Thought this might be an amusing, yet relevant distraction (anyone who knows my posts well will recognise my regular referencing of the late legend) for anyone who's interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_sjqaj-W9k (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzDskyMBxzQ (part 2)

This was about the gulf war. Amazing how applicable it is to todays conflict.

Aqvaris you are right to point out the massive amount of money spent by the US government in Iraq. This public money not corporate money, in fact corporations like Haliburton are big recipiants of it. I am old enough to remember the idea that in the future the corporations would fight wars to defend their assets. They found a cheaper way. A billion will buy you an American president,700,000 for a British PM. An Australian PM perhaps a pat on the head, good jonny, nice jonny. It makes you pround to be Australian.
This is of course, just another instance of socialisation of costs and privatisation of costs. The stripping of public money to enrich an oligarchy.

Aqvaris you are right to point out the massive amount of money spent by the US government in Iraq. This public money not corporate money, in fact corporations like Haliburton are big recipiants of it. I am old enough to remember the idea that in the future the corporations would fight wars to defend their assets. They found a cheaper way. A billion will buy you an American president,700,000 for a British PM. An Australian PM perhaps a pat on the head, good jonny, nice jonny. It makes you pround to be Australian.
This is of course, just another instance of socialisation of costs and privatisation of profits. The stripping of public money to enrich an oligarchy.

aqivirus, I thought to respond in detail to your arrant nonsense but Ted has done it for me. At least while you are heckling me you are not bothering some poor unfortunate who HAS been able to escape their denial syndrome. Au'voir.
PS; someone else mentioned in passing Gulf War 1, immortalised by Baudrillard who described it as the "war that never happened", so saturated was it with bunk tabloid propaganda.

Whipped ted and fungi

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2004 — More than 150 American companies have received contracts worth up to $48.7 billion for work in postwar Afghanistan and Iraq. This figure represents an increase of 82 companies and more than $40 billion since the Center first released its study of contracts awarded to U.S. companies for postwar work in Afghanistan and Iraq on Oct. 30, 2003.

Here is a list of all the contractors working to create a better Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the most inclusive and up to date publication I could find. Knock yourselves out. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in proclaiming their injustice towards earth and all living life. God forbid the bastards make a profit.

And if you two don't like people messing with your names show enough respect to get others names correct. If you can't spell try cut and paste.

Abt Associates Inc.
BearingPoint Inc.
Bechtel Group Inc.
CACI International Inc.
Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
Chemonics International Inc.
Chugach McKinley, Inc.
Contrack International Inc.
Creative Associates International Inc.
Dataline Inc.
Dell Marketing L.P.
Diplomat Freight Services Inc.
DynCorp (Computer Sciences Corp.)
Environmental Chemical Corporation
EOD Technology Inc.
Explosive Ordnance Technologies Inc.
Fluor Corp.
Force 3
General Electric Company
Harris Corporation
Intelligent Enterprise Solutions
International Resources Group
JSI Inc.
Kellogg, Brown & Root (Halliburton)
Military Professional Resources Inc.
MZM Inc. Contract Iraq Interpreters
Native American Industrial Distributors Inc.
PAE Government Services Inc.
Parsons Corp.
Perini Corporation
Readiness Management Support LC (Johnson Controls Inc.)
Red River Computer Company
Research Triangle Institute
Ronco Consulting Corporation
S&K Technologies Inc.
Science Applications International Corp.
Shaw Group/Shaw E & I
SkyLink Air and Logistic Support (USA) Inc.
Social Impact Inc.
Sodexho Inc.
Stanley Baker Hill L.L.C.
Stevedoring Services of America
Tetra Tech Inc.
Unisys Corporation
USA Environmental Inc.
Vinnell Corporation (Northrop Grumman)
Washington Group International
World Fuel Services Corp.
Young, Brian
Zapata Engineering

funguy
"The US (or actually the military-capital-industrial complex that runs it and the rest of the world) needs wars to sustain its position as global arbiter not only with politics, economics and confidence in the current global currency regime, but to maintain itself through ordinance development into the future. It constantly updates its military technologies, ensuring that other countries must have access to its expensive hi tech ordinances or fall hopelessly behind.
The price paid by the rest of the world is an end to any immediate hope of sorting the world's manifest social and environmental problems. The world "melts down", for the sake of a few thousand Dick Cheney types and their immediate lackeys at home and across the globe, who no more ultimately benefit from this state of affairs that just about anyone else."

You should be ashamed of yourself and your bitter anti-Americanism. How ironic is your use of the internet to communicate your abuse. A system developed for/with the U.S. Airforce. A system that has created millions of dollars for many, and helped launch emerging businesses and technologies around the world. Which in turn has created employment opportunities for even more people all over the world.