C: Is for Bogus Contracts!

When I started writing this column I thought it would be mostly about the things I knew: Food, Fashion, Theater, Music and Art. The only reason I added social consciousness was F.A.C.T. was taken and it seemed logical. We live in a day and age where we can either bury our head in the sand or speak up. I have never been one to be silent when it comes to injustice. Sadly it is all around. I wish I could say there is hope but as I see movies like "A Mighty Heart", Inconvenient Truth", "Enron the Smartest Guys in the Room" and last nights entertainment "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" I begin to wonder what has happened to humanity and why is nobody speaking up? Thank-God for the courageous Michael Moore: director, producer, author and political activist known for his outspoken, critical views on globalization, large corporations, gun violence, the Iraq War, The Bush Administration, and various other domestic and international policies of the United States and its allies. His newest film correlates with what I wrote about health care. "Sicko" has already been the subject of controversy when it became known that Moore went to Cuba with chronically ill September 11th rescue workers. The United States is looking into whether this violates the trade embargo. Anything to silence a voice that cries to be heard! It's ok to have the best health care go to foreign criminals, but not to those who tried to save lives. That is considered a crime. Is there something wrong with this picture?

"Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" is a 2006 documentary about the war in Iraq and the companies with no-bid contracts. Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of people who didn't sign up to fight for the USA and were condemned to die. Some of these people went to help only to discover the horrific saga of what was really going down. "Iraq for Sale" uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so. Given carte-blanche are Blackwater Security Consulting, Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, and CACI International. We wonder why Americans are hated, when you see the accounts of abuse, rape, and torture of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by CACI employees you begin to understand the why. Is it necessary to allow a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and a broom stick? Most held in Abu Ghraib were civilians, women and children. Few were war criminals. If you donate to the right lobbyist (Halliburton, KBR) you ended up with a Multi-Billion dollar contract to supply water in Iraq. The best part, nobody actually checks to see if its clean. If any service people are reading this I strongly encourage you to watch this documentary. One of the people responsible for testing the water supply in Iraq broke down in tears over the fact that nobody would listen to him. Not his company nor the government when he came forward. A lot of service men and women are going to be VERY sick as a result. How do you live with yourself when you recklessly supplied the soldiers fighting for your morals with these acts of betrayal?

We live in a world where it is time to take a stand. Become knowledgeable for it is power. Research and don't believe me find the F.A.C.T.S for yourself. The time is NOW!