[kj] Fwd: meanwhile,the fat cats get fatter...

[FLIGHT BRINGER]

See I told you. The War was nt in vain after all. There was a reason for it. 
After all the money we spent on it and all the lives lost, we deserve 
something in return. Does anyone know how much Iran is worth? What is the $ 
worth of there oil reserves?
      Go get em George


>From: Papa Lazarou <circuit_bender at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" 
><gathering at misera.net>
>To: "gathering at misera.net" <gathering at misera.net>
>Subject: [kj] Fwd: meanwhile,the fat cats get fatter...
>Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:14:27 -0800 (PST)
>
>The War Dividend: The British companies making a fortune out of 
>conflict-riven Iraq
>By Robert Verkaik
>
>THE INDEPENDENT
>Published: 13 March 2006
>
>British businesses have profited by at least £1.1bn since coalition forces 
>toppled Saddam
>Hussein three years ago, the first comprehensive investigation into UK 
>corporate
>investment in Iraq has found.
>The company roll-call of post-war profiteers includes some of the best 
>known names in
>Britain's boardrooms as well many who would prefer to remain anonymous. 
>They come
>from private security services, banks, PR consultancies, urban planning 
>consortiums, oil
>companies, architects offices and energy advisory bodies.
>Among the top earners is the construction firm Amec, which has made an 
>estimated
>£500m from a series of contracts restoring electrical systems and 
>maintaining power
>generation facilities during the past two years. Aegis, which provides 
>private security has
>earned more than £246m from a three-year contract with the Pentagon to 
>co-ordinate
>military and security companies in Iraq. Erinys, which specialises in the 
>same area, has
>made more than £86m, a substantial portion from the protection of 
>oilfields.
>The evidence of massive investments and the promise of more 
>multimillion-pound profits
>to come was discovered in a joint investigation by Corporate Watch, an 
>independent
>watchdog, and The Independent.
>The findings show how much is stake if Britain were to withdraw military 
>protection from
>Iraq. British company involvement at the top of Iraq's new political and 
>economic
>structures means Iraq will be forced to rely on British business for many 
>years to come.
>A total of 61 British companies are identified as benefiting from at least 
>£1.1bn of
>contracts and investment in the new Iraq. But that figure is just the tip 
>of the iceberg;
>Corporate Watch believes it could be as much as five times higher, because 
>many
>companies prefer to keep their relationship secret.
>The waters are further muddied by the Government's refusal to release the 
>names of
>companies it has helped to win contracts in Iraq.
>Many of the companies enjoy long-standing relationships with Labour and now 
>have a
>financial stake in the reconstruction of Iraq in Britain's image. Of the 
>total profits
>published in the report, the British taxpayer has had to meet a bill for 
>£78m while the US
>taxpayer's contribution to UK corporate earnings in Iraq is nearly nine 
>times that. Iraqis
>themselves have paid British company directors £150m.
>The report acknowledges that British business still lags behind the huge 
>profits paid to
>American companies. But, in two fields, Britain is playing a critical and 
>leading role.
>The threat from the Iraqi insurgency means British private security 
>companies are in great
>demand. Corporate Watch estimates there are between 20,000 and 30,000 
>security
>personnel working in Iraq, half of whom are employed by companies run by 
>retired senior
>British officers and at least two former defence ministers.
>The biggest British player, Aegis - run by Tim Spicer, the former British 
>army lieutenant
>colonel who founded the security company Sandline - has a workforce the 
>size of a
>military division and may rank as the largest corporate military group ever 
>assembled,
>according to the report. Other private security companies have sprung up 
>overnight to
>protect British and American civilians.
>Britain is also playing a leading role in advising on the creation of state 
>institutions and
>the business of government. PA Consulting, which has also received a 
>contract for
>advising on the Government's ID cards scheme, worth around £19m, is now a 
>key adviser
>in Iraq.
>Adam Smith International, a body closely linked to the right-wing 
>think-tank used by
>Margaret Thatcher, has been heavily involved in the foundation of the Iraqi 
>government
>and continues to influence its newly formed ministries. According to the 
>Tory MP Quentin
>Davies, who visited Iraq, the advisers are "reordering Iraqi government 
>operations at the
>most basic level, to help restructure some of the Iraqi ministries, in fact 
>physically
>restructure them, even suggesting how the minister's office should be laid 
>out".
>Another favourite of the Thatcher governments, now involved in Iraq, is Tim 
>Bell, who ran
>the Tories' election campaigns in 1979, 1983 and 1987. His PR firm 
>Bell-Pottinger has
>been involved in advising on the 2004 elections and a strategic campaign to 
>promote
>bigger concepts such as the return of sovereignty, reconstruction, support 
>for the army
>and police, minority rights and public probity.
>Loukas Christodoulou, of Corporate Watch, has been monitoring British 
>business relations
>with Iraq since the invasion. He says in his conclusion to our joint 
>report: "The presence of
>these consultants in Iraq is arguably a part of the UK government's policy 
>to push British
>firms as lead providers of privatisation support. The Department for 
>International
>Development has positioned itself as a champion of privatisation in 
>developing countries.
>The central part UK firms are playing in reshaping Iraq's economy and 
>society lays the
>ground for a shift towards a corporate-dominated economy. This will have 
>repercussions
>lasting decades."
>In five years, the £1.1bn of contracts identified in the report will be 
>dwarfed by what
>Britain and the US hope to reap from investments. Highly lucrative oil 
>contracts have yet to
>be handed out.
>
>
>
>
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