Customer Reviews

Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Halliburton is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Have you ever heard of Nuor, Bechtel, or SYColeman? They are merely chunks off an icy flotilla of the government's favored contractors.

Daily news reports are filled with hints of the abuse of taxpayer dollars. In Blood Money, Miller spells it out in sickening detail. The very people who the American public have entrusted to "take care of business" are doing just that, and lining their own pockets in the process. No project, or life, is too big next to pockets of green.

The Iraqi reconstruction process is plagued with poor planning, poor implementation, and misguided funding. Contractors are put in the line of fire in order to repair or rebuild infrastructure, and much of it falls apart after they leave due to the lack of training and/or necessary tools to keep it going. In some cases, the "reconstruction" efforts may have lasting negative effects on Iraqi citizens.

Especially alarming is the possibility that botched repairs of a water infusion plant by a highly-paid American contracting group may be contributing to permanent damage to Iraqi oil fields. In the desert, the lack of ground water affects the pressure needed to allow oil to seep up from the ground, and the infusion plant does just that: infuses water into the ground to increase that pressure. Making matters worse are the broken pipelines that cause oil backups at working wells, forcing well workers to pump it back into the ground.

Then there are the "expendable" third-world workers and blue-collar truck drivers brought in by some contractors to fill job orders - only to be mowed down by insurgent fire.

The examples of political and corporate abuse are so abundant that even reading a few chapters will enrage people who oppose the war and worry supporters. It is clear that the Iraqis need reconstruction help, but there needs to be more accountability.

T. Christian Miller is the kind of investigative reporter who promises to walk in the shoes of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. His tireless efforts and thorough sourcing are to be highly commended, as it takes a brave person to speak up against the powerful people he takes on in this book.

Future journalism--and ethics--classes will do well to add this sad chapter to their lessons.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
9/3/2006

This is a definite five star piece of work that approaches our failures in Iraq from a different perspective, and hence should be read with, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq. It goes beyond Squandered Victory, which creates outrage over incompetence, and actually turns one's stomach with disgust toward the end.

The book starts with a very useful timeline of events, and the opening premise that Paul Wolfowitz was wrong on virtually every promise and claim made to Congress.

The author's strategic view, threaded throughout the book, is that the U.S. effort in Iraq never had coherent "supreme commander" type leadership, that virtually all elements (U.S. Army and U.S. Marines excepted) lacked both intelligence and integrity, and that this was one of the most incompetent, ignorant occupations in the history of mankind. He does seem to avoid pointing out that Rumsfeld demanded complete military control of the country, relegated the diplomats to the back room, and did not even tell Bremer for a year that there was a diplomatic plan for nation-building. This is on Rumsfeld and Bremer. History will judge them harshly.

The author documents that the US Government knew in advance that there was no plan for the peace (the State Department efforts not-withstanding) and no way of creating an effective plan.

The author is powerful in showing that "shock and awe" warfare made the transition to peace virtually impossible. 17 out of 21 Ministry headquarters buildings were completely destroyed (and then the occupying force allowed for the looting of all offices, all museums, all universities, and all stockpiles of ammunition and explosives needed for the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) that have killed so many of our troops. The oil infrastructure was not protected, was completely looted, and this lost the chance for paying anything with oil in the early years.

Immortal quote on page 40: "...a circus, a Looney Tunes version of government, hatched on the fly, delivered at random, and operating without instruction."

Reconstruction cost estimate: $2.4 billion. Actual cost: $30 billion and rising. Results after several years: less than 10% of the needed work. Money unaccounted for: $18 billion.

The author differs from those who supported sanctions in pointing out that the sanctions virtually destroyed Iraq's health system.

Psychologically, the author suggests that the months of lip service to freedom and reconstruction raised hopes that were then dashed. One is reminded of the Davies J-Curve from the 1970's--revolutions occur not among the oppressed, but among those who have been shown the prospect of freedom and prosperity, and then had it taken out of their grasp.

On contracting, one's stomach turns with every page. Cost plus, no incentive to save; U.S. companies doing for millions what Iraqi companies would do for tens of thousands; U.S. contractors earning $60K and more, foreign laborers imported for $3000 a year. The author specifically quotes contractors as saying they knew they could steal the process blind in the first year, which would be "open season."

I consider this book to be the eventual final nail in the coffin of the Private Military Contractors. The author documents how the military's very unwise reliance on private contractors for combat zone logistics led to a need for private contractors to provide security, to the point that 22% of the reconstruction dollars are going toward Private Military Corporations (PMC).

My global reading program suggests that the Bush-Cheney Administration will go down in history as having pulled off the most blatant program of planned lies to the public, Congress, and the United Nations, and the most blatant slight of hand in switching the burden from a properly staffed military command to a war-profiteering mélange of PMCs. There is no question in my mind but that we need to eliminate PMCs along with Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) in the future, and we need to properly fund four forces after next: big war force, small war and gendarme force, peace force, and homeland security force. The US military today is a Cadillac built for the superhighway, when we need 10 jeeps, 100 motorcycles, and 1000 bicycles.

The author condemns both the U.S. Government in all its parts, and the PMCs in all their parts, for issuing frantic and confused orders and never really getting their act together. This book is the obituary for Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Paul Bremmer, among others.

EDIT of 10 Dec 07: Since then war crimes of contractors have become an issue, see Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror and varied media stories.

An important and imperative work. Investigative journalisim at its best under trying circumstances. American at its core, in that it gets a tough and dirty job done. Not with the help of government, but despite it. In this Reagan era of privitizaton/trust the market place, we have a choice: trust Bush or the dollar. How could you lose? The book opens and closes with Col. Ted Westhusing, the definition of his alma mater, WEST POINT: DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY. Third in his class, plus a doctor of philosophy, and an exemplary record of war/peace service. Yet he met his nemesis: Iraq. For in Iraq he found a war of privitization that had nothing what so ever to do with DUTY, HONOR, or COUNTRY. It was simply about the money, or at best, cronyism. Whether it was murder or suicide, his last communication was in writing and I paraphrase, " I cannot support a mission that leads to corruption, human rights abuse and liars. No more. I cannot support corrupt, money hungry contractors, nor work for commanders only intersested in themselves. I came to serve honorably and I feel dishonored. Why serve when you cannot accomplish the mission, when you no longer believe in the cause, when your every effort and breath is met with lies, lack of support and selfishness. Life needs trust". So what comes around goes around. When a government is "elected" that produces Iraqs and Katrinas then you get the government you deserve. Col. Ted Westhusing desevered better. We, the citizenry could count on him. But in the end, he could not count on us. This book needs to be read and passed on by word of mouth. I wouln't count on the privitized mainstream press. I think there are about a total of four papers left that still have a investigative journalism department. After all, it is all about the bottom line. The Money. Highly recommended!!!!!

If the media could forego its endless fascination with the Ramsey case and other nine-day-wonders long enough to highlight some of the revelations laid out in bloody detail in Miller's well-researched and righteously angry book, the public outcry would become overwhelming. Since that's not likely to happen, every voter within reach of a copy should read it and weep, then head for the polls and make sure the waste won't continue. Horrifying and essential.

A free and democratic Iraq was supposed to become an oasis. The U.S. has committed over $30 billion to rebuild Iraq - more than the $2.4 billion (inflation-adjusted) spent on Germany after WWII, and far more than the $2 billion originally planned to rebuild Iraq. In addition, over 500 contractor employees have died trying to make Iraq a better place. Goals were rarely set, and even less often met. Yet, after three years of rebuilding, Iraqis have less power in their homes than under Saddam, oil production is about 20% below pre-Saddam days, outbreaks of easily preventable diseases like hepatitis occur for lack of clean drinking water, and thousands of Iraqis have died in sectarian conflict.

Most of the construction will end in '06; sufficient money to help pay for operation and maintenance of complex infrastructure projects is lacking; meanwhile, a RAND study found that prior successful efforts in Germany and Japan took at least five years.

So how did we get into this fine mess? No single U.S. agency was in charge of planning for postwar Iraq, and the State Department was shut entirely out of the process. Then Bremer (inexperienced in such a situation) was brought in, and the Bush machine sent innumerable inexperienced Bush supporters to help. State of the art new hospitals took precedence over cleaning up the water supply and fixing up those already existing. No bid contracts, rigged contracts to benefit political supporters and U.S. firms, cost-plus contracts with questionable costs, lack of documentation for U.S. installed equipment, and possible permanent damage to Iraq's oil fields followed.

Miller then goes on to document riding in a convoy that is attacked, U.S. companies and many Iraqi workers withdrawing because of the danger, ballooning private security costs (50% of some projects), lack of oversight, and enormous cash payouts without even receipts.

T. Christian Miller has written what will probably be called the "breakout" book on Iraqi reconstruction. His solid observations about the situation are definitely worth a read. The terror and horror of the situation shine through in his prose.

The sadest part about reading this is that you realize that if only a fraction of the information contained within is true, it is sad, horrible and needs to be adressed quickly.

Halliburton is the essence of greed and self-serves and VP Cheney cannot escape the fact that he is the one most responsible for their theivery, miss use of tax dollars and immoral behaviour.

A cause for impeachment for certain, but that's not going to happen. A disgrace that continues to grow.

Captain Edward J. Smith was captain of the Titanic. Don Rumsefeld is secretary of defense. They both met with similar accidents, the difference being one went down with the ship. Blood Money explains in exquisite detail how our ill-conceived occupation of Iraq resulted in our ship of state crashing into a symbolic iceberg. It was inevitable, as we tried to beat the world's record for invasion and withdrawal of an errant state. This is the last and best book to detail fraud, waste and abuse by Iraqis and Americans, in about equal proportions. Two heroes immerge: Stuart Bowen, the IG appointed by President Bush to investigate corruption, and David Nash who headed the initial effort to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure with $18.4 billion provided by Congress. When the U.S. policy changed from rebuilding infrastructure to winning hearts and minds, Nash's ambitious plan was abandoned. Had our entry been more carefully considered at the onset, Nash would have prevailed. I worked for Nash for three months in Baghdad, and still hold him in high regard. Bowen has proved how easy it was to shift unlimited amounts of money for personal use. Fortunately for the taxpayers--and a surpise to many who thought he'd go easy on GOP party loyalists--Bowen's tracking 'em down. The only limitation of this book is that it's episodic, but I don't this can be avoided, considering the wide-range of unrelated abuses. The systemic breakdown was that there was no system.

Blood Money is a dramatic, persuasive and meticulous work. It would be better without the biased innuendos found throughout, such as VP Chaney somehow benefiting through the government contracts with his old company, Haliburton Oil. No proof of this is offered.

According to Miller, the greatest error of the present administration--in its efforts to rebuild Iraq after the invasion--was their theory that the sale of Irag's oil could be used to fund the rebuilding. Unfortunately, oil production has never reached the pre-war level, because of sabotage, the deterioration of the drilling and refining equipment, and the U.N. sanctions.

As a result in this error in planning and others, the U.S. taxpayers are spending billions to rebuild and safeguard the country. He does note that there have been many success stories in Iraq, but dismisses them as not markedly improving the life of the average Iraqi.

After reading the book, there should be no doubt in the reader's mind that things are not going well in Iraq. All types of bungling are documented, from the government's general incompetence, to obvious contract corruption, to falling oil production, to the delivery of unsatisfactory arms and equipment to the Iraqis, to the lack of clean water and 24-hour electricity. The list goes on!

The message of the book is clear: the reconstruction effort was and is a complete fiasco.

Armchair Interviews says: Facts are presently clearly for the reader to make up their own mind.

I first learned of this book while listening to Fresh Air on NPR. Of course I didn't catch the whole interview but the one word caught me...BECHTEL. Well, come to find out, I knew what this guy was talking about and where he came from. I was in Iraq at the same as the author. I know the people he mentioned. I have witnessed alot of what he writes about. If you weren't there, this book will give you an honest insight of the issues at hand. Unfortunately, his points are not without bias. Read this with an open mind.