posted
We had death squads in Bolivia? Were they like the death squads we had in Honduras that were overseen by Ambassador Negroponte, our new ambassador to Iraq?
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
Looking at all the articles on these corporate militaries brought to mind a recently made Canadian film called "The Corporation", a documentary on the history and inner workings of the entity called the corporation. One passage in particular (shown in the Synopis page) was quite instructive:
quote:THE PATHOLOGY OF COMMERCE: CASE HISTORIES To more precisely assess the "personality" of the corporate "person," a checklist is employed, using actual diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization and the DSM-IV, the standard diagnostic tool of psychiatrists and psychologists. The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social "personality": It is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism. Four case studies, drawn from a universe of corporate activity, clearly demonstrate harm to workers, human health, animals and the biosphere. Concluding this point-by-point analysis, a disturbing diagnosis is delivered: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a "psychopath".
Now all of the sudden we have these corporate militaries being used in Iraq to supplement US troops; companies that are bound neither by US law or the Geneva Convention.
I don't know about any of you but I am scared silly at the prospect. A business model considered "psychopathic" is bad enough but when you have such an entity in control of a private army, that just seems to be asking for trouble. Do we really want these modern day corporate mercs running about unchecked and unsupervised? I certainly do not.
-------------------- The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
posted
TSN: "We had death squads in Bolivia? Were they like the death squads we had in Honduras that were overseen by Ambassador Negroponte, our new ambassador to Iraq?"
Yes, Honduras was in the 80's, Bolivia squads took place in 1966-1968, around 3000-8000 people shot. Both operations sanctioned by the CIA.
Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Ralph Nader just wrote [URL=http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0510-09.htm ]an article regarding this subject.[/URL] He makes a number of valid points regarding the effects of such outsourcing; certainly I agree with him on the need to take a hard look at the use of such "Corporate Warriors".
-------------------- The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
posted
To show those who think I pull all my articles from one source that I do try to be fair, here is a Washington Post article on how contracters are blurring the line between soldiers and civilians. The article notes that several civilians have gotten military decorations, which right there seems to be something of a mistake. Question becomes where do these contracters fit in the scheme of international and military law and how does one apply the rules of the Geneva Convention to these contracters?
-------------------- The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
Printer-friendly view of this topic
