The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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US awards deals for post-war Iraq http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2837657.stm see URL for full article. Quote: "Plans for the rebuilding deals - worth up to $900m - are being co- ordinated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid)." "The agency is said to have discreetly sent out requests for tenders from at least five companies involved in infrastructure and engineering." ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2837657.stm BBC Radio 4 (Today programme/news) was more specific - they reported that all the companies are from the US and, of these, one is the company of which Dick Cheney used to be CEO (can't remember the company's name, sorry). http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/ (no written report yet, use the audio). Some questions/comments: 1. Who *exactly* will the companies be contracting with? 2. I would be interested to hear what ordinary Iraqis think, what they know about all this and what they, especially women, see as priorities for rebuilding 21st century Iraq. 3. Here in the UK, this 'wonderful democracy', we have planning regulations. When public building works are proposed there is a consultation period, with plans and little scale models available in libraries, and public meetings where people can have their say. (If the project is controversial, it's sometimes hard for the public to get info until it's almost too late to do anything, but generally people manage.) So will all these reconstruction plans be on show/discussed in downtown Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk etc? With enough publicity and time for real consultation? With clear plans and little models - on show, not 'kept safe' in a locked room? With someone to answer the questions of the ordinary householder? Or will some people suddenly find bulldozers removing their destroyed homes and tearing down their trees to build a wall or a road - oh, sorry, I forgot, that doesn't happen in democracies, does it. 4. Finally - any doubts that Bush is going to go to war, with or without the UN? To mis-quote a cliche, 'it's the economy, stupid'. George's Monbiot's article (on the need for new markets underlying the US government's push for war) is still valid: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,897814,00.html Cathy -- Cathy Aitchison _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk