Monday, July 12, 2010

Will U.S. Enslave Afghanistan With Discovery of Valuable Mineral Source?

Afghanistan , United States , United States Department Of Defense , World News

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A little over a year ago, we were asked by the command and the Office of the Secretary, in collaboration with the U.S. embassy in Kabul, to begin assisting in an economic assessment of the state of Afghans' economy. And the focus of that assessment was to assess the ability, or the long-term viability, of the Afghan economy. Well- publicized challenges there in terms of the Afghans being able to finance their own security, their own development. Obviously, the international community has stepped up in a tremendous way over the past several years, to provide everything from the security costs, but also just the base developmental costs associated with helping that war-torn country get back on its feet.

We began that work last summer. It continued through the fall. And as a part of that work, we began a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and, as a by-product of that partnership, became familiar with and then became actively involved with a(n) effort to understand the potential of the mineral wealth of Afghanistan and the challenges, which are many, to the Afghans in developing that resource in a socially and environmentally responsible way, but that would lead to economic sovereignty for the people of Afghanistan to give them the ability to pay for their own development and to pay for their own security, and to enable the eventual reduction of all of the investment the international community is making, but most importantly, the investment of the blood of our young men and women that is sacrificed there every day in an effort to secure the future of the Afghan people.

And so that's where we are today. We've begun an active effort with the U.S. Geological Survey to fine-tune, understand, and to communicate and facilitate effective, socially and economically and environmentally responsible development of this mineral resource to support the economic -- the economic sovereignty of Afghanistan.

(Excerpt from June 15, 2010 Briefing - June 10, Full transcript of Special Defense Department Briefing from the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia on Afghanistan minerals.)

It is difficult to imagine a government official speaking words like those above and being taken seriously -- by any of our elected representatives, the media, or even by himself.

A reasonably well-informed citizen today already knows that such statements are lame excuses for exploitation. We know the corporatocracy always stands to benefit from the immense resources of countries we ear-mark for "foreign aid" and we know the route of debt enslavement to ensure that deep-pocket profits from the discovery of mineral wealth flow into the coffers of the multinationals.

It is estimated that Afghanistan possesses over $1 trillion in oil, gas, iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and lithium. Such announcements are tantamount to saying "our corporations want it all and they intend to take it."

As I note in my book, Hoodwinked, since WWII, we have sculpted history's first truly global empire. Instead of gladiators in camouflage suits (or in tandem with them, as is the case in Afghanistan), we send in con artists or Special Defense Department operatives laden with briefcases and computer models. They make pronouncements like the one quoted above. They then apply laser-sharp tools of economics to chisel away at precious minerals mined from the newly discovered resource target.

When I was an EHM, our corporations would identify a country that possessed resources considered vital, as well as strategic chunks of real estate. Then the EHMs shuttled off to convince the leaders of that country that what they needed were massive loans from the World Bank and its sister organizations; however, the money would not be dispensed directly to the targeted country- it would instead pay U.S. corporations to build infrastructure projects, such as power plants, harbors and industrial parks. "These will benefit you," we assured the leaders," and your friends" while all the while the real profits accrued to the perpetrators of this mutant form of predatory capitalism.

Those countries could not repay the loans; consequently, the EHMs returned with a new proposition. "We can fix everything. All you have to do is sell your oil (or other resources) cheap to our corporations, drop the environmental and labor laws, agree to never impose tariffs on U.S. goods, accept the trade barriers we want to erect around your markets and products, privatize your utilities, schools, and other public institutions..," and on and on.

This highly profitable and corrupt system is already in place in Afghanistan and will continue its horrible march toward stripping the people of Afghanistan of one of the last resources and hopes that country has to break the stranglehold of poverty.

Will you and I allow this to happen? We know by now that if our system is dependent upon turning countless millions of children into financial slaves, the future for our children is bleak. We -- you and I -- must rebel against these policies. We must send emails, refuse to purchase products made from these resources, boycott the companies involved, and take to the streets if necessary . . . we simply must not allow these crimes against humanity and nature to continue!



Books & More From John Perkins


10 Things You Can Do To Save the Earth
April 22, 2010 by Johnperkins
Filed under Recent Posts
4 Comments
As part of my participation in the national Earth Day action network I wanted to post this blog in full. I hope it inspires you take action too!
The hour is ours. It is now time for each and every one of us to step up to the task at hand, to ask the important questions, to search our souls for our own answers, and to take action.
1. Demand a world where the models for our children are the founders and managers of institutions that restore rain forests and polluted lakes, promote sustainability, and help starving people feed themselves — not the CEO‘s of irresponsible corporations, overpaid athletes and celebrities.
2. Break the pattern and rid our world of the viral form of predatory capitalism that has a stated goal of maximizing profits regardless of the social and environmental costs.
3. Bequeath a world to future generations that is headed toward sustainable, just and peaceful societies for all of us.
4. Join organizations that represent your passions, support them with your energy and/or money.
5. Use materials that are environmentally and socially responsible.
6. Support politicians who are in favor of the environment and will enact changes to protect it for future generations.
7. Vote in the marketplace for companies committed to doing the right thing environmentally and socially.
8. Let leaders know you want wholesome food, clean water and air; send emails — they do count, big-time.
9. Demand that every person on our planet has access to clean air and water, sufficient food, clothing and shelter, health care and a decent retirement.
10. Support companies that sell organic and local foods and operate on the basis of making profits but only while creating a sustainable, just, and peaceful world. .
We are poised to enter a new era. Growing numbers of us recognize that it is time to stop the craziness, to stop honoring people who perpetuate a greedy, materialistic mentality, to cease buying magazines that feature their faces on the covers, and to switch off TV programs that try to convince us that squandering resources is something to be admired. it is time to move from a militarized economy into one that produces goods and services that enhance life for all sentient beings.
Now is the time to turn the Fortune 500 into a list of only those corporations and NGOs that best serve the planet and future generations. YOU CAN DO IT.
ENGLISH EDITION The artillery of ideas
“History, looked at under
the surface, in
the streets and on the farms,
in GI barracks and trailer
camps, in factories and offices,
tells a different story.
Whenever injustices have
been remedied, wars halted,
women and blacks and Native
Americans given their
due, it has been because
“unimportant” people spoke
up, organized, protested, and
brought democracy alive.”
–Howard Zinn
Venezuela today is a nation
of millions who once were invisible
and today are visible.
The before silent now have a
voice, and even more than being
heard, act to change and
build their nation. In Venezuela,
history was once written
and kept by the elite, and
the people were unimportant,
ignored and forgotten.
But today that has changed.
History in Venezuela is actively
being created by the traditionally
marginalized and
excluded, and the difference
is that now, the previously
silenced are the protagonists,
the leaders. Howard Zinn
would be proud.
I say this because often, the
ongoing, constant, non-stop,
severe, exhausting, dangerous
struggle against the
powerful causes us to blink
and ask why. Why do we
fight? Why do we struggle?
The answer is simple. Once
we become visible, once we
are heard, we can never be
silenced again. We must combat
injustice in all its manifestations
and never allow its
deadly face to overshadow us.
Speak up, organize, and make
your democracy, your people,
your conscious mind, live.
….We need writers! If you
are interested in writing and
reporting for this groundbreaking
newspaper, please send a
writing sample to: editor.correoenglish@
gmail.com. Also
feel free to send along your
letters to the editor.
A publication of the Fundacion Correo del Orinoco
Editor-in-Chief | Eva Golinger • Graphic Design | Arturo Cazal, Pablo Valduciel L., Alexander Uzcátegui • Press | Fundación Imprenta de la Cultura
During my tour for my new
book Hoodwinked I’ve been
asked the same question by many
bright university students, “Do
you think the US economic model
is a failure?”
My answer is that I believe our
current model is a mutant form of
capitalism that is indeed a failure. I
refer to it as “predatory capitalism.”
It gained international popularity in
1980 when President Ronald Reagan
and other world leaders embraced
the theories advocated by economist
Milton Friedman. The three
major tenets of this theory are: 1) the
only responsibility of business is to
maximize profits, regardless of the
social and environmental costs, 2)
businesses should not be regulated
because rules interfere with making
profits, and 3) everything should be
run by private businesses.
Every US president since Reagan
–Democrat and Republican
alike– has embraced this mutant
form of capitalism, including President
Obama. The resulting system
has created a very dangerous,
unsustainable world.
The predatory capitalists have
pillaged the most valuable resources
of countries around the
planet and exploited their people
in the name of profit. At the same
time, the primary benefactor, the
US, has followed a course similar
to that of the Spanish Empire – we
have plundered resources to live
excessively materialist lives while
neglecting to develop a solid manufacturing
base at home.
History tells us that empires
do not survive. The US Empire is
no exception. Five percent of the
world’s population lives in the US
and we consume more than 25%
of the world’s resources. The only
conclusion a reasonable person
can reach is that we have created
a failure. This is not a model that
can be replicated in Latin America,
India, or Africa. And today it is collapsing
at home.
With the confirmation that Venezuela
possesses the largest oil
reserves on Earth, the predatory
capitalists are aching to knock the
Venezuelan economy and government
to its knees.
Chavez
deflected the coup launched
against him in 2002, he showed
the world that David can still beat
down Goliath, that the bully in the
North can be defeated. His actions
gave hope to people and politicians
throughout the hemisphere.
Since then a revolution has
swept Latin America. Ten countries
voted in presidents who
have said “no” to exploitation by
foreign corporations and governments.
It is especially significant
that every one of those countries
was ruled by dictators with close
ties to the CIA for many of the
post-World War II years.
One of the new Latin American
leaders, President Rafael Correa
of Ecuador, has a Ph.D in economics
from the University of
Illinois. He says that he can see
no reason why capitalism should
not permit his country to use its
petroleum resources to help the
poorest of the poor pull themselves
out of poverty. He will,
he says, work with international
oil companies because they have
the necessary technology, but
only if they share a much larger
portion of the revenues with the
people of his country. He also publicly
proclaimed that Ecuador is
not obligated to pay much of its
foreign debt since its loans were
signed by unelected military dictators,
coerced and bribed by the
World Bank, CIA, IMF,
and
people with my old
job
(economic hit men).
Today Correa is under
attack; his administration
is accused of collaborating
with international crime
syndicates and drug
traffickers. While I have
no
inside information to
confirm or deny these accusations,
I can say that
character assassination
is always a risk for those
who oppose predatory
capitalism.
The fact is that we in
the US have acted terribly
irresponsibly. We have
abused the leadership position
we acquired during
WWII. We
have placed sociopathic
CEOs and politicians on false pedestals,
glorifying their excessive
wealth, multiple mansions, megayachts,
and luxurious private jets.
For years, we’ve empowered these
people (almost exclusively men)
to create a system that is scandalously
wasteful, overtly reckless,
and – we now know – ultimately
self-destructive.
As we’ve seen in the current economic
crisis, the only guarantee is
that conditions will get worse unless
we insist on change. Today we
have an opportunity to wake up
and assume responsibility for establishing
a world our children will
want to inherit. We must recognize
that for the first time in history we
live on a highly interdependent
planet where people everywhere
communicate by cell phones and
the Internet. The only way our
children can inherit a sustainable
and just world is if every child on
every continent joins them.
So, I tell those students who
question the current economic
model that we must work hard
to transform this predatory form
of capitalism into a more compassionate
and cooperative version.
Profits may be OK, but only if
earned while adhering to socially
and environmentally responsible
guidelines. Private business
is a cornerstone of modern economies,
but business executives
– like the rest of us – need to conform
to rules of conduct. The guidelines
and rules should provide
a foundation for replacing a failed
economic system with one that
can perform successfully for all of
us who are members of a fragile
species living on a tiny spaceship
called Earth. ALL OF US.
We in the US will be well advised
to follow the example of the new
wave of Latin American leaders.
We must get back to the real work
of creating a sustainable economy.
John Perkins
John Perkins is former chief economist at
a major international consulting firm. His
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man spent
70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller
list. His website is www.johnperkins.org
and his Twitter ID is www.twitter.com/
economic_hitman.
Is the U.S. economic model a failure?
We recommend
HOODWINKED:
An Economic Hit Man
Reveals Why the World
Financial Markets Imploded
–and What We Need to Do
to Remake Them
John Perkins
Random House 2009.
Perkins pulls back the curtain
on the real cause of the
current global financial meltdown.
He shows the deceit of
the CEOs who run the corporatocracy
and the politicians they
manipulate.
But there is a way out. We can
create a healthy economy that
will encourage businesses to
act responsibly, not only in the
interests of their shareholders
and corporate partners, but in
the interests of their employees,
their customers, the environment,
and society at large. We
can create a society that fosters
a just, sustainable, and safe
world for us and our children.
Each one of us makes these
choices every day, in ways spelled
out in this book.
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WWII FRIDAY | February 12, 2010 | No. 0 | Bs. 0 | CARACAS