The Shock Doctrine

May 6, 2008
"A $5bn (£2.5bn) tourism and development scheme for the Green Zone being hatched by the Pentagon and an international investment consortium would give the heavily fortified area on the banks of the Tigris a 'dream' makeover that will become a magnet for Iraqis, tourists, business people and investors....

"Marriott International has already signed a deal to build a hotel in the Green Zone, according to Navy Captain Thomas Karnowski, the chief US liaison. Also in the pipeline is a possible $1bn investment from MBI International, a hotel and resorts specialist led by Saudi sheikh, Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber. One Los Angeles-based firm, C3, has said it wants to build an amusement park on the Green Zone's outskirts. As part of the first phase, a skateboard park is due to open this summer."

April 21, 2008
Soaring food prices and global grain shortages are bringing new pressures on governments, food companies and consumers to relax their longstanding resistance to genetically engineered crops....

With food riots in some countries focusing attention on how the world will feed itself, biotechnology proponents see their chance. They argue that while genetic engineering might have been deemed unnecessary when food was abundant, it will be essential for helping the world cope with the demand for food and biofuels in the decades ahead.

Opponents of biotechnology say they see not so much an opportunity as opportunism by its proponents to exploit the food crisis. “Where politicians and technocrats have always wanted to push G.M.O.’s, they are jumping on this bandwagon and using this as an excuse,” said Helen Holder, who coordinates the campaign against biotech foods for Friends of the Earth Europe. G.M.O. refers to genetically modified organism.

April 3, 2008
"According to the most recent reports of their personal finances, 151 current members of Congress had between $78.7 million and $195.5 million invested in companies that received defense contracts of at least $5 million in 2006. In all, these companies received more than $275.6 billion from the government in 2006, or $755 million per day....

"While Democrats are more likely to advocate for ending the Iraq war sooner than Republicans, as a group they have more of their own money invested in America's military efforts. In 2006 Democrats had at least $3.7 million invested in the defense sector alone, compared to Republicans' $577,500. More Republicans, however, held stock in defense companies in 2006—28 of them, compared to 19 Democrats....

"According to her presidential personal financial disclosures, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) had stock in some defense companies, such as Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon, but sold the stock in May 2007. Neither of the remaining presidential hopefuls, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, reported such holdings on their filings."

March 25, 2008
"Now other companies that provide homeowner's insurance are identifying supplemental fire-protection services as a business opportunity. The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies recently announced a program that includes the spraying of fire-blocking gel during wildfires, and Fireman's Fund also plans to enter the market....

"'We are seeing more of that kind of above-and-beyond service in high-end markets,' said Candysse Miller, executive director of the Insurance Information Network of California. But as a new wildfire season approaches, some public safety officials worry that private firefighting programs could interfere with their efforts to combat flames. Other observers worry that two tiers of fire protection may be emerging: one for the general population and one for the affluent."

February 28, 2008
"The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear....

"Those problems included Boeing's use of inappropriate commercial software, designed for use by police dispatchers, to integrate data related to illicit border-crossings. Boeing has already been paid $20.6 million for the pilot project, and in December, the DHS gave the firm another $65 million to replace the software with military-style, battle management software....

"GAO investigators said that Boeing's software could not process large amounts of sensor data. The resulting delays made it hard for operators in a Tucson command center 65 miles to the north to lock cameras on targets. Radar systems were also triggered inadvertently by rain and other environmental factors. Cameras had trouble resolving images at five kilometers when they were expected to work at twice that distance."

February 18, 2008
The St. Paul Police Department is asking the City Council for permision to buy 234 more stun guns for its officers. Spokesman Tom Walsh says the purchase will allow ever patrol officer on the force to have a taser. It would cost $210,000 to buy them all. The money will come from drug seizures.

Thousands of protesters are expected in downtown St. Paul later this summer for the Republican National Convention. But Walsh insists the request for more tasers is, quote, "in no way related" to the expected protests.

February 15, 2008
"Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, strongly supports the war in Iraq and those in uniform, but his investigations of major weapons deals have defense industry executives uneasy. Privately, some defense company officials say they are backing Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, one of the two remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination, who they see as a better ally for the industry in the longer-term....According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Clinton leads in receiving donations linked to the defense industry with $143,433, versus $129,350 to McCain and $70,502 to Obama."

February 7, 2008
"Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law."

January 15, 2008
"A Pentagon office that claims to monitor terrorist threats to U.S. military bases in North America -- and was once reprimanded by the U.S. Congress for spying on antiwar activists -- has just awarded a multi-million dollar contract to a company that employs one of Donald Rumsfeld’s former aides. That aide, Stephen Cambone, helped create the very office that issued the contract."

Catastrophe Advisory Committee
January 10, 2008
"Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign announced on Thursday the formulation of a Catastrophe Advisory Committee, designed to provide the former New York City mayor with advice on the needs of local communities in regards to catastrophe response....

"As curious as it is to create an ad hoc committee on catastrophe preparedness in the midst of the campaign is the individual who Giuliani appointed to head that committee. Joe M. Allbaugh, the man who once headed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will formally hold the title of National Chair.

"Allbaugh headed FEMA prior to the disastrous reign of Michael Brown. In fact, he was the man who made Brown the Number 2 official at the agency. During Katrina, as the country suffered through the most botched disaster response in its history, Allbaugh was on the ground in the Gulf region -- not to help in reconstruction, but to get lucrative business contracts for corporate clients. His companies included Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), the subsidiary of Halliburton; TruePosition, a manufacturer of wireless products, services and devices, and the Shaw Group, a provider of engineering, design and construction services. Another Allbaugh client, Service Corporation International received a mega-contract through FEMA (through a subsidiary) to help with the recovery and relocation of Katrina victims."

Ties to the Surveillance Industry
December 13, 2007
"Not long after he stepped down as mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani received an intriguing offer. A group of officials from a Florida company called Seisint Inc. asked him to promote a powerful new database technology capable of tracking potential terrorists and other criminals. Their timing was perfect. Giuliani had just opened Giuliani Partners (GP), a consulting shop that planned to specialize in helping companies like Seisint grow. 'Nobody knew us; everybody knew him,' says Michael Brauser, a major shareholder who negotiated the December 2002 contract between GP and the Boca Raton-based firm. 'It was an unbelievable fit.' For Giuliani's new company, it was a remarkably profitable fit too. GP pulled in more than $30 million for just one year's work on Seisint's behalf, company records show."

Business Dealings in Qatar
November 7, 2007
"Rudy Giuliani is one of the few candidates ever to pursue the White House while maintaining a high-ranking role in a private-sector firm. But since he became a candidate for president, the Republican front- runner has rebuffed all calls to disclose details about the clients and dealings of Giuliani Partners, the consulting firm he founded in 2002. Some of those clients have controversial records. Among those he hasn't disclosed is the government of Qatar, a Persian Gulf state to whom the firm provided security advice, according to the former U.S. ambassador there. Qatar is a strategic U.S. military ally and energy supplier, yet also a country that has been criticized for its conduct toward al Qaeda -- a potential political pitfall for a candidate pitching himself as an uncompromising foe of Islamic terrorism."

December 24, 2007
The unanimous vote by the New Orleans City Council members to approve the demolition of the “Big Four” St. Bernard, C.J. Peete, B.W. Cooper, and Lafitte housing developments amounts to this: They are tearing down buildings in a futile attempt to fix problems that cannot be fixed by tearing down buildings....

Problem #1: There is a severe housing shortage in post-Katrina New Orleans, especially for the poor. Well, how is tearing down 4,500 units of affordable housing going to help? HUD and HANO propose to replace the developments with new ones that will take years to complete. But folks cannot wait!

December 11, 2007
"Developed in response to the working-class area's expanding job market, the Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Program at Joppatowne High School is becoming a model for the nation....

"The program gives students an overview during year one and then requires them to complete coursework in one of three areas during their junior and senior years: Homeland Security sciences, including chemical and biological threat identification; law enforcement and criminal justice, including evidence collection and enforcement; and information and communications technology, including Geographic Information Systems.

"Some other high schools offer homeland security classes, but Joppatowne is the first to offer a full-scale program that's directly tied to area businesses. It's also a statement on the times: in a post-9/11 world, the future job market is going to be filled with prospective candidates for homeland security jobs, so why not be prepared....

"They're also a link to big business. Big government contractors such as Battelle and SAIC are working with the program, offering internships and the use of equipment and staff."

December 10, 2007
"Today, a decline in public funding for firefighting services has sparked explosive growth in the private sector. The world’s largest insurance company – American Insurance Group – now has “Wildfire Protection Units” in 150 US zip codes. During the 2007 California wildfires, AIG’s firefighters saved homes in wealthy areas, while less fortunate neighbors were left with rubble....Fighting fires has become big business. The National Wildfire Suppression Association (NWSA), a trade organization founded in 2000, now represents over 200 private companies and 10,000 wild land firefighters. The private firefighting industry is estimated to be worth billions of dollars."

November 25, 2007
"Actis was created in 2004 when it was spun off from CDC Capital, the government-owned group that invests in developing countries. A 60 per cent stake was sold to CDC managers and staff for a total of £373,000. The new company was given a five-year 'umbrella' guarantee that it would continue to manage all CDC's existing overseas investments and according to a CDC report last year, was managing nearly $900m, about £450m, in CDC funds. With Actis's total of more than £1.75bn under its management, the influential House of Commons Public Accounts Committee recently estimated the company is worth between £182m and £535m....

"One source involved as an adviser during the talks over the creation of Actis in 2004 told The Observer that even at the time 'it was clear that the notion that the new company was worth a few hundred thousand pounds was laughable' simply in the light of the huge amount of investment money it had at its disposal. 'I remember thinking at the time that if I had £400,000 of my own, I would buy Actis myself!'"

November 23, 2007
"MPs and trade unions will today condemn the Ministry of Defence for allowing 10 senior civil servants to make 'mind boggling' profits from the flotation of its research arm, QinetiQ. The full scale of payouts is revealed by the National Audit Office (NAO) in a report which shows that shares owned by the civil servants rose in value by 20,000% on the day they went on the stockmarket. Another 245 senior managers made 14,400% profits on their shares. Ordinary workers received free share options worth £80 on the day....

"The report says the Carlyle Group, the US private equity firm which had taken a part share in QinetiQ, made a 786% profit on its £42m stake, which became worth £374m on the day of the sale."

November 25, 2007
"While Gov. Haley Barbour (R) has hailed the casino openings as a harbinger of Mississippi's resurgence and developers have proposed more than $1 billion in beachfront condos and hotels for tourists, fewer than one in 10 of the thousands of single-family houses destroyed in Biloxi are being rebuilt, according to city permit records. More than 10,000 displaced families still live in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency."
Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post

September 29, 2007
"It is a smorgasbord in New Orleans! It is a buffet, an economic buffet! All you can eat! If you have a lawnmower and an edger, you can make money in New Orleans."
- Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans September 10, 2007
"Yes, we have plans for privatization. We have two projects which should be under execution very soon. We are planning to announce many stations, many power plants."
- Karim Waheed Hasan, Iraq's Electricity Minister September 18, 2007
"It was not only natural disasters that offer opportunities in Sri Lanka to capitalists and their crony governments. War also creates opportunities. It was only last year that Sri Lankan government troops liberated Sampur in the east. The cost was heavy. Thousands of people from the area were displaced and scores were killed. The shell-shocked Sampur civilians had no time to worry about anything but their lives. While they were in refugee camps, the government declared parts of Sampur a no-go zone for civilians, citing security reasons. But the no-go zone did not apply to government plans to set up a coal-power plant.

"Successive governments had drawn up plans and got funds and foreign investors to start up coal-power projects which they hoped would help find quick answers to Sri Lanka’s power crisis. But they were unable to find a place to set up the plants because of public protests on environmental grounds. A coal power project with Chinese assistance remains grounded at Norachcholai in the Northwestern province because the Catholic Church there has given leadership to people-power protests.

"But the war in Sampur solved the problem. Even before the wind could erase the stench of blood in Sampur, the government signed a Rs50 billion deal with India’s state run National Thermal Power Corporation."
- Ameen Izzadeen, Sri Lankan Journalist in the Khaleej Times Online