Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War - Hardcover

Rasor, Dina And Robert Bauman. Foreword By Jonathan Alter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1403981922 ISBN 13: 9781403981929

Publisher: Palgrave, 2007

Synopsis

In this shocking exposé, two government fraud experts reveal how private contractors have put the lives of countless American soldiers on the line while damaging our strategic interests and our image abroad. From the shameful war profiteering of companies like Halliburton/KBR to the sinister influence that corporate lobbyists have on American foreign policy, Dina Rasor and Robert H. Bauman paint a disturbing picture. Here they give the inside story on troops forced to subsist on little food and contaminated water, on officers afraid to lodge complaints because of Halliburton's political clout, on millions of dollars in contractors' bogus claims that are funded by American taxpayers. Drawing on exclusive sources within government and the military, the authors show how money and power have conspired to undermine our fighting forces and threaten the security of our country.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"President Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex. But he could not foresee how much more rapacious, wasteful, and dangerous this complex becomes when parts of the military are, in a headlong way, being privatized. We already know the Iraq war is a political and human disaster; these expert muckrakers show us how brazen an act of corporate theft it is as well. An Enron-size rip-off is underway, and few other writers are paying attention to it." --Adam Hochschild, author of Bury the Chains and King Leopold's Ghost

"Betraying Our Troops is a powerful, searing exposé about how America has substantially outsourced its war in Iraq, and the dire consequences of privatization to our troops, not to mention government efficiency and accountability. This is a sad tale of greed, arrogance, and cronyism run amok, from two very savvy Pentagon watchdogs who have devoted their respective careers to tracking defense contracting fraud. It will outrage and offend your sense of morality." --Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, Washington, D.C.

"This book is a must-read for everyone concerned about the impact of private contractors on this nation's ability to win wars and secure the peace." --Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense

"Dina Rasor and Robert Bauman combine damning evidence with gripping stories from soldiers to show how crooks working for private contractors undercut our military and the war effort. This is an essential document of one of the more shameful episodes in American military history." --John Pike, Director, Globalsecurity.org

About the Author

Dina Rasor is an investigative journalist who founded and ran the Project on Government Oversight, the organization that was responsible for exposing much of the weapons fraud in the 1980s and 1990s, especially for weapons that failed testing and overpriced spare parts. She is now the chief investigator for Follow the Money (www.followthemoneyproject.org), a project that investigates where the money appropriated for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is going--especially money that should be going to the troops. She lives in El Cerrito, California. Robert Bauman was a criminal investigator with the Department of Defense for 24 years. He lives in San Jose, California. The authors are Principals in the Bauman & Rasor Group, an investigative and consulting firm specializing in lawsuits involving government fraud.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1403981922
• ISBN 13: 9781403981929
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288