User:Fparra247/sandbox
I plan to add to the politician section of the war profiteering article. I will include a couple examples of war proifteering and how it is still prevalent today amongst the political elite.
Sources used in article
Blum, William. Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Common Courage Press. 2004. pg. 72-83.
[1] http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/10/10-companies-profiting-most-from-war/1970997/.
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/23/broken.lobbyists/.
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In 1953 the United States began a covert mission to overthrow the Guatemalan government under Jacobo Arbenez. The process began with the United States labeling the government of Guatemala as a communist government. According to William Blum the reason for the United States’ intervention into Guatemala is that it was pushed by lobbyist from the United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company had significant holdings within Guatemala and when the government decided to compete with the company this would not be accepted. Numerous officials such as President Eisenhower’s Under-Secretary of State and formerly director of the CIA) Walter Beedle Smith was a candidate for an executive position in the company while at the same time he was helping to plan the intervention. This coup was successful and the United Fruit Company was able to keep its holdings within Guatemala thus ensuring its profits were secure. This is typical of the sort of engagements that the U.S became involved in during the cold war that resulted in war profiteering.
In the modern-day war profiteering amongst politicians has increased with the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to an article by USA today in 2011 the top 100 largest contractors sold 410 billion dollars’ worth of arms and services. Within this massive expense of services has evolved what is called the rotating door. This revolving door has not differentiated between the two political parties. An example of this revolving door is the case of William Lynn. In 2010 he was confirmed to serve as the NO. 2 man in the Pentagon after he worked as a lobbyist for Raytheon. This example shows the process of a person joining the government, then being hired as a lobbyist, and back to government. The revolving door is still in existence and continues to this day.