Out of approximately 30 seats set out in the Harford Community College student center Wednesday afternoon for a showing of Robert Greenwald’s “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers,” only seven were occupied.

Only four were occupied by young people — two of whom left during the film. Three were occupied by women of an age to remember the evening news segments on Vietnam.

“I'm not surprised,” said Carmella Fifty, 50, of Churchville. She speculated that given Harford County’s strong Republican base, many are not “open-minded” enough to want to see how American corporations in Iraq are spending tax dollars.

“But this is not a liberal or conservative issue. This is about corruption,” said 47-year-old Stacie Beard, of Bel Air.

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“The sense of responsibility has been thrown out the door … and there is a sense there is nothing you can do,” said 66-year-old Bel Air resident Ellen James.

James applauded 18-year-old Sarah Cooper, of Fallston, and 19-year-old Katlyn Allers, of Havre de Grace, for attending the screening.

“It’s getting harder and harder to shock people my age,” said Cooper, when discussion after the film turned to a lack of student attendance.

But having sat through the hourlong film — which depicted Greenwald’s interpretations of how U.S. companies such as Halliburton Co., Titan Corp. and CACI International Inc. have manipulated the war in Iraq to turn a profit at the cost of taxpayers — Cooper expressed shock.

“I’m almost in tears because this is unbelievable to me,” she said.

Paul Hunter — Harford Community College’s adviser to the Democratic Club, which sponsored the screening — said he hoped more students showed up for the evening screening of the film Wednesday at 7 p.m.

mplum@baltimoreexaminer.com