THE OTHER ARMY
================
[Col. Writ. 1/7/07] Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
While media pundits and politicians bum rush the mike about President
George W. Bush's plans to "surge" U.S. troop forces in Iraq, little is
being said about another army there.
By this I refer not to the British, who, as the junior partners in this
nefarious occupation, have contributed a significant number of troops to
this operation, nor to the other so-called 'coalition of the willing',
most of whom have only sent token numbers.
I mean the private armies, known best by the term "contractors" -- men
(mostly) who work for private corporations, who are often heavily armed,
and who number some 100,000.
They often wear camouflage fatigues -- and many are paid six-figure
salaries!
Remember the notorious scandal of Abu Ghraib prison? While the fate of
7 low-level soldiers (and one female general) is generally well-known,
there is rarely discussion (and rare still, legal action) on the actions
of contractors. Such people played a key role in Abu Ghraib -- and play
vital roles everyday in Iraq, separate and apart from the U.S. military,
or any governmental structure.
In Abu Ghraib, around the exact time of the events that are now infamous
and historic, *all* of the interpreters at the prison worked for one
U.S. company -- Titan Corp.
At the same time (as of Jan. '04), over 1/2 of all interrogators and
analysts worked for a Virginia-based company -- CAGI International.
As novelist-essayist Joan Didion noted in a recent edition of *The New
York Review of Books*:
"There are now, split among more than 150 private firms, thousands of
such contracts outstanding. Halliburton alone had by July 2004
contracts worth $11,431,000,000.
"Private firms in Iraq has done more than build bases and bridges and
prisons. They have done more than handle meals and laundry and
transportation. They train Iraqi forces. They manage security.
Contract interrogators from two firms, CAGI International (according to
its web site 'a world leader in providing timely solutions to the
intelligence community') and Titan ('a leading provider of comprehensive
information and communications products, solutions, and services for
National Security'), were accused of abuses at Abu Ghraib, where almost
half of all interrogators and analysts were CAGI employees. They
operate free of oversight. They distance the process of interrogation
from the citizens in whose name, or in whose "defense," or to ensure
whose "security," the interrogation is being conducted. They offer
'timely solutions.'" [Fr.: Didion, Joan, "Cheney: The Fatal Touch,"
*The New York Review of Books*, October 5, 2006, p. 56.]
More than any other war in U.S. history, big companies are making big
bucks by privatization of almost everything. Indeed, in a very real
sense, it can be said that even torture was privatized -- as shown by
the allegation that Abu Hamid, a Titan employee, hired to do
interpreting at Abu Ghraib, reportedly raped a 15-year old boy there.
Titan held contracts worth an estimated $657 million.
CAGI had contracts in the tens of millions, at least.
Speaking of Halliburton (where Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO), it
proceeded to run up so many bills that it overcharged the U.S.
government by more than $1 billion! *One Billion!*
Halliburton, by the way, provided U.S. service members with contaminated
drinking water -- and charged Army folks $99 to wash their laundry --
and didn't get it clean!
No matter what Bush ultimately decides, a private army continues to roam
Iraq, answerable only to their bosses. Armed to the teeth, they are a
private army for business.
Who says war is bad for business?
Copyright 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal
[Mr. Jamal's recent book features a chapter on the
remarkable women who helped build and defend
the Black Panther Party: *WE WANT FREEDOM:
A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South
End Press (
http://www.southendpress.org); Ph.
#1-800-533-8478.]
===============================
"When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is
just, yet refuse to defend it--at that moment you begin to die.
And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about
justice." - Mumia Abu-Jamal
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========================================
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Submitted by: Sis. Marpessa
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