MetaFilter posts tagged with profiteering

ACPO: We're Private, You're Public?

terranova — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:59:49 -0800

What is the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)? It is a private company, financed by UK taxpayers, immune from freedom of information requests. It dictates police operations and sells police national computer data. It may also be engaged in covert domestic surveillance of what it deems as extremists: antiwar protesters, strikers, and others. According to an ACPO spokesperson ""there doesn't seem to be a single, commonly agreed definition."

In War Profiteers We Trust

ornate insect — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:09:49 -0800

According to an audit released today by the DoD's IG, there has been virtually no oversight of over $8 billion paid by the Defense Department to contractors in Iraq. The report confirms a similar finding back in 2005 that over $9 billion in Iraq war funds were unaccounted for. As a factual and non-polemical matter, this spectacular waste of taxpayer money has undoubtedly lined the pockets of more than a few war profiteers. To say the Iraq war has been plagued with rampant corruption, fraud and fiscal mismanagement is not an editorial position or overstatement: even lawmakers have begun to acknowledge this.

The Great Iraq Swindle

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:00:55 -0800

The Great Iraq Swindle: How Bush Allowed an Army of For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury

corporate profiting in Iraq

nickyskye — Sun, 13 May 2007 15:52:04 -0800

"On May 10th, 2007, this video was banned in Congress" - Filmmaker, Robert Greenwald, wanted to show a four minute clip of his film when testifying to Congress, but Republicans disallowed it. This is the clip from his excellent movie now available on Google Video, Iraq for Sale.

Chunnel: no problem. Iraq: big problem.

If I Had An Anus — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:38:39 -0800

Cut and Run Capitalism. Bechtel leaves Iraq after "heartbreaking" failures. Who's next?

Executive Excess

homunculus — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:11:53 -0800

Executive Excess 2006: Defense and Oil Executives Cash in on Conflict (PDF). A new study from United for a Fair Economy and the Institute for Policy Studies looks at who is making a killing from the war on terror (or whatever they're calling it this week.) Looking ahead, I better review my portfolio. [Via C&L.]

Got Gas?

dejah420 — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 19:05:53 -0800

Oil companies, not environmentalists behind refinery shortages. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today exposed internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits. Internal memos from Mobil, Chevron, and Texaco show different ways the oil giants closed down refining capacity and drove independent refiners out of business. In related news, petroleum industry analyst Tim Hamilton showed that from January 17th to April 18th 2005 gasoline prices jumped 65 cents per gallon and refiner profits rose [pdf] by 61 cents per gallon.

Brit Hume's Investment Tip of the Day

AccordionGuy — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 08:50:40 -0800

"I mean, my first thought when I heard [about the London bombings]...'Hmmm, time to buy.'" Where most people see what happened in London as a tragedy, FOX News' Brit Hume sees an investment opportunity. Media Matters has a transcript and the video in QuickTime and Windows Media formats.

Operators Standing By

owillis — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 13:43:23 -0800

You Too Can Profit From The War on Terra "You’d think with both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars well under way and with the war on terrorism being more than two years old that the share price of any bullet proof vest manufacturer would be fully valued. Not so! The company that manufactures the amazing life saving bullet proof vests that Sgt. Travis L. McKinney wrote to from the Iraq front line is not only undervalued but is a screaming takeover candidate that is poised to enjoy an up to 450% increase in its stock price." Operators are standing by...

Making A Killing - The Business of War

y2karl — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 04:50:16 -0800

A Private Army Grows Around the U.S. Mission in Iraq and Around the World As Report Shows Iraq Contractors Politically Active
--see also Making A Killing - The Business of War, and on the inside...

War profiteering

dejah420 — Thu, 28 Aug 2003 10:11:43 -0800

Can it be called war profiteering? The size and scope of the government contracts awarded to Halliburton in connection with the war in Iraq are significantly greater than was previously disclosed and demonstrate the U.S. military's increasing reliance on for-profit corporations to run its logistical operations. Independent experts estimate that as much as one-third of the monthly $3.9 billion cost of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq is going to independent contractors.

Spoils of War

Postroad — Thu, 10 Apr 2003 07:56:54 -0800

Spoils of War This op-ed piece in The New York Times (free reg req'd) follows the path of money into who is getting what now that the reconstruction phase is about to begin. Might have called this piece: More than Oil.

Praise Allah!

bureaustyle — Sun, 30 Mar 2003 14:50:12 -0800

Before 9/11, Before War on .... there was serious concern that Halliburton would be forced into bankruptcy / The company -- and Cheney's million-dollar paychecks -- were saved. Praise Allah! Never in American history has a group of government leaders profited so directly from war -- never. Like their brothers-in-arms, Saddam's Baathists, the Bushists treat their own country like a sacked town, looting the treasury for their family retainers and turning public policy to private gain. Like Saddam, they feed on fear and glorify aggression. Like Saddam, they have dishonored their nation and betrayed its people. But the money sure is good, eh, Dick?

fold_and_mutilate — Wed, 17 Jul 2002 19:04:18 -0800

War, Incorporated. "'War is a racket. It always has been....A racket is best described as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many.' Words of a radical peacenik? Only if a Marine Corps Major General qualifies as such." Of course, this particular Major General was talking about the oooold days when corporations had the political pillow-patter down, and our elected officials were the best money could buy. Not like the way things are today.

And who was this crackpot Ike, anyway?