The U. S. has prided itself on having all-volunteer armed forces for some time and this is truly the case, in the sense that there is not forcible conscription by governmental decree. Such policy has certainly helped to reduce social resistance to ill-founded wars such as the U. S. finds itself fighting in various countries worldwide today. However, do the volunteers alone contribute the requisite manpower to maintain the
hundreds of U. S. military bases currently in operation? A sizable portion of “democracy’s” fighting force today is comprised of mercenary contractors from private companies such as
Blackwater and
DynCorp. Here, Robert Greenwald’s
“Iraq for Sale” presents for public scrutiny some of the profiteers cashing in on the reconstruction of the countries the U. S. government has put in the crosshairs. Are these companies the
“military-industrial complex” former President Dwight Eisenhower warned about in his farewell speech in 1961? To what extent were the violent adventures of the “War on Terror” and even previous wars originally motivated by the possibility of profit?
[END] Permalink: Iraq for Sale
Comments are closed 
