Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)

Robert Greenwald looks at war profiteering in Iraq by private contracting companies Halliburton, CACI, and KBR.

Director:

Robert Greenwald

Stars:

Katy Helvenston-Wettengal, Scott Helvenston, Donna Zovko

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Katy Helvenston-Wettengal	...	Herself - Scott Helvenston's Mother
Scott Helvenston	...	Himself - Blackwater Contractor (archive footage)
Donna Zovko	...	Herself - Mother of Jerry Zovko
Jozo Zovko	...	Himself - Father of Jerry Zovko
Tommy Zovko	...	Himself - Brother of Jerry Zovko
Chris Lehane	...	Himself - Crisis Communications Expert
Anthony Lagouranis	...	Himself - Military Interrogator, Abu Ghraib
John Warner	...	Himself - Senator, Virginia (archive footage)
Shereef Akeel	...	Himself - Civil Rights Attorney
Hassan Al-Azzawi	...	Himself - Abu Ghraib Detainee
Pratap Chatterjee	...	Himself - Executive Director, CorpWatch
Janis Karpinski	...	Herself - Former Brigadier General, Abu Ghraib
Al Haj Ali	...	Himself - Abu Ghraib Detainee
Mark Benjamin	...	Himself - Journalist, Salon.com
Joshua Casteel	...	Himself - Military Interrogator, Abu Ghraib

Storyline

Documentary portraying the actions of U.S. corporate contractors in the U.S.-Iraq war. Interviews with employees and former employees of such companies as Halliburton, CACI, and KBR suggest that government cronyism is behind apparent "sweetheart" deals that give such contractors enormous freedom to profit from supplying support and material to American troops while providing little oversight. Survivors of employees who were killed discuss the claim that the companies cared more for profit than for the welfare of their own workers, and soldiers indicate that the quality of services provided is sub-standard and severely in contradiction to the comparatively huge profits being generated. Also depicted are the unsuccessful attempts by the filmmakers to get company spokesmen to respond to the charges made by the interviewees.

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Plot Keywords:

war profiteer | political superpower | political corruption | armed forces | shady | 

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ирак на продажу: Наживающиеся на войне

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brave New Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Gipsy II
(Music of the Ghajar/Iraqi gypsies)
Written by Traditional
Arranged by Saadoun Al-Bayati
Performed by Saadoun Al-Bayati
Courtesy of Samar Enterprises

User Reviews

Everyone in Congress as well as every American needs to see this film!

This film shows how our tax dollars were wasted! We are paying contractors at prices far higher than what it costs us for the same thing. For example, buying new trucks every time one of them gets a minor maintenance problem. Another example of abuse is the fact that we are paying $99 per bag of laundry to get it washed by a contractor. Still another example of abuse, is that one of the contractors is supplying water to our troops that contains diseases in it for people to shower in. Also, it shows in detail how we paid to torture war prisoners. Another shocking detail was how the contractors did not get the proper equipment to protect themselves. Additionally, the contract workers were saying in 5-star hotels at night, while our troops were getting tents. What is even more shocking is the connections these companies have with officials, and how contracts to them were awarded without taking bids.

Our country needs to stand up, and hold our people in the white house, congress, the justice department, and our military accountable for these actions. We have spent almost a half a trillion dollars on the Iraq War now, and billions of it were wasted in this abuse of our money by these private contractors. Thanks to Robert Greenwald for getting out the truth to the American public again!!!!!