Our
local paper here in Raleigh NC has done a
decent bit of reporting about the
Blackwater contractors that were ambushed in Fallujah in March. They got ahold of some of the confidential contracts for Blackwater that show how the money flows from the bottom up. Blackwater provides the muscle, charges $815/day plus ALL overhead, and bills a Kuwati hotel company who tacks on overhead and margin, who then bills a German firm, who tacks on more overhead and margin, who then bills Halliburton, whose cost plus contract gets them a tidy profit too. More below the fold on this total scam of the American taxpayer.
Its a complete scam and I've not seen this level of greed highlighted in any of the media stories about Halliburton. When people hear 'cost plus' they figure the Halliburton 'cost' is the true cost of the service, when it really is layers of profit on multiple subcontracts, all of which are confidential so Halliburton refuses to divulge the terms of them. So a hired paramilitary person working for a company like Blackwater at $180,000/year could really be costing the taxpayers 2 to 4 times that once you factor in all the profit margins tacked on to the salary at every level.
Here's the article. Their reporting this year on what really happened in that ambush in Fallujah and how each of the 4 made it to Iraq, why they were so vulnerable, and why the Iraqis acted the way they did was illuminating.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation_world/blackwater/story/1762376p-8044834c.html