Writer David Isenberg sets up the scene: I received the following email from a Dyncorp contractor working in Afghanistan. He works as a trainer to the Afghan National Police. His comments below are worth reading. But before you do you might remember that DynCorp is a member of the International Stability Operations Association, which has…
Showing all posts tagged privatisation
How did Serco end up convincing Australian government of its brilliance?
Peter Chambers gives a convincing argument: By all accounts, Serco probably was the least worst choice; what we are dealing with here is the political equivalent of Steven Bradbury’s win in the 2002 Winter Olympics. It’s not so much that Serco won the contract, it’s that there were no other viable contenders. This connects to…
Governments embrace Serco then wonder why they fail
Another day and yet another example of the British multinational unable to manage the job (and good on the Australian’s Paige Taylor for reporting on this running sore): There are now tensions among guards as well as detainees on Christmas Island. Up to 100 untrained casual detention workers at the centre claim they are doing…
What privatised firms are doing to our drinking water
Fracking is happening in Australia, using highly toxic chemicals to extract coal seam gas. Governments have been enthusiastic backers of the practice with little caution for environmental or health concerns. And now this: For the first time, a scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination…
Imagining an America that doesn’t invade and occupy
This is a moving piece. Written by US journalist Michael Hastings (a friend and colleague) about the real opportunity that should be taken with the death of Osama Bin Laden. An imperial nation that continues to believe it can rule by brute force and invade Muslim nations is delusional: Osama bin Laden’s actions, and our…
Disaster capitalism never sleeps
Because who is stopping it? The Shock Doctrine is alive and well, ideologues pushing through privatisation policies with little or no resistance from the Left or mainstream media. Daily Kos knows it: The events in the midwest these past few months have caused me, along with, I’d hope, any thinking progressive who had not already,…
Serco and Australian government see no evil, hear no evil
The ever-increasing growth of Serco in Australia is occurring while the company faces intense scrutiny over its record managing refugees in immigration. This story on ABC TV Lateline highlights the problems. I’m having a growing number of former and current Serco staff approaching me and wanting to speak about what they’re seeing in Australia’s dysfunctional…
Blackwater is God’s new gift to perverted morality
The private military contractor is a key player in the post 9/11 world. This latest choice shows the complete moral collapse of a corporation that sells itself as an “efficient” and privatised player in the “war on terror”: The consortium in charge of restructuring the world’s most infamous private-security firm just added a new chief…
Serco expands its reach into West Australian justice
Here’s how corporate government works in the modern age. Multinationals, such as Serco, talk about “efficiency” and “saving money” and are given more contracts even though their own record of appropriate delivery and transparency are far from optimal (and that’s being uber kind). So this news is hardly surprising. Welcome to your privatised world: The…
The West has much to learn post Bin Laden death
My following article appears in today’s ABC’s The Drum: The triumphalism after the American targeted assassination of Osama bin Laden is a sure sign that the US is incapable of understanding the significance of the painful years since September 11. We suffered and now you must, too. “I’ve never been so excited to see the…