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... and they are easily confused. Doing business with the enemy is a violation of the Trading with the Enemy Act, and that's a criminal offense, although there was only person ever convicted in WWII (an executive with Standard Oil, who'd plead guilty before trial), even with all the very egregious examples of such during that war.
Simply making money off war, at least in this country, is not illegal. But, the Roosevelt and Truman administrations insisted on tax policy which put a surtax of 80% on excess war profits, based on some sort of formula for what was a reasonable profit.
That said, it's still morally and ethically questionable, especially when that money is being made through wars of convenience. Unfortunately, Americans seem to think it's okay to make money on just about any enterprise, so it's difficult to get their attention about no-bid contracts, long-term contractor-military agreements and the privatization of the military, all of which have a place in the arguments against war profiteering, and against the too-close relationship of contractors, Congress and the Pentagon.
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