Against War Profiteering

Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill establishing strong penalties for "war profiteering," with only three votes in opposition. This follows a vote earlier this month to bring military contractors within U.S. jurisdiction. These are admirable measures which the Senate should duplicate. My only quibble is the "war profiteering" bill's narrow definition of the concept. According to Congress, war profiteering is the mere defrauding or ripping off of the government by contractors. My own understanding of the term would cover any business that has a vested interest in war or the expansion of the military establishment. That means Blackwater. That means Halliburton. I doubt whether Congress can make their mere existence illegal, but they could go further towards reversing the privatization of the military that Dick Cheney initiated at the end of the Cold War and accellerated in collaboration with President Clinton while Cheney headed Halliburton. By all means, regulate them while we're stuck with them, but speed the day when we're unstuck and you'll do the country a real service.

Here's an article about the two bills, with a complaint from one of the dissidents, and here are links to H.R. 400 and H.R. 2740. Regarding the latter bill, it must be noted as a caveat that Blackwater itself supports this measure.