This is what you call a necessary attempt to assert sovereignty. One question; how many private contractors have been involved in this sordid process? The New York Times reveals an important American embarrassment and Iraqi assertion of independence: In the face of spiraling costs and Iraqi officials who say they never wanted it in the…
Showing all posts tagged privatisation
Don’t worry, vulture capitalists will make money in Afghanistan for years to come
Long after most Western forces have left, private security firms will still be there turning a profit (via EU Observer): The EU’s external action service (EEAS) plans to spend up to €50 million on private security guards for its Afghanistan mission over the next four years. The EEAS unveiled the tender on Thursday (10 May),…
Step by step, private companies must be held accountable for torture
Positive news: Today, a federal appellate court dismissed the appeals of two private military contractors who had argued they were immune from litigation when they engage in torture.… The corporate defendants, CACI and L-3, have argued that they should receive the same protections as the United States government and that, therefore, any of their wartime…
Promo video for Call of Duty Black Ops game shows future of warfare
This is basically propaganda for a new computer game (even if it claims to be a documentary) and yet the film provides disturbing insights into how the merging between reality and fiction is here:
Corporate press routinely ignores real people in Papua New Guinea
Business reporting often ignores the vast bulk of human beings and focuses solely on company profits. Take this lead story in today’s Murdoch Australian: Papua New Guinea specialist Highlands Pacific has long been known as an asset-rich, share-price-poor type of stock. There is a feeling out there that this year could well see that change…
Highlighting the Western obsession with disaster tourism
What a fascinating project: A disaster is not the event itself, but the trauma of the event. By adjusting to looming collapse in advance, your lifestyle can change gradually, at your own pace. ARK-INC offers holidays in apocalyptic landscapes, low-tech home comforts, and materials for self-evaluation.
How to treat corporations complicit in human rights abuses
The number of lawsuits filed by multinationals against governments is growing globally. It truly shows who controls this world. It’s time for a serious fight-back. Evidence for the prosecution (via the Guardian): Lloyds Banking Group… has become embroiled in a row over its investment in a company accused of involvement in the… rendition… of terror suspects on behalf…
Serco Australia loves more refugees because profits are booming
The only people really benefitting from the steady stream of asylum seekers to Australia are the heads of multinational Serco. Sydney’s Sun Herald reports: A surge in asylum seeker boats has delivered an explosion in profits for the private company operating Australia’s detention centres. Serco Australia, a division of a British multinational, enjoyed a 45…
Are only multinationals with bad records able to continually secure contracts?
The global onslaught of vulture capitalists continues space: Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial …£1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London) Times reported.… Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme…