The real cost of the Iraq war is so great it's going to take us decades to recuperate from its bruising effects. On one hand some of us worry about the children left without parents both in the Western world and Iraq, the men and women whose bodies are permanently broken by bullets ripping through their flesh, and the homes and livelihoods carelessly destroyed by bombs of misconceptions and misrepresentations. On the other hand, there are people and organisations who're not in a hurry for the war to end because -well simply put - it yields for them unquantifiable wealth.
On December 11, 2003 President Bush said, “The taxpayers understand why it makes sense for countries that risk lives to participate in the contracts in Iraq, it's very simple. Our people risk their lives, friendly coalition folks risk their lives, and therefore the contracting is going to reflect that.” Source
Little did we know at the time, to what extent this was true, and how difficult it was for those "participants of the contract" to produce an answer about the 23 billion US dollars still unaccounted for. (Please check at the bottom of the page for all sources used in writing this article).
Here is a list of some of the people we could ask to account for all that missing cash. Don't hold your breath for any answers at this time though because there is a gagging law in America which prevents any of this from being discussed in-depth, at least while the current administration is still in power.
Parsons
What is Parsons: A Californian based firm which specialises in industrial manufacturing, infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering (and other areas). They work with government and private industries on a worldwide basis in rebuilding and reconstructing areas affected by war and natural disasters.
Parsons was paid $186 million to build 150 hospitals and have so far delivered a handful of clinics. They're also implicated (along with Halliburton - based in Texas) in the yet unproven allegation that the four-year delay in fixing simple security measures in the oil fields is deliberate. This continuing breach means that oil is being diverted from the rightful owners and converted into benefits for foreign contractors.
Their defence: Not enough time was given to finish the project in a war zone, and what they've already delivered is the best that could be done under the circumstances in appallingly difficult working conditions.
KBR
What is the KBR:Kellogg Brown & Root, a former subsidiary (until recently) of Halliburton's Corp. They are war contractors, who provide expertise in global engineering and general contracting services. Vice President Dick Cheney used to be Halliburton's (parent company of KBR at the time) chief executive from 1995 to 2000.
The KBR is the proud holder of $16 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure plus a multi billion dollar contract to provide support services for the troops. All this was secured without having to bid for the contract, as it was the only company to put in a tender for the job.
KBR allegedly avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies which they set up and based in the Cayman Islands. About 22,000 people work for KBR in Iraq but they're listed as employees of these shell companies. Where are these companies' offices? In a file on the fourth floor of an office building in the Caribbean island. Most of the workers weren't aware that they were employed by a foreign company until they returned to America and realised (when they applied) that they weren't entitled to any unemployment benefits.
KBR is also alleged to have run empty trucks across Iraq then overcharging by an estimated 108 million dollars, for deliveries not made and meals not provided
Their defence: the companies were set up in order to allow them to reduce certain tax obligations, but not with the aim to avoid taxes altogether. All allegations of profit padding were unfounded.
CACI
What is CACI: An Information technology company with its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia and London. CACI provides national security and intelligence to the American government.
It is widely claimed but not proven, that most of this company's recruits are not properly trained yet they were allowed to conduct unsupervised sensitive interrogation in Iraq. It has been claimed, (yet not proven), that they have set dogs on prisoners, and taken pictures of them naked. Their soldiers however, cannot be charged because of a law which is securely padlocked in place banning any private security agents from being charged for "crimes of war."
CACI's budget for their operations is US $ 40 billion and they've made profits of up to 50%
