A review from the Houston Chronicle

By BRUCE WESTBROOK

"That leaves tearful survivors and bitter former employees to tell the tale, and they do so with anguish over their losses and shame about their country's actions.

Former Halliburton truck drivers Ed Sanchez and Bill Peterson describe the living hell of narrowly surviving a fierce insurgent assault that left four of their colleagues dead. Now they feel betrayed.

'They wanted to continue doing business with the Army, whatever the risks were,' Sanchez says of his former employer.

'There's nothing but the money,' Peterson says. 'There's no duty, honor or country among anyone at Halliburton/KBR.'

Greenwald also provides cold graphics and statistics to back up his arguments. According to a survey of one privately contracted service for water supplies, 63 of 67 treatment plants in Iraq weren't producing water safe for American soldiers to bathe in, much less drink. We're also told an American company charged the government $45 for a six-pack of Coca-Cola - which was produced in Iraq, thus not even imported."

In the realm of "services," we learn that privately contracted personnel are among those guilty of atrocities against Iraqi prisoners. While an American soldier can face court-martial and possibly years in prison for such atrocities, a privately contracted employee has no accountability.

We're also told that Halliburton's stock value has quadrupled since the war's start.

In short, we're told that this is the most "privatized" war in history and that the corporations that got cushy deals are cleaning up while U.S. taxpayers are bled dry.

But just because Iraq for Sale isn't evenhanded doesn't mean it lacks truth. It only means Greenwald tackled a tough subject that Congress won't face and that he's more a populist hero of "real-life films" than less prolific leftist poster boy Michael Moore. Even if his films aren't balanced, at least you know, going in, where he stands.

What set off the investigation

New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Five members of a private security detail sent to assist a U.S. Embassy convoy that was under attack were killed Tuesday when their helicopters were fired on and one plummeted to the pavement through a tangle of electrical wires in one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods.

The four-man crew in one helicopter was killed, and the gunner in a second helicopter apparently died when he was struck by gunfire,

The crash set off a chaotic five-hour battle in the Fadhil neighborhood in which American attack helicopters fired at least one Hellfire missile.

It is unclear if the first helicopter crashed as the result of gunfire, because it got tangled in the wires or as it was trying to land because a passenger was wounded.

An American military official said that at least four of the victims suffered gunshot wounds to the head, raising the prospect that some of them were shot on the ground.

The Sunni insurgent groups the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the Washington-based SITE Institute, which monitors terrorism Web sites"

The helicopters were operated by Blackwater USA of North Carolina, the same private security firm that lost four contractors in March 2004 in an ambush in Fallujah, their mutilated bodies hung from a bridge.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. military announced three more troop deaths, a Marine killed Sunday and two soldiers killed Monday. That raised the three-day toll since Saturday to 31.