Mercenaries, Multinationals and Movies

By Pratap Chatterjee

There's a constant stream of good films coming out about corporate malfeasance and we'll try to keep you updated on this blog about some of our favorite ones.

"Shadow Company" opens tonight at the Roxie movie theater in San Francisco. This documentary follows the tale of James Ashcroft, a college friend of film maker Nick Bicanic, who quits his job in a British law firm to take a job with a private security company in Baghdad, whom many human rights activists consider to be "mercenaries," or soldiers for hire made famous by Blackwater in Fallujah.

An excellent interview with film maker Bicanic, explains why people become mercenaries.

It's simple math: you have a given individual who has the prospect of risking his life as part of a member of a nation-state military for X amount of dollars or doing virtually the exact same level of risk and almost the exact same job for roughly three to five times the money for a private company. The proof is in the pudding. A very large number of U.S. and U.K. Special Forces are asking for early retirement, and it's a serious problem.

Like any good documentary, "Shadow Company" has no shortage of "talking heads" � expert human rights activists and academics alike � but it also has quite a few fun little graphics, historical footage, and lots of action to explain the history of private military companies.

What sets this film apart from the classic military channel films or even your typical Amnesty fare, is that it chooses not to take sides, but allow the characters to argue the case for and against private military work in their own words. There's Cobus Classens, a South African mercenary who worked for Executive Outcomes; there's Robert Young Pelton, author of the "The Guide to the World's Most Dangerous Places;" and there's a professor of ethics and a lobbyist for the "International Peace Operations Association" (yes, there is an industry association, believe it or not).

There could have been voices of Iraqis who are rightly angry that men in plainclothes and assault weaponry have taken over their cities and obey no laws. (Yes, there are clips from the classic Al Qaeda videos, but that's not the same as interviews with the citizenry.) All in all, it is very educational and a good introduction to this emerging business and the potential threats to human rights.

"Shadow Company" only discusses the gun-carrying contractors. Another excellent (though one-sided) film that explains other contractors like Halliburton who do military logistics is "Iraq for Sale."

"Iraq for Sale" also discusses contractors like CACI, which used to provide interrogators at Abu Ghraib and other prisons. (David Phinney wrote an excellent article for us about CACI. If you want to learn who has since taken over the contract, read our article about L-3) .

Greenwald's films are produced quickly and distributed widely by his supporters. He is one of the most successful grassroots film-makers in history � he made "Uncovered: The War on Iraq," "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and his most recent, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price."

Here's what the Washington Post had to say about him:

His fans applaud his work; his detractors, such as Fox's Bill O'Reilly, call him "a radical progressive who blames America first," as well as "a liar and an idiot." He calls it "People Powered Film." It could be the start of something.

Greenwald's films cover very important issues, but they would benefit from interviewing some of the promoters of military contracting, if only to learn why this business is so profitable.
More movies on corporate malfeasance next week.