The Privatization of Iraq, or "Bomb and then buy"
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value (String, 11150 characters ) how the privatization of Iraq is the real plan....
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how the privatization of Iraq is the real plan.. <!--break--> The Nation column | Posted April 10, 2003 LOOKOUT by NAOMI KLEIN Privatization in Disguise Plain Text Attachment [ | Download File ] > HTML Attachment [ Scan with Norton AntiVirus | | Download Without Scan ] Plain Text Attachment [ | Download File ] n April 6, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spelled it out: There will be no role for the United Nations in setting up an interim government in Iraq. The US-run regime will last at least six months, "probably...longer than that." > > And by the time the Iraqi people have a say in choosing a government, > the key economic decisions about their country's future will have been > made by their occupiers. "There has got to be an effective > administration from day one," Wolfowitz said. "People need water and > food and medicine, and the sewers have to work, the electricity has to > work. And that's a coalition responsibility." > > The process of getting all this infrastructure to work is usually > called "reconstruction." But American plans for Iraq's future economy > go well beyond that. Rather, the country is being treated as a blank > slate on which the most ideological Washington neoliberals can design > their dream economy: fully privatized, foreign-owned and open for > business. > > Some highlights: The $4.8 million management contract for the port in > Umm Qasr has already gone to a US company, Stevedoring Services of > America, and the airports are on the auction block. The US Agency for > International Development has invited US multinationals to bid on > everything from rebuilding roads and bridges to printing textbooks. > Most of these contracts are for about a year, but some have options > that extend up to four. How long before they meld into long-term > contracts for privatized water services, transit systems, roads, > schools and phones? When does reconstruction turn into privatization > in disguise? > > California Republican Congressman Darrel Issa has introduced a bill > that would require the Defense Department to build a CDMA cell-phone > system in postwar Iraq in order to benefit "US patent holders." As > Farhad Manjoo noted in Salon, CDMA is the system used in the United > States, not Europe, and was developed by Qualcomm, one of Issa's most > generous donors. > > And then there's oil. The Bush Administration knows it can't talk > openly about selling off Iraq's oil resources to ExxonMobil and Shell. > It leaves that to Fadhil Chalabi, a former Iraq petroleum ministry > official. "We need to have a huge amount of money coming into the > country," Chalabi says. "The only way is to partially privatize the > industry." > > He is part of a group of Iraqi exiles who have been advising the State > Department on how to implement that privatization in such a way that > it isn't seen to be coming from the United States. Helpfully, the > group held a conference on April 4-5 in London, where it called on > Iraq to open itself up to oil multinationals after the war. The > Administration has shown its gratitude by promising there will be > plenty of posts for Iraqi exiles in the interim government. > > Some argue that it's too simplistic to say this war is about oil. > They're right. It's about oil, water, roads, trains, phones, ports and > drugs. And if this process isn't halted, "free Iraq" will be the most > sold country on earth. > > It's no surprise that so many multinationals are lunging for Iraq's > untapped market. It's not just that the reconstruction will be worth > as much as $100 billion; it's also that "free trade" by less violent > means hasn't been going that well lately. More and more developing > countries are rejecting privatization, while the Free Trade Area of > the Americas, Bush's top trade priority, is wildly unpopular across > Latin America. World Trade Organization talks on intellectual > property, agriculture and services have all bogged down amid > accusations that America and Europe have yet to make good on past > promises. > > So what is a recessionary, growth-addicted superpower to do? How about > upgrading Free Trade Lite, which wrestles market access through > backroom bullying, to Free Trade Supercharged, which seizes new > markets on the battlefields of pre-emptive wars? After all, > negotiations with sovereign nations can be hard. Far easier to just > tear up the country, occupy it, then rebuild it the way you want. Bush > hasn't abandoned free trade, as some have claimed, he just has a new > doctrine: "Bomb before you buy." > > It goes further than one unlucky country. Investors are openly > predicting that once privatization of Iraq takes root, Iran, Saudi > Arabia and Kuwait will be forced to compete by privatizing their oil. > "In Iran, it would just catch like wildfire," S. Rob Sobhani, an > energy consultant, told the Wall Street Journal. Soon, America may > have bombed its way into a whole new free-trade zone. > > So far, the press debate over the reconstruction of Iraq has focused > on fair play: It is "exceptionally maladroit," in the words of the > European Union's Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, > for the United States to keep all the juicy contracts for itself. It > has to learn to share: ExxonMobil should invite France's TotalFinaElf > to the most lucrative oilfields; Bechtel should give Britain's Thames > Water a shot at the sewer contracts. > > But while Patten may find US unilateralism galling and Tony Blair may > be calling for UN oversight, on this matter it's beside the point. Who > cares which multinationals get the best deals in Iraq's post-Saddam, > pre-democracy liquidation sale? What does it matter if the privatizing > is done unilaterally by Washington or multilaterally by the United > States, Europe, Russia and China? > > Entirely absent from this debate are the Iraqi people, who might--who > knows?--want to hold on to a few of their assets. Iraq will be owed > massive reparations after the bombing stops, but without any real > democratic process, what is being planned is not reparations, > reconstruction or rehabilitation. It is robbery: mass theft disguised > as charity; privatization without representation. > > A people, starved and sickened by sanctions, then pulverized by war, > is going to emerge from this trauma to find that their country has > been sold out from under them. They will also discover that their > newfound "freedom"--for which so many of their loved ones > perished--comes pre-shackled with irreversible economic decisions that > were made in boardrooms while the bombs were still falling. > > They will then be told to vote for their new leaders, and welcomed to > the wonderful world of democracy. > >
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safe_value (String, 12357 characters ) <p>how the privatization of Iraq is the real pl...
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<p>how the privatization of Iraq is the real plan..</p> <!--break--><p> The Nation</p> <p> column | Posted April 10, 2003</p> <p> LOOKOUT by NAOMI KLEIN<br /> Privatization in Disguise</p> <p> Plain Text Attachment [ | Download File ] </p> <p> ></p> <p> HTML Attachment [ Scan with Norton AntiVirus | | Download Without Scan ] </p> <p> Plain Text Attachment [ | Download File ] </p> <p> n April 6, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spelled<br /> it out:<br /> There will be no role for the United Nations in setting up<br /> an interim<br /> government in Iraq. The US-run regime will last at least<br /> six months,<br /> "probably...longer than that."<br /> ><br /> > And by the time the Iraqi people have a say in choosing a<br /> government,<br /> > the key economic decisions about their country's future<br /> will have been<br /> > made by their occupiers. "There has got to be an<br /> effective<br /> > administration from day one," Wolfowitz said. "People<br /> need water and<br /> > food and medicine, and the sewers have to work, the<br /> electricity has to<br /> > work. And that's a coalition responsibility."<br /> ><br /> > The process of getting all this infrastructure to work is<br /> usually<br /> > called "reconstruction." But American plans for Iraq's<br /> future economy<br /> > go well beyond that. Rather, the country is being treated<br /> as a blank<br /> > slate on which the most ideological Washington<br /> neoliberals can design<br /> > their dream economy: fully privatized, foreign-owned and<br /> open for<br /> > business.<br /> ><br /> > Some highlights: The $4.8 million management contract for<br /> the port in<br /> > Umm Qasr has already gone to a US company, Stevedoring<br /> Services of<br /> > America, and the airports are on the auction block. The<br /> US Agency for<br /> > International Development has invited US multinationals<br /> to bid on<br /> > everything from rebuilding roads and bridges to printing<br /> textbooks.<br /> > Most of these contracts are for about a year, but some<br /> have options<br /> > that extend up to four. How long before they meld into<br /> long-term<br /> > contracts for privatized water services, transit systems,<br /> roads,<br /> > schools and phones? When does reconstruction turn into<br /> privatization<br /> > in disguise?<br /> ><br /> > California Republican Congressman Darrel Issa has<br /> introduced a bill<br /> > that would require the Defense Department to build a CDMA<br /> cell-phone<br /> > system in postwar Iraq in order to benefit "US patent<br /> holders." As<br /> > Farhad Manjoo noted in Salon, CDMA is the system used in<br /> the United<br /> > States, not Europe, and was developed by Qualcomm, one of<br /> Issa's most<br /> > generous donors.<br /> ><br /> > And then there's oil. The Bush Administration knows it<br /> can't talk<br /> > openly about selling off Iraq's oil resources to<br /> ExxonMobil and Shell.<br /> > It leaves that to Fadhil Chalabi, a former Iraq petroleum<br /> ministry<br /> > official. "We need to have a huge amount of money coming<br /> into the<br /> > country," Chalabi says. "The only way is to partially<br /> privatize the<br /> > industry."<br /> ><br /> > He is part of a group of Iraqi exiles who have been<br /> advising the State<br /> > Department on how to implement that privatization in such<br /> a way that<br /> > it isn't seen to be coming from the United States.<br /> Helpfully, the<br /> > group held a conference on April 4-5 in London, where it<br /> called on<br /> > Iraq to open itself up to oil multinationals after the<br /> war. The<br /> > Administration has shown its gratitude by promising there<br /> will be<br /> > plenty of posts for Iraqi exiles in the interim<br /> government.<br /> ><br /> > Some argue that it's too simplistic to say this war is<br /> about oil.<br /> > They're right. It's about oil, water, roads, trains,<br /> phones, ports and<br /> > drugs. And if this process isn't halted, "free Iraq" will<br /> be the most<br /> > sold country on earth.<br /> ><br /> > It's no surprise that so many multinationals are lunging<br /> for Iraq's<br /> > untapped market. It's not just that the reconstruction<br /> will be worth<br /> > as much as $100 billion; it's also that "free trade" by<br /> less violent<br /> > means hasn't been going that well lately. More and more<br /> developing<br /> > countries are rejecting privatization, while the Free<br /> Trade Area of<br /> > the Americas, Bush's top trade priority, is wildly<br /> unpopular across<br /> > Latin America. World Trade Organization talks on<br /> intellectual<br /> > property, agriculture and services have all bogged down<br /> amid<br /> > accusations that America and Europe have yet to make good<br /> on past<br /> > promises.<br /> ><br /> > So what is a recessionary, growth-addicted superpower to<br /> do? How about<br /> > upgrading Free Trade Lite, which wrestles market access<br /> through<br /> > backroom bullying, to Free Trade Supercharged, which<br /> seizes new<br /> > markets on the battlefields of pre-emptive wars? After<br /> all,<br /> > negotiations with sovereign nations can be hard. Far<br /> easier to just<br /> > tear up the country, occupy it, then rebuild it the way<br /> you want. Bush<br /> > hasn't abandoned free trade, as some have claimed, he<br /> just has a new<br /> > doctrine: "Bomb before you buy."<br /> ><br /> > It goes further than one unlucky country. Investors are<br /> openly<br /> > predicting that once privatization of Iraq takes root,<br /> Iran, Saudi<br /> > Arabia and Kuwait will be forced to compete by<br /> privatizing their oil.<br /> > "In Iran, it would just catch like wildfire," S. Rob<br /> Sobhani, an<br /> > energy consultant, told the Wall Street Journal. Soon,<br /> America may<br /> > have bombed its way into a whole new free-trade zone.<br /> ><br /> > So far, the press debate over the reconstruction of Iraq<br /> has focused<br /> > on fair play: It is "exceptionally maladroit," in the<br /> words of the<br /> > European Union's Commissioner for External Relations,<br /> Chris Patten,<br /> > for the United States to keep all the juicy contracts for<br /> itself. It<br /> > has to learn to share: ExxonMobil should invite France's<br /> TotalFinaElf<br /> > to the most lucrative oilfields; Bechtel should give<br /> Britain's Thames<br /> > Water a shot at the sewer contracts.<br /> ><br /> > But while Patten may find US unilateralism galling and<br /> Tony Blair may<br /> > be calling for UN oversight, on this matter it's beside<br /> the point. Who<br /> > cares which multinationals get the best deals in Iraq's<br /> post-Saddam,<br /> > pre-democracy liquidation sale? What does it matter if<br /> the privatizing<br /> > is done unilaterally by Washington or multilaterally by<br /> the United<br /> > States, Europe, Russia and China?<br /> ><br /> > Entirely absent from this debate are the Iraqi people,<br /> who might--who<br /> > knows?--want to hold on to a few of their assets. Iraq<br /> will be owed<br /> > massive reparations after the bombing stops, but without<br /> any real<br /> > democratic process, what is being planned is not<br /> reparations,<br /> > reconstruction or rehabilitation. It is robbery: mass<br /> theft disguised<br /> > as charity; privatization without representation.<br /> ><br /> > A people, starved and sickened by sanctions, then<br /> pulverized by war,<br /> > is going to emerge from this trauma to find that their<br /> country has<br /> > been sold out from under them. They will also discover<br /> that their<br /> > newfound "freedom"--for which so many of their loved ones<br /> > perished--comes pre-shackled with irreversible economic<br /> decisions that<br /> > were made in boardrooms while the bombs were still<br /> falling.<br /> ><br /> > They will then be told to vote for their new leaders, and<br /> welcomed to<br /> > the wonderful world of democracy.<br /> ><br /> ></p>
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