verrrrry interesting.....

A day or two ago, I heard that Robert Greenwald is testifying before the House Appropriations Defense Sub-committee on Thursday May 10, 2007.

Then early this morning I saw at Courage Campaign that Jeremy Scahill had to postpone Thursday's stop on his book tour for "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army".

Hmmmmm.

I called. I asked. They're both testifying tomorrow on the subject of "contracting out", and John Murtha chairs that committee.

The Majority

Chair: John P. Murtha (PA)
Norman D. Dicks (WA)
Peter J. Visclosky (IN)
James P. Moran (VA)
Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, Jr. (AL)
Allen Boyd (FL)
Steven R. Rothman (NJ)
Sanford Bishop (GA)
Dave Obey (WI), Ex Officio

THE MINORITY

Ranking Member: C.W. Bill Young (FL)
David L. Hobson (OH)
Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (NJ)
Todd Tiahrt (KS)
Roger F. Wicker (MS)
Jack Kingston (GA)
Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio

This should be good.

10:00 AM, 1:30 PM (eastern, I presume) in the Rayburn House office building....and de de da dah!...let there be webcast!

Others will testify too, but I'm just particularly interested in those two. Here's the full schedule.

PANEL I

John P. Hutton Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management
Government Accountability Office

Joseph T. McDermott Assistant Inspector General for Audits
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

PANEL II

Robert Greenwald
Director/Producer of Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers

Jeremy Scahill
Author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

PANEL III

Jonathan L. Etherton, President
Etherton and Associates

John J. Hamre, President/CEO
Center for Strategic and International Studies