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by MSNBC The Ed Show Blog | December 16, 2011

The war is over…finally!

After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800 billion, U.S. officials yesterday formally shut down the war in Iraq — a conflict that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy.

Whether it was a success or a failure will be debated for years, if not decades.  But one thing’s certain, according to filmmaker and activist Robert Greenwald and Derrick Crowe, Political Director at Brave New Foundation — the Iraq War was a giant success for war profiteers who made out like bandits while the rest of us were stuck with a multi-trillion dollar bill.

In their excellent article on Huff Post, Greenwald and Crowe call out Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a former Haliburton subsidiary, which racked up 22 instances of misconduct, including sexual assault and retaliation and wrongful death.

Despite that dismal record, KBR’s CEO William P. Utt made $9.6 million in salary and other compensation last year, putting him squarely in the richest 0.01 percent of Americans.

Something to consider the next time we debate whether to go to war.