Nolan Hurtado

Jackson
Writing 121
25 November 2015
Warriors, Guns and Money
Setup
-Topic: War profiteering with regard to conflicts of interest.
-Thesis: More regulation is required to hinder profiting from war because it creates
conflicts of interest leading to senseless wars and loss of life domestic or otherwise.
-Purpose: Lobby for more regulation in war profiteering, dissuade from fear mongering,
yellow journalism and the like.
-Audience: Government officials, Chief level officers in defense companies.
-Tone: stern, poignant
By and large, many people would be against the idea of invading a sovereign country for
monetary gains. Most would find it unethical, atrocious and disgusting. But when subject to
wrongful information from trusted sources, generating support for a war of monetary gain would
be extremely easy. In the United States, defense is a multi hundred billion dollar industry which
companies are begging to get a piece of. This spending would obviously be less in times of peace
opposed to wartime, leading companies to push for war to increase their own profits. More
regulation is required to hinder profiting from war because it creates conflicts of interest leading
to senseless wars and the loss of life domestic or otherwise.
War profiteering is not a new concept with plenty reports of unethical practices during
world war II and many prior. Some of the big name companies like Ford, and Nestle were found
utilizing slave labor in Germany to cut production costs, which might come as a big surprise for
many people (Mary Gareth). But to date profiting from war still exists, albeit more legal than
using slave labor, but still no less disgusting. During the Iraq war, Private or publicly listed
firms received at least $138 billion of U.S. taxpayer money for government contracts...Ten
contractors received 52 percent of the funds. (Angelo Young). The largest receiver of
government contracts was Halliburton, Inc. for which the CEO between the years of 1995 and

2000 was none other than Dick Cheney. The conflict of interest arises when informed that Dick
Cheney served as Secretary of Defense between 1989-1993 and Vice President in 2001-2009
(CNN). While Secretary of Defense, Cheney dealt with Halliburton many times, granting them
no bid contracts and tax breaks. After becoming CEO, Cheney operated with other countries that
were sanctioned by the US but was able to lobby against the sanctions but took fines here and
there that were no doubt smaller than the profit margins. In Cheneys last year as CEO, he was
able to make $20 million after taxes. After leaving Halliburton to be Vice President under the
Bush administration, Cheney was given a severance package much higher that what many other
chief officers at Halliburton were given. Some say this severance package was as large as $62
million and consisted of stocks and stock options, which means that he still had a vested interest
in Halliburton. Its clear that Cheneys interest would be to make sure that Halliburton is able to
make as much profit as possible because at the end of the day some of that money is going in his
profit. There this becomes a global issue is when he is given huge political power and makes it
legal for Halliburton to operate unethically.
The problem for the Bush administration was drumming up enough support for the Iraq
war so that Cheney could make his money. This seems like a common theme in America. Take
for example Operation Northwoods. This operation was proposed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
and was intended to justify the invasion of Cuba. This memorandum made suggestions ranging
from deliberately setting off ammunition on a US base causing a fire to blowing up a US ship in
Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba. Thankfully Operation Northwoods never came to fruition
leading to a much larger war due to President Kennedys veto. Couple the false threat with the
strong nationalism that is present in the USA, theres no telling how many wars would be started.

Many Americans without knowing any better are subjected to the rah-rah be it in the
music on the radio or on the television. It feels good to be apart of the strongest nation and its
also easy to get wrapped up in nationalism and take it too far which can be a very slippery slope.
The culture in America today, is very black and white with no room for any grey area. Blatantly
put many times by George W. Bush, You are with us or you are with the enemy. If you have
any ideas that may be slightly against the agenda of the US youre automatically actively against
the US. I dont think its too radical to say, that is on the spectrum of fascism.

Works Cited
1.

May, Gareth. "10 Big Business Nazi Profiteers - Listverse." Listverse. 23 Oct.

2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

2. "Conflict of Interest: Haliburton." Conflict of Interest: Haliburton. Web. 25 Nov.
2015.
3.

"Dick Cheney Fast Facts - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 25

Nov. 2015.
4. Lemnitzer, L.L. "Operation Northwoods." 13 Mar. 1962. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.