Halliburton and the Iraq war
How much did Halliburton get in contracts for rebuilding Iraq?
Who owned shares in the company?
How many senators?
Steven Clemons, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation think tank, has accused former CIA Director James Woolsey of both profiting from and promoting the Iraq War.[35]
The Center for Public Integrity has reported that US Senator Dianne Feinstein, who voted in favor of the Iraq Resolution, and her husband, Richard Blum, are making millions of dollars from Iraq and Afghanistan contracts through his company, Tutor Perini Corporation.[36][37][38] Financial disclosure forms indicate that as of January 2020 51 members of Congress and their partners own between $2.3 and $5.8 million of stock in the top 30 corporations that sell goods and services to the U.S. military.[39]
Indicted defense contractor Brent R. Wilkes was reported to be ecstatic when hearing that the United States was going to go to war with Iraq. "He and some of his top executives were really gung-ho about the war," said a former employee. "Brent said this would create new opportunities for the company. He was really excited about doing business in the Middle East."[40] One of the top profiteers from the Iraq War was oil field services corporation, Halliburton. Halliburton gained $39.5 billion in "federal contracts related to the Iraq war".[41] Many individuals have asserted that there were profit motives for the Bush-Cheney administration to invade Iraq in 2003. Dick Cheney served as Halliburton's CEO from 1995 until 2000. Cheney claimed he had cut ties with the corporation although, according to a CNN report, "Cheney was still receiving about $150,000 a year in deferred payments."[42] Cheney vowed to not engage in a conflict of interest. However, the Congressional Research Office discovered Cheney held 433,000 Halliburton stock options while serving as Vice President of the United States.[43] 2016 Presidential Candidate, Rand Paul referenced Cheney's interview with the American Enterprise Institute in which Cheney said invading Iraq "would be a disaster, it would be vastly expensive, it would be civil war, we'd have no exit strategy...it would be a bad idea". Rand continues by concluding "that's why the first Bush didn't go into Baghdad. Dick Cheney then goes to work for Halliburton. Makes hundreds of millions of dollars- their CEO. Next thing you know, he's back in government, it's a good idea to go into Iraq."[44][45] Another prominent critic is Huffington Post co-founder, Arianna Huffington. Huffington said, "We have the poster child of Bush-Cheney crony capitalism, Halliburton, involved in this. They, after all, were responsible for cementing the well."[46]
During the Afghanistan War, defense sector stocks outperformed the average of the stock market by 58%. Commentators put into question whether the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan could be considered a failure for the United States. Jon Schwarz of The Intercept wrote that "These numbers suggest that it is incorrect to conclude [that the] Afghanistan War was a failure. On the contrary, from the perspective of some of the most powerful people in the U.S., it may have been an extraordinary success. Notably, the boards of directors of all [top] five defense contractors include retired top-level military officers."[47]
From 2007, there were regularly more contractors than U.S. forces in Afghanistan. By 2016, private contractors outnumbered US state personnel three to one.[48] In 2016, the Harris Corporation was awarded a $1.7 billion contract to supply communications equipment to Afghan security forces.[49]
***
The major oil and gas companies, including Shell,[50] ExxonMobil,[51] Chevron, Phillips 66, BP and Sinopec,[52] and the major weapon manufacturers, such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems,[53][54] reported sharp rises in interim revenues and profits.[55][56][57][58]
The term "ABCD" refers to the four companies – ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus – that dominate world agricultural commodity trading. The ABCD commodity-trading companies have seen large profits as a result of the war in Ukraine and rising food prices.[59][60]