentary look like it's a lie or something. Any interest whatsoever, actually, would be great and make Wikipedia seem more encyclopedia-like or something. This is pitiful. 67.190.61.6 10:01, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
- you know, in all honesty, I would feel more compasion about this if they werent selling the vid for 16.99... what is the difference between war profiteering and making money off of war profiteering? at least guys like Blackwater, etc can say they are out "fighting the good fight" as it were...
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers
http://house-of-bob.blogspot.com/2006/10/iron-triangle.html
I’m curious to see the film, but I’m also required to avail myself of any well researched criticism that’s available on it.
I’m of the opinion that political documentaries, particularly those of the far left, tend to be more sensationalistic and very biased, slanted towards an audience that already “gets it”, and is looking for further emotional affirmation of their views. With such works, the presentation of facts is willfully selective to particular a point of view. Evidence which supports a preconclusion is emphasized; countervailing evidence is conveniently left unaddressed or dismissed.
I have no doubt that there is corruption and mismanagement by the corporations contracted to supply services/materials in Iraq, and I think that should be a concern of any taxpaying citizen. I have no objection to a call to action that reveals waste corruption or fraud. Several questions emerge when putting the question of corruption in historical context:
Knowing that in all wars (and in civilian endeavors for that matter) there have been elements of corruption and greed, is the supposed profiteering in Iraq on a greater, lesser, or comparable scale?
Does the fact that corporations are financially benefiting from the war compromise the original justifications for the war?
I wonder if “Iraq for Sale” addresses the first question to any degree, and it’s an answer in the affirmative to the second question that I suspect is an underlying political message of the movie.
It’s not a new theory, and its origins can be found in Marxism: foreign policy is run by the military/industrial complex. Politicians, defense contractors, and the Pentagon work in collusion for the maintenance of power and financial gain while selling the public on imperial wars that aren’t in their interest. Franklin D. Roosevelt somehow allowed the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor; Lyndon Johnson conspired to get us into in Vietnam; and now Bush, Cheney, and the neo-cons manipulated intelligence to get us into this war in Iraq for their buddies in Halliburton and the oil industry.
Never mind that this theory doesn’t explain our involvement in Afghanistan.
Ted Kennedy gave the conspiracy expression when he publicly stated that he believed “President Bush and his cronies cooked up this war about WMD’s on his ranch in Texas, probably just to mislead us.”
A selective fact: "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." — Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sept. 27, 2002
Anyways, not having seen the movie, I’ll reserve judgment to an educated guess on its message.