USAID policy endangers charity workers in Afghanistan
EXCERPT:
Merging nongovernment aid projects with military operations has tarnished the apolitical, impartial image critical to the safety of aid workers, many organizations say. The general assumption among Afghans is that aid organizations are working for the U.S. military, said one aid worker who helps run medical programs for an organization that has worked in Afghanistan for more than 15 years.
More Development Alternatives Inc.
EXCERPT:
Contractors welcome military surge in Afghanistan
By Elizabeth Newell enewell@govexec.com February 3, 2010 Contractors working with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Afghanistan are eager for the increased military presence expected within the coming months.
During a roundtable of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, eight executives representing companies doing reconstruction and development work in Afghanistan said they were optimistic more U.S. troops would make it safer and easier for them to complete their projects.
"We can't wait," said Dick Owens of International Relief and Development Inc. "There are expectations that implementing partners will be able to build in advance of cleared and held territory... but that is a reach."
James Boomgard, president and chief executive officer of Development Alternatives Inc., said the military surge is important since increases in civilian staffing tend to occur within safety zones such as camps and bases.
Experience International, Inc.
EXCERPT:
In its early days, EI provided marketing and strategic direction for US agribusiness firms operating internationally. Between 1979 and 1990, the company expanded into international consulting, undertaking 21 contracts, valued at more than $48 million, for governments and international financing agencies. In 1990, Experience, Inc. was purchased by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) and operated as that company's Agriculture and Agribusiness Division. During this period EI implemented major projects for the US Agency for International Development and the Asian Development Bank. In late 1999, EI restructured to become an independent company.
In 2004 EI changed its name to Experience International, Inc. It is a US company, registered in Delaware and headquartered in the center of Bangkok, with easy access to all of Asia and the Middle East. EI is the parent company of Experience Consultants (Thailand) Ltd. Registered in Thailand since 1996, Experience Consultants performs contracts for which bidding is restricted to Thai companies.
I couldn't get this URL to work. Development Alternatives Inc. used to be Experience International, Inc. ......cal
Experience International, Inc. | Donald Mickelwait
Chairman and CEO, Experience International, Inc.¹, 2003-present, based in Bangkok. Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), 1970-2000. ... Iraq: Team Leader for a DAI/USAID project component to prepare an Agricultural Sector Transition Plan and Strategy. ... Five trips: December 2003,
Shock Doctrine Naomi Klein
EXCERPT:
In THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.
John Cusack -The Real Blackwater Scandal
EXCERPT:
At that point, the Blackwater scandal over the massacre in Baghdad's Nisoor Square was just breaking. Since then, the story has blown wide open, with more mind-boggling details coming to light every day. It turns out the US occupation is so dependent on this one private mercenary company that it can't even function without Blackwater on the roads, providing the kind of protection that levels everything in its path... including the lives of Iraqi civilians.
Now we find out that the original report exonerating Blackwater, issued on U.S. diplomatic letterhead, was actually written by a Blackwater guy. As we are gripped by the unfolding scandal, it's easy -- and dangerous -- to see this as a story about a single rogue outfit, just another accountability scandal in the epic and tragic reality of this war.
