War profiteering begins today!

Yes, I understand that some set of companies will make a profit on war; it is an unfortunate but accepted fact that economics and war are coupled in morally inverse fashion. We should stomach this truth and move on.

What we shouldn’t stomach, however, are blatant kickbacks from the administration to its familial corporations. Yesterday, Halliburton scored a billion dollar contract with the government. They are tasked with cleaning up (and no doubt taking charge of) Iraq’s many unclaimed oil fields.

It is well known that Hallibuton is a top-tier oil field and disaster management company. And according to Halliburon, they won the contract because they are “the only firm capable of deploying services on short notice.”

But do you honestly believe that the government spent time evaluating alternatives? I call favoritism and bullshit.