Congressman Defends War Profits
Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., objects to the notion that it is improper to pay a private contractor four times as much as a U.S. soldier doing the same job: "It's actually somewhat of an insult, if I go down to Fort Stewart and tell 'em they're underpaid, because they're really not motivated by pay as much as they are by patriotism." If only Halliburton felt the same way.Robert Greenwald found himself under attack recently while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. (right), objected to the documentarian’s claim that it is improper to pay a private contractor four times as much as a U.S. soldier doing the same job: “It’s actually somewhat of an insult, if I go down to Fort Stewart and tell ’em they’re underpaid, because they’re really not motivated by pay as much as they are by patriotism.” If only Halliburton felt the same way.
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With the last American combat brigade pulling out of Iraq this week, the U.S. is turning much of the security effort there over to a small army of civilian contractors under the State Department.
The U.S. military, despite reports to the contrary, has continued to rely on a secret private spy network, akin to a Blackwater with brains, that has provided a stream of intelligence to military forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan for more than a year.
There are now more civilian contractors in Afghanistan than U.S. soldiers. Using civilian contractors to haul food, prepare meals and act as bodyguards has kept the Pentagon's official casualty figures lower than they would have been in past conflicts, where contractors were not as heavily used.
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