Someone's sure making money out of the war on terror and soaring oil prices!

Last year might have been another monster year for corporate CEO salaries but guess what: oil and defense industry executives did best of all, according to a study released by the the two leftish non-profit organisations, the Institute for Policy Studies and United For a Fair Economy.

The report Executive Excess 2006 found that since the "War on Terror", the CEOs of the top 34 defence contractors doubled their pay. Indeed, between them they have pocketed a combined total of more than $984 million!

The highest paid defence executive was George David of United Technologies. He made more than $200 million between 2002 and 2005. That hasn't stopped him suing the Pentagon to ensure the public doesn't see documents about alleged problems with Black Hawk helicopters. And Halliburton CEO David Lesar made $26.6 million, despite all the scandals about the company's work in Iraq.

Is it any wonder this war will drag on?

The study also found that the top 15 oil barons were paid 281 per cent of the average CEO compensation in comparably sized businesses.

The report tells us who the biggest winners are. It's a list to big to detail here. Also, check the table at the back of the report for all the numbers.