When I think of "blood money" in corporate terms, I think of the dollars that are made on stock shares when the price is enhanced by downsizing. Here is some info on a much more literal form. Dozens of American companies are making fortunes off our crusade to make Iraq safe for corporate globalization - oops, I meant for "democracy". It's not just Halliburton, which is still a major player among the contractors in the Green Zone. (Just as an aside before we go on, it is interesting, to say the least, that the Vice President is the former CEO of one of the firms that is benefitting most from a war he helped create. Don't you think so? Congress thought so, and gently questioned Shady Dick about his connection with Halliburton. At least until Shady Dick flung profanity at them - at the representatives of the people, no less. It's not them he said "Fuck you!" to, you know - it's us.)

Again, that was just an aside. What do I know about politics? I am a mere white collar imbecile. My mandate is simply to do or be downsized... Check out T. Christian Miller's new book, Blood Money: A Story of Wasted Billions, Lost Lives and Corporate Greed in Iraq. Miller, an LA journalist who has investigated his story on-site in Iraq, pillories the administration for granting "illegal and immoral Iraqi invasion-related contracts to corporations such as Halliburton" and recounts "his firsthand knowledge of waste, fraud, abuse - and needless death..." As Miller himself says, more than 30,000 contractors have been operating in Iraq since 2003 and so far only two criminal cases have been prosecuted in relation to their activities. Clearly, there is more going on, but the administration chooses to ignore it.

The "untamed flame of freedom" is fueled by oil, needless to say, and the achievement of "democracy" anywhere on the planet these days simply means the establishment of business-friendly oligarchs acceptable to our friend - our boss - the President. Another interesting note - is it, or is it not, a coincidence that the most foolish and destructive President we've ever had is the only one who ever attended Harvard Business School?

Below are several links that address this troublesome chimera of a news issue - half political, half business-related, and 100 percent ugly. One of them lists the 10 most over-the-top partakers in the Iraq free-for-all.

"An angry look at the war delivers on its promises" from The Boston Globe
"The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers" from AlterNet
"Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers"
"Wasted Billions, Lost Lives and Corporate Greed in Iraq" from the Huffington Post