Today the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee held a hearing on private contracting in Iraq. Director Robert Greenwald, who was invited to testify by Rep. Jim Moran, prepared a short video of excerpts from the film "Iraq For Sale" which he intended to show at the hearing. However, due to Republican objections, the video was not allowed to be shown in Congress.
Look below the fold to see the video that Republicans refused to watch.
In this video, soldiers talk about the outsourcing of their work, the waste (incorrectly ordered equipment burned at taxpayer expense), the overcharging ($100 per small bag of laundry), and the role of private contractors in Abu Ghraib. Of critical significance for the House Appropriations Committee are the comments of Retired Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters, who explains why cost-plus and no-bid contracts create all the wrong incentives.
To learn more about who said what at the hearing today, read the informative diary posted earlier by todd at courage campaign.
I applaud Congressman Moran and other members of the House Appropriations Sub-committee on Defense for this effort -- though more effort is clearly required for meaningful oversight. If Congress can "follow the money" in Iraq, that will help the American people to better understand what went wrong and why, and, most importantly, what remedies are now required. Also, I believe attempts to keep information from Congress will be most clearly exposed as a pathetic CYA when pitted against the Congressional responsibility of financial oversight.