[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
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