[Reader-list] depressing thought for the day no. xxxxx

[Pauline van Mourik Broekman]

I realise this is pretty much the same phenomenon as the
Halliburton/Cheney & Project for the New American Century information
overload has already shown us, but I found some grim symbolic load in
the conjuncture this future governor demonstrates between the 'full
spectrum dominance' of the Star Wars project and present-day Iraq.

Thank you Shuddha and all for the information on Kashmir. With
regards to keeping our eyes open to what's happening everywhere else
too, I was thinking very much the same vis a vis what is going on in
Nigeria (see
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,920684,00.html).

All the best,

Pauline.

---

American may leave UK firms in cold
Lauren Chambliss in New York, Evening Standard
25 March 2003

JAY Montgomery Garner was rebuilding the boat deck at his new $1.1m
(£700,000) Florida home, when his old friend Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld asked him to take on a much larger and far more
controversial reconstruction project - Iraq.

Garner, the 64-year-old businessman and decorated lieutenant general,
has been catapulted into a high-profile job as the likely military
governor of post-war Iraq.

Rumsfeld appointed him to head the Office of Reconstruction and
Humanitarian Assistance, which is putting together plans - and
handing out lucrative contracts - to rebuild a war-torn Iraq under US
control.

That process has already come under fire for favouring US companies
and ignoring British firms. P&O yesterday lost out on a potentially
lucrative contract to run Iraq's only deep-water container port at
Umm Qasr to an unnamed American company.

Garner's appointment is unlikely to ease concerns that British firms
will continue to be overlooked in the multi-billion pound task of
rebuilding the country. He is already closely tied to businesses
prospering from the Gulf War conflict, and is currently on leave from
L-3 Communications, which makes surveillance, intelligence,
reconnaissance and airport security products.

Just last week L-3 received its largest military contract - a $1.5bn
bonanza to provide logistical equipment to US special operations
forces.

Rumsfeld's defence department has also been criticised for handing
out contracts for helping with the war effort solely to US firms. US
Vice-President Dick Cheney's old company, Halliburton, has been one
of the main beneficiaries.

Appointed in January with no fanfare, Garner has maintained a low
profile since. That is no surprise to those who know him. Before he
retired in 1997, Garner ran the Star Wars programme, one of the most
controversial military projects ever, yet he still managed to keep
off the public radar.

It will be hard for him to remain in the shadows once the war is
over, however. Many analysts say Garner will have an extremely tough
time helping the Iraqis to rebuild their country, installing
democracy and apportioning contracts in an even-handed manner.

On the civilian side, Garner was president of SY Technology, a
Virginia-based company that supplied communications systems for
missiles. When SY Technology was bought last year by L-3 for $43m,
Garner stayed with L-3 to head the subsidiary that included his firm.

Garner is known in military circles for his interest in humanitarian
aid. He was in charge of US programmes that delivered supplies to the
Kurds in northern Iraq after the first Gulf War. A soft-spoken man,
friends and neighbours describe him as humble, efficient although
somewhat humourless. He is not one to joke.
-- 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Pauline van Mourik Broekman
Mute / Metamute / Mutella
2nd Floor East, Universal House,
88-94 Wentworth Street, London E1 7SA, UK
T: +44 (0)20 7377 6949 // T: +44 (0)20 7377 9520
E: pauline at metamute.com // W: www.metamute.com