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Daylight Robbery

September 11, 2008 2:09 PM

Daylight Robbery goes on the trail of the money from California and Texas to Kurdistan and London to find out who got rich from the war in Iraq and by how much. Produced by Darren Kemp for the BBC.

When the United States goes to war, corporate America goes too. There are contracts for everything from caterers, tanker drivers, security guards and even interrogators, many of them through companies with links to the White House. Now more than 70 whistleblowers threaten to reveal the scandalous waste, mismanagement and fraud that has resulted in an estimated $23 billion gone missing since the beginning of the Iraq War. Much of this money was intended to rebuild the war-torn country, so what happened to it?

Comments

Jo wrote:

September 22, 2008 10:58 PM

unreal that these people can get away with this ...sad.

greghough wrote:

September 22, 2008 10:59 PM

i just caught the end! I'm furious!!

Nathalie Gara-Boivin wrote:

September 22, 2008 11:01 PM

This was definitely an eye opening documentary! Unbelievable that American corporations are profiting with billions of dollars!
And then it is the government and tax payers that have to pay the price of the Iraq war! This is not democracy but a few large corporations taken advantage of regular civilizans and using them as their ponds. What a great in documentary. Then there is a rescue plan put out by the USA government while the country goes down in debt as a result of this war. I will share with as many people as possible. Talk about a conspiracy!!

awakening wrote:

September 22, 2008 11:12 PM

While this documentary used the historical film clips to put a comic spin on the subject and somewhat undercut its power, it is yet another example of the fact that organized crime has taken over the world. The neo-cons as represented by the present Republican administration demonstrate so clearly that they have no respect for life, law or humanity and I am both amazed and depressed that the American public is not up in arms. Also why is Barack Obama so weak he doesn't discuss these issues and have people questioning where all the money goes...

Wen wrote:

September 22, 2008 11:46 PM

Obscene. How else would you describe the greed portrayed in this film?

Just imagine, our current PM would have had us over there. And I do recall Harper, at the time, braying that Canada would be shut out of the reconstruction contracts if we didn't join the invasion. Think about that for second. Here's a man who was insisting on sending our troops to an illegal war with the rationalization of profits to be made.
War profiteering is an act of treason in my book.
What about you, Mr. Harper? Mr. Tough on Crime. It's all facade, isn't it?

Brad Seward wrote:

September 23, 2008 12:12 AM

Standard practice in the age of Disaster Capitalism...

Planet Glasnost wrote:

September 23, 2008 12:53 AM

how different is this from the financial bailout, the connected cashing in while the poor fight street level gang wars? only a higher level of publicly audited social and education programs will reverse this trend, the corporate dissuader. an educated electorate might demand accountability. let's just keep the masses as uneducated as possible.

Befair Please wrote:

September 23, 2008 2:17 AM

How do we expect to see the American-supported Iraqi government win the mind and heart of Iraqi people wth this kind of corruption and war profiteering? Those who support the idea of Americans bringing western-style democracy to Iraq need to look at Singapore: with a one-party dictatorship, they are still happier than peoples with a multi-party system. To many peoples on earth, a materially comfortable life, a safe environment and peace are more important than western-style democracy.

Joe Green wrote:

September 23, 2008 7:06 AM

I would like to congratulate the film maker on a fine job. I am left mortified and shocked that the Dick Cheney has not been removed and no steps have been seriously taken to remove him from power. It really surprised me the level of greed and incompetence that exists in the US today. It is going to take a number of years for the US to re-establish any degree of credibility from this wholesale thievery from the public treasury.

I would also like to comment on the overall production. I really thought the animation sequence and editing was super top notch as was the overall production. As a film maker and animator, I am also deeply concerned about the Conservative Party's attempt to not only gut funding for the arts and media but also position themselves to legislate morality which I find is appalling.

It really goes to show just how disconnected the US as is the world is from the reality of the situation. Why on earth would anyone ever trust the US after this, especially with a loan? I love Americans, I think they are super nice people but these people who hijacked the whole administration have nearly bankrupted the nation and if anything, this production really illustrates a major part of this. I just hope that Canadians realize the scope and magnitude of this next election: the Canadian and US.

Bravo and well done to the whole team.
Joe Green
Vancouver

Joe Green wrote:

September 23, 2008 7:06 AM

I would like to congratulate the film maker on a fine job. I am left mortified and shocked that the Dick Cheney has not been removed and no steps have been seriously taken to remove him from power. It really surprised me the level of greed and incompetence that exists in the US today. It is going to take a number of years for the US to re-establish any degree of credibility from this wholesale thievery from the public treasury.

I would also like to comment on the overall production. I really thought the animation sequence and editing was super top notch as was the overall production. As a film maker and animator, I am also deeply concerned about the Conservative Party's attempt to not only gut funding for the arts and media but also position themselves to legislate morality which I find is appalling.

It really goes to show just how disconnected the US as is the world is from the reality of the situation. Why on earth would anyone ever trust the US after this, especially with a loan? I love Americans, I think they are super nice people but these people who hijacked the whole administration have nearly bankrupted the nation and if anything, this production really illustrates a major part of this. I just hope that Canadians realize the scope and magnitude of this next election: the Canadian and US.

Bravo and well done to the whole team.
Joe Green
Vancouver

Neeshma wrote:

September 23, 2008 10:44 AM

As the public becomes increasingly aware of corporate America, the realization that exploitation of people in Iraq as well as the US becomes even more apparent. Although 70 whistle blowers made it increasingly apparent of the misuse of public funds, only 5 people are currently serving jail time. Why aren't corporations paying money back to the government? Because corporations can leave countries if they are ever forced to repay. Or that corruption exists higher up in the government. Why is there very little outrage in the public sphere? Are we the people really that helpless?

Leandra Jones-Micka wrote:

September 23, 2008 1:41 PM

Why am I not surprised? Another American conspiracy featuring Bush and his corporate theives! What I find funny, it's the CBC doing the investigative reporting on this story. Someone should send this to CNN, The NY Times, The Obama campaign, and maybe even Oprah! I think the American public are still in the dark about this. What an outrage! These corporations need to start paying for their greed... with jail time.

Eleanor wrote:

September 28, 2008 9:05 PM

Absolutely eye opening documentary and very well done!!
Why did this not shock me!!!
Bush and Cheney should be jialed or dropped in the middle of the kaos they created without
armor.The people my heart goes out to are the troops fighting their illegal war and the innocent people like the lady from the pentagon who was demoted for being honest and the gentleman who is in a long term care home when he should have been protected!!
I always say the truth will prevail some day!!
what goes around comes around!!

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