Watch Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers For Free

Memorable, crazy movie

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I am in the US Army. This is not a documentary. It is made up of interspersed interviews with people who fit into four categories: families of civilian contractors who died, civilian contractors who survived an attack, eyewitnesses of wasteful spending by companies with government contracts, and former Soldiers of unknown character complaining about the use of civilian contractors in Iraq. Wrongdoing should be punished. This film never clears up whether it is against wasteful spending or against the use of civilian contractors altogether. The film's arguments are too broad and, sometimes, random and confusing. Several times, the statement is made that "this war has been privatized to a greater extent than any other war in history." This is an asinine comment. With a new type of war being fought over the course of almost a decade, now, of course private companies will be employed more than before. Statements like these are devoid of value in the greater debate of how to regulate wasteful spending by these large corporations. Another frustrating element of this film is that the images from Iraq are not related to the story being told at that time. It's confusing for the viewer. Interviews with people who had first-hand knowledge of the wasteful spending were effective, but few, and as a result, the filmmaker spread them throughout the film, which watered down the effectiveness of their accounts. Unfortunate. As a Soldier, I found the complaints about contractors living in better quarters than tent-bound Soldiers ridiculous. Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen have given their lives to their Country and are willing to sleep in muck and grime for the sake of the cause. Civilians, brave and heroic them all, need a softer touch. The men and women of the U.S. Military are happy to sleep wherever the mission takes us. Keep your pity to yourself. Of course Soldiers are going to living in the suck, suffer, bleed, and die; that's our calling. We love it! We're here, on the wall, so you don't have to be. Just say thank you and move on. The emotional outcry against Halliburton as a demonic overlord is very compelling; however, not backed by enough evidence to be completely persuasive. The speakers are mostly just making accusations that sound reasonable, but are not substantiated within the film itself. (This only makes the fact that there is a special feature on the DVD aimed at organizing protesters more laughable. Is it possible to organize protesters based solely on unsubstantiated claims, reasonable or not?) Someone is going to make money on the privatization of jobs by the U.S. Government. The American economy is built on the concept of companies doing what they can, within ethical boundaries, to make money. That shouldn't be discouraged. Only wrongful profiteering should be punished. This film does not clearly delineate between the two, so the viewer is never sure which is under attack. There are two redeeming qualities in the film: First, the opening story of the Blackwater employee, who died in an ambush, was touching. The family's argument that an ambush, by definition a surprise attack, could have been avoided was heart-wrenchingly naive. The second redeeming comment was the argument that more Iraqi civilians should have been hired, thereby getting them off the street and winning a PR battle, was very enlightening. (This approach worked in Germany and Korea.) Too bad the rest of the film is simply an emotional debate and not one backed up by actual evidence, but rather logical assumptions on the part of the individual interviewees. Pass this one up.

The math is very simple. Contribute a couple of million dollars to key congressional figures and the Republican party and get $19 BILLION dollars worth of contracts in Iraq. You figure out the profit percentage. It's far more that your bank is paying you for your savings. How about a $4.5 million dollar investment by Halliburton resulting in so many billions of dollars in contracts that the CEO makes over $40 million. Do you really believe that the Vice-president, the former head of Halliburton, is not actively involved? Military that were involved in abuse of Abu Gahrib were court-martial-ed and jailed, while civilian contractors, after killing Iraqis were simply sent home to come back later with another contractor. At this the President dances and jokes and grins like a monkey.The billions of dollars that we are spending in Iraq is going to companies that are major Republican contributers and they are not accountable for the fraud, waste, and abuse they are perpetrating on the American people.It should be the obligation of every American to see this film before they cast another vote.

Hats off to Mr Greenwald for exposing the truth on what's really going on in Iraq! Is the situation getting better or worse? You be the judge! I've spent time in Iraq and when my buddies & I watched this movie it really hit home for those of us who wear the uniform. There's no need for all these contractors to be over there. Pull the troops out and let the civilians win this thing! The movie should have also touched on what the Gov't of Iraq is doing to help its own people. NOT MUCH!!! The U.S. has babysat this country too damn long! Now it's time for the Iraqis to stand own their own feet. We got our own issues to deal w/ in the U.S. Bottomline, war mean$ profit and the American taxpayers are being robbed!!!

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers film review by Bravebeauty I was enthralled while previewing this movie for screenings in my home for Brave New Theaters and MoveOn. I have seen parts of it many times and each time, I become more outraged.Greenwald has created a masterpiece of exposing not only the Bushwackers (Bush Administration and his and Cheney and Rumsfeld's cronies), but the mistreatment of our brave and courageous Armed Forces fighting a war that was based on lies and creating a war - which is not really a war, now is it because in "doublespeak" it is called Iraqi Freedom? The film's message packs a powerful punch and jolt of reality, the directing and images are outstanding, and the pace of the truth revealed is spot on.This film exposes the real forces profiting from the Iraq WAR. Titan, CACI, Blackwater, and Halliburton.Every single voting American must see this film BEFORE they voice their opinions on the Iraq WAR which is now a civil war and our courageous troops are in a no-win situation while corporate carpetbaggers are reporting record profts.