The Enemy Within: How U.S. Corporations Profit From The Deaths Of U.S. Soldiers

Michael A. Schiller

There are numerous reasons why the war in Iraq has dragged out as long as it
has. One of the most likely reasons has been overlooked by both lawmakers and
the media. Throughout history, many corporations have exploited wars for profit.
There is extensive documentation available to the public on the internet, and
in libraries, which proves this. Most people know about the companies which benefit
from rebuilding contracts and defense spending. Those companies are usually heavily scrutinized by the media, and sometimes also by congress. What people don’t know is that there are other companies which also profit from war but which are rarely scrutinized. These are the companies which sell basic necessities to the military.

When a US military vehicle transporting supplies to a base gets attacked, it’s bad for the soldiers, bad for their families, and bad for the military. Unfortunately, it is not bad for the companies which manufactured the supplies which were destroyed in the ambush. The US federal government has no choice but to purchase more supplies any time a supply transport is destroyed in battle. These companies are the only people in America who actually celebrate when US military bases or supply convoys are destroyed. To them, it means more money in the bank. Many of these companies are large corporations with various brand imprints. They make things like toilet paper, toothpaste, razors, pencils, food, soap, shampoo, anything universal which all people need. When a company like that sells supplies to the military, sometimes they even have access to otherwise confidential pieces of information - such as when and where the supplies are going to be delivered.

It is widely known that as far back as the Revolutionary War, some of the biggest corporations in what was to become America, were actively bribing and coercing military leaders on both sides. They went as far as tipping off the locations of encampments- to both sides- in an effort to increase both armies’ spending on supplies. The more ambushes, the more deaths, the more destruction, the more money these companies made. Any time any needed items were destroyed along with the soldiers, these companies profited. To increase the amount of money they made, they constantly engaged in treason. This was also done during Vietnam, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Most of the individuals within these companies which engaged in these treasonous acts of betrayal and manipulation- were never punished.

Some of the companies did face charges after the fact, once the war was over. Others were sued by war victims, after the fact, once the war was over. Unfortunately, the harm done by these companies was irreversible. When a company tips off battalions on both sides in order to lead them into a confrontation, just so that the army is forced to replace all the equipment lost, nothing can bring those soldiers back to life. When a general or commander accepts bribes from a company in exchange for sending troops on a supply transport mission that was nothing more than a death trap designed to create a need for the army to purchase more supplies, those troops cannot be brought back to life. When a company uses its clout to manipulate media pundits, lawmakers, and the public at large into believing more troops are needed, or that there is a shortage of new recruits, in the hopes of getting congress to reinstate a draft- just so the military is forced to purchase more supplies, nothing can reverse the deaths of the additional troops which were sent there. When a company hires private operatives to launch attacks against soldiers or civilians, burn down buildings, or sabotage vehicles- nothing can bring back to life the people who die.

None of that matters to these companies. They don’t want either side to win, because that would mean the end of the war. They don’t care if their own fellow countrymen are getting killed, they actually want their own fellow countrymen to get killed. The more troops die, the more troops are sent to war, the more supplies the army buys. These companies will resort to any number of tactics to ensure as many troops as possible are killed, on both sides of the war. They will use their influence and money to coerce media outlets, lawmakers, and the public in ways that suit their agenda. They are usually also the first companies to hide behind a false image of patriotism, so that the public thinks they support the war effort and doesn’t suspect them of wrongdoing. Yet the truth is, they support only the state of war. They do not support the idea of either side winning, nor do they support the idea of either side withdrawing or signing a treaty. In fact, they will conduct huge propaganda campaigns to prevent any peaceful resolution from being reached. A truce would bring the company’s sky high profits to a screeching halt.

These types of corporations are as much the enemy of the troops as the other side’s army is. The unfortunate problem is that many of these corporations use their money to buy off military leaders, elected officials, and the media. Due to the amount of influence the companies wield, the troops on both sides have no idea that many of the battles they’re engaged in were actually orchestrated by these companies. Not all companies which sell products to militaries engage in this kind of behavior- but a very large number of them do. There’s no way for anyone to know which companies are doing this, unless they are all subjected to intense scrutiny and investigations. Most of them are discreet about what they do. They are not partisan. They manipulate and influence people of all political persuasions, religious affiliations, races, and genders. Companies which have no loyalty to their country do not have loyalty to demographic groups. They try every angle. They spread misinformation everywhere, anything which serves the purpose of convincing individuals on either side of the war- inside and outside the military- to say or do things which prolong the war or increase the amount of destruction and harm done by the war.

It’s interesting that despite the extensive documentation of corporate manipulation of war-related events and decisions, the general public at large does not know much about this. Even those who know about the past instances of this type of activity tend to believe that companies have "changed" since then. That’s a ridiculous and dangerous assumption to make. There has not been one war over the past 300 years in which no company has engaged in this type of behavior. In fact, it’s usually been a group of 10 or 20 companies, all influencing the events in different ways, to suit similar yet separate agendas.

For some strange reason, despite the mountains of documentation- in countless books about economics, world history, and political science; in court records, in congressional archives- the public at large is largely unaware of the fact that so many corporations actively engage in treason in pursuit of financial gain. Very few people know this. Our soldiers do not know this. Their families do not know this. All they know is what they’re told by people they trust- and too many of those people are not worthy of their trust. If our soldiers’ first responsibility is to protect their country, their country should take the necessary steps to protect the soldiers- by investigating these companies and pursuing criminal charges against the corporate leaders who are involved in these schemes.

Mike Schiller is an editorialist, poet, and the author of one book, "Sentences I Freed From The Ropes They Tried To Weave Around Me"

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©2004 Michael A. Schiller mikeschiller@server1.dnscow.com