Thursday, May 29, 2008

COMMERCIAL WARS OracleSyndicate: "On May 9, 2006, John Humphrey, a former CIA officer making his way up the management ladder of one of the nation's largest intelligence contractors, made a stunning disclosure to Intelcon, a national intelligence conference and exhibition at a hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. Outsourcing, Humphrey declared, was out of control. Contractors deployed in Iraq and other hotspots overseas were making decisions and handling documents that, in earlier times, had been the sole responsibility of U.S. military and intelligence officers. This had caused a 'paradigm shift' in the relationship between government and the private sector, and left companies like his in an untenable position. But this speaker, and the corporation he represented, had an exceptional story to tell. Humphrey was employed by CACI International Inc., a $1.8-billion information technology (IT) company that does more than 70 percent of its business with the Department of Defense. For many years, CACI had been one of the Pentagon's favorite contractors. It was particularly respected for its professional evaluations of software and IT products supplied to the military by outside vendors. During the late 1990s, CACI moved heavily into military intelligence when the Pentagon, its budget reduced by nearly 30 percent from the days of the Cold War and unhappy with the quality of intelligence it was getting from the CIA, began bringing in private sector analysts for the first time. Between 2002 and 2006, CACI signed dozens of new contracts, acquired twelve companies, and more than tripled its revenue, from $564 million a year to nearly $2 billion. Its astonishing growth catapulted the company from a bit role in IT to one of the key players in what has become a $50-billion-a-year Intelligence-Industrial Complex. 'CACI is a cash-flow story', Dave Dragics, CACI's chief operating officer, boasted to investors in 2006. 'Whenever you hear bad news, it's usually good news for us.' Tasked with the job of rooting out the leaders of the insurgency, some CACI employees directed military interrogators to use techniques on Iraqi prisoners that were, to put it mildly, far outside the norm of civilized conduct. Reports of the mistreatment soon made their way to U.S. commanders in Iraq, who appointed an Army general to investigate conditions at the prison. Tasked with the job of rooting out the leaders of the insurgency, some CACI employees directed military interrogators to use techniques on Iraqi prisoners that were, to put it mildly, far outside the norm of civilized conduct. Reports of the mistreatment soon made their way to U.S. commanders in Iraq, who appointed an Army general to investigate conditions at the prison. The details of what CACI's people did at Abu Ghraib were the subject of an insightful book, Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib, by Seymour Hersh, the reporter who broke the Abu Ghraib story, and the events recalled in excruciating detail by former Iraqi prisoners in a 2007 film made by Hollywood producer Robert Greenwald called Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers." AlterNet: "The Pentagon cannot account for nearly 15 billion dollars in payments for goods and services in Iraq, according to an internal audit which members of Congress blasted Friday as a 'shocking' accountability failure. Of 8.2 billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer-funded defense contracts reviewed by the Defense Department's inspector general, the Pentagon could not properly account for more than 7.7 billion dollars. The lack of accountability of the funds, intended for purchases of weapons, vehicles, construction equipment and security services, amounted to a 95 percent failure rate in basic accounting standards, according to the report." Wired: "The Pentagon's internal watchdogs can't keep up with the explosive growth in military spending. Which means $152 billion's worth of contracts annually aren't being reviewed for fraud, abuse and criminal interference by the Defense Department's Inspector General, according to a newly-unearthed report to Congress. The result: 'undetected or inadequately investigated criminal activity and significant financial loss', as well as 'personnel, facilities and assets [that] are more vulnerable to terrorist activities'. Since fiscal year 2000, the military's budget has essentially doubled, from less than $300 billion to more than $600 billion. Two wars have begun. But the number of criminal investigators and financial auditors at the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD IG) has stayed more or less the same. So there are now 'gaps in coverage in important areas, such as major weapon systems acquisition, health care fraud, product substitution, and Defense intelligence agencies', according to the report, obtained by the Project on Government Oversight." Our present wars are commercial, privatized, wars, wars to benefit the private enterprise and break down governments all over the world, including the U.S. It's greed gone mad. 11:06:52 AM

ELECTION FEVER ATimes: "The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently. Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with their opposition to the move, according to the source, but their projected New York Times op-ed piece has yet to appear. The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously, said last week that the US plans an air strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The air strike would target the headquarters of the IRGC's elite Quds force. With an estimated strength of up to 90,000 fighters, the Quds' stated mission is to spread Iran's revolution of 1979 throughout the region. Senators and the Bush administration denied the resolution and terrorist declaration were preludes to an attack on Iran. However, attacking Iran rarely seems far from some American leaders' minds. Arizona senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain recast the classic Beach Boys tune Barbara Ann as 'Bomb Iran'. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton promised 'total obliteration' for Iran if it attacked Israel. The US and Iran have a long and troubled history, even without the proposed air strike. US and British intelligence were behind attempts to unseat prime minister Mohammed Mossadeq, who nationalized Britain's Anglo-Iranian Petroleum Company, and returned Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power in 1953. A US air strike on Iran would have seismic impact on the presidential race at home, but it's difficult to determine where the pieces would fall. At first glance, a military attack against Iran would seem to favor McCain. The Arizona senator says the US is locked in battle across the globe with radical Islamic extremists, and he believes Iran is one of biggest instigators and supporters of the extremist tide. A strike on Iran could rally American voters to back the war effort and vote for McCain. On the other hand, an air strike on Iran could heighten public disenchantment with Bush administration policy in the Middle East, leading to support for the Democratic candidate, whoever it is." Just imagine, a devastating airstrike as a decisive tool to boost the Republican vote. How mad does it get? That would be the sure sign to put Bush in a lunatic asylum. 10:42:53 AM

CLUSTER BOMBS EuroNews: "More than one hundred nations have taken a final step toward banning cluster bombs that can cause indiscriminate injury, mainly to civilians. A draft treaty on a worldwide ban was adopted yesterday in Dublin. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised Britain would stop using the devices that can kill or injure long after a conflict has ended. He said, 'We've decided that we will take all our types of cluster bombs out of service. I believe that is going to make a difference to the negotiations that have now taken place. I look forward to other countries following us in this action and I look forward to other countries being able to take these cluster bombs out of service.'" DW: "The main producers and users of cluster bombs - the United States, Israel, China, Russia, India and Pakistan - did not attend the conference and said they would not support the convention. Thus, it is unclear what effect it will have once it comes into power." 10:29:43 AM

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