Outsourcing War

Happy Friday.

Halliburton's Kellog, Brown & Root division, the largest private military firm ("PMF") in Iraq, is under a contract thought to be worth as much as $13 billion. This figure, in current dollars, is roughly the same as what the United States spent to fight the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish-American War combined! Of course, this division of Halliburton is just one PMF among many hired to, allegedly, protect our national security interests. As the author of the the attached article notes, "President George W. Bush's 'coalition of the willing' might thus be more aptly described as the 'coalition of the billing.'"

Your tax dollars at work.

Welcome to Doomsday

Happy Friday.

I considered sending updates regarding (1) the current administration's denial turned admission turned denial turned "we'll get back to you on that" approach to sending people overseas to be tortured and (2) Tom DeLay's denial turned attack turned lie approach to his felonious conduct, but I figured one little article a week is enough. Also, I didn't want to distract anyone from Congress's important work on steroids and feeding tubes.

Anyway, one of my (many) grievances has been the "liberal media's" refusal to acknowledge the idiocy of the current administration in an effort to maintain "objectivity". So, while Brokaw can tear up on election night, he's not actually able to say why.

Finally, someone has. Attached is an article by Bill Moyers in which he pulls no punches explaining the religious fanatacism motivating the Republican's core constituency. This makes it hard for the good guys. Reason and logic fail in the face of faith-based zealotry.

Welcome to Doomsday.

Much thanks to Miami.

Sound Familiar?

Happy Friday.

First, while most folks have responded enthusiastically to this little endeavor, a few have (equally as enthusiastically) suggested that I have become a bit of a “conspiracy theorist” and deny the veracity of the articles. Alas, I am redeemed. The “Outsourcing Torture” article which discussed the policy of extraordinary rendition has been confirmed as accurate by the current administration:

Rule Change Lets C.I.A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad.

What’s worse, a government that covertly promotes torture for fear of the consequences or one that lacks the moral rectitude to know it's wrong and openly endorses it as a official policy?

Second, this week’s bathroom reading is “Did North Korea Cheat?” which suggests that the current administration’s “evidence” in support of its claim that North Korea violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty justifying North Korea's inclusion in the “axis of evil” was exaggerated, if not blatantly wrong. Consequently, the threats of sanctions and even possible invasion by the United States are based on bad and/or contorted intelligence. Sound familiar?

Enjoy the truth, for once.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Happy Friday.

Today I offer a book recommendation, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins. While it reads like a John le Carre novel, this biographical tale reveals the true story behind the United States' "aid" to developing countries. It is a quick, intriguing read that sheds some more light on the question of the century, "Why do they hate us?"An excerpt of the prologue is below.

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That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire. We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy that runs our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks. Like our counterparts in the Mafia, we provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure—electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. One condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco.Despite the fact that the money is returned almost immediately to corporations that are members of the corporatocracy (the creditors), the recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, like the Mafia, we demand our pound of flesh, which often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installations of military bases, or access to precious resources, like oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire.