The World Bank and the Spread of the American EmpireWritten by Dene McGriff
The World Bank and Spread of American Empire By Dene McGriff I must confess to being a “cog” as in “cog” in a machine. Did I know I was? Nope, but I have gradually come to see that I was a “cog” in building of American Global Empire. Please don’t get mad at me for my confessions, for I certainly didn’t realize it at time. In fact, most of us are oblivious to what is really going on around us. I certainly was, but more I look into my past, more I realize my role – as apparently innocent as it appeared to be. I spent most of my life in international work but little did I know what I was really involved in. I was a little cog in a great big machine that was creating greatest global empire in history of world. We didn’t carry guns, just a briefcase and a laptop! We were new empire builders! Please let me explain. Background America has been building a vast global empire for past century. By end of WWII, it was undisputed leader with only Russia and its satellites standing in way of global hegemony! A couple of quick little wars in Korea and Vietnam showed futility of winning by conventional means. But a much more serious war was on whose goal was to turn entire world into client states of America – tied to us by our apparent generosity and good will. How did this process work? The end of World War II left Europe and Japan in shambles (the developed world). How were they to be rebuilt? What was strategy? Very simple, we opened our markets to them. We invested in their business and infrastructure. But what of rest of undeveloped world? How were we going to bring them into Twentieth Century? In true American form and efficiency, we launched a multi-pronged attack. The Peace Corp sent out young people throughout world to identify and develop projects. These were best and brightest. They were bilingual, sensitive cross-culturally and became source for great expansion of international business, international aid and development and CIA. The Peace Corp spawned birth of companies known as “the beltway bandits” – consulting companies eager to help government spend USAID, World Bank, IMF and other monies. I worked on and off for these consulting companies over a period of 25 years. Christian relief and development agencies also got involved in act (World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, Food for Hungry, etc.) as well. I worked with two of them as well. These minions of “do gooders” (myself included) fanned out across globe developing relationships, identifying needs, writing grants and business plans to bring economic development to “undeveloped” world. I personally worked all over Central and South America, Far East (Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines), Africa and Middle East. All this time, I had no idea I was a part of machine Phase I The back drop of all this is that developed world – Europe, Japan, America and Canada represented about 20 percent of world population. Latin America, Africa and rest of Asia, India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia represented other 80 percent. They needed infrastructure – water, power, transportation, industry, bridges, dams, technology. How were we to get that to them and where would this all lead? The seductive part is that out goal was so good. Most people were dying from diseases caused by drinking bad water. Cholera, typhoid, malaria – so many diseases could be taken care of just by improving sanitation. Agriculture could be improved, natural resources exploited, industry developed, housing improved, etc. So army of volunteers, consultants and corporate executives spread throughout world looking for opportunity. But who would pay for it? These countries certainly didn’t have excess money to pay for costly infrastructure! The same foundation that was laid to rebuild Europe and Japan was used – IMF and World Bank, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Inter American Development Bank, Asia Development Bank, etc. USAID is a part of State Department and works closely with, if not for CIA (as I found out hard way). The “political” and “economic” officers and attaches of our embassies were almost always CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). Reports produced – whether on health care, agricultural development, education, population control (known as “woman and child health”) – all ended up in CIA reports. There was a tremendous amount of overlap between different agencies and companies working with them. As development occurred, USAID tended to phase out and World Bank took over and “bilateral relationships” were established with developing country governments. Here is how it worked. Acquaintances were made, and friendships established especially through Peace Corps and Christian missionaries who were there as “scouts” for empire. They were followed by consultants who would be hired by USAID to identify needs, and develop specifications for a project. This would result in an RFP (Request for Proposal) which would go out in formal government digests. Consulting companies or businesses would then develop proposals in response to RFP. There would usually be a committee consisting of USAID employees and counterparts in host government that would go through a selection process. Eventually, it would be awarded to a US firm. I personally worked on hundreds of proposals and numerous projects. Here is an example of how it works. In 1985, I was selected as team leader to evaluate a $27 million health infrastructure project that had been awarded to Westinghouse Health Systems. This was mid term evaluation of a multi-year project. It was an exciting time – machine gun fire and mortars going off constantly up in mountains above Holiday Inn where we stayed. I spent better part of summer there. The Salvadoran people were gracious and hard working. The folks staying in hotel either worked for a consulting company, CIA, paramilitary or adoption agencies. There were even a couple of Russians. It was quite an eclectic mix. There were four other people on my team looking at different aspects of project. Westinghouse was providing training, buying medical supplies, ambulances, etc. Two really important things came out of study. The first and most important is that only about $2 million was a grant. The rest, about $25 million, was a loan that had to be paid back. I found that this was quite common. Most of our “aid” was really in form of loans – hundreds of millions in all that had to be paid back! The other is that health budget for country didn’t increase by $27 million. In fact it didn’t increase at all. I asked Minister of Health why not? They spent it on other things – mainly guns. This aspect of report became very controversial as report hit Congress. They tracked me down in Kingston, Jamaica to ask me about it. It turns out that USAID health and population officer in charge of project told Congress it was additional money to budget. He was furious with me and later got caught doing deals under table and ended up going to jail for a few years.
| | Wisconsin bans hunting by InternetWritten by Kevin Doberstein
WI bans hunting by Internet By Kevin Doberstein Copyright 2005Wisconsin State Assembly passed Bill 179. This bill reads “relating to: being physically in possession of a firearm, bow, or crossbow while hunting captive deer or other captive wild animals. This bill is intended to stop surge of Internet hunting in Wisconsin. A Texas businessman owns a web site that allows people to shoot game animals on his ranch. This is done with specially mounted cameras on rifles. The “hunter” can view entire process online and tell person holding rifle to shoot live game on his ranch. He claims site was intended for disabled people so that they can also enjoy hunting and target shooting. Generally in Wisconsin, disabled persons are given opportunity to hunt and enjoy outdoor experience. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources objective is to provide a variety of hunting, fishing, and recreational use permits designed to help people with disabilities enjoy state’s natural resources. Wisconsin’s Disabled Advisory Council for Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has 4 main objectives. To advise Department of Natural Resources on matters pertaining to accessibility of all department programs and services by physically challenged persons. To identify and evaluate needs of physically challenged persons and communicate them to Department. To advance research and design, policy and legislative changes to improve accessibility of agency programs and properties. To communicate with individuals and other organizations and agencies with similar purposes in a collaborative process to improve accessibility
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