Disaster Capitalism! For a short while I hoped the enormous humanitarian crisis in Haiti would shame some of these profiteers into either refraining from profiting from it, or, and I know this was extreme optimism, that some of them might find themselves so moved by the heartbreaking tragedy, that they might volunteer some of their services. Logic told me this was futile wishful thinking which it was:

http://rebelreports.com/post/341031627/us-...

By Jeremy Scahill

The Orwellian-named mercenary trade group, the International Peace Operations Association, didn’t waste much time in offering the “services” of its member companies to swoop down on Haiti for some old fashioned humanitarian assistance disaster profiteering. Within hours of the massive earthquake in Haiti, the IPOA created a special web page for prospective clients, saying: “In the wake of the tragic events in Haiti, a number of IPOA’s member companies are available and prepared to provide a wide variety of critical relief services to the earthquake’s victims.”

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In 2005, while still a leading member of IPOA, Blackwater’s owner Erik Prince deployed his forces in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Far from some sort of generous gift to the suffering people of the US gulf, Blackwater raked in some $70 million in Homeland Security contracts that began with a massive no-bid contract to provide protective services for FEMA. Blackwater billed US taxpayers $950 per man per day.

The current US program under which armed security companies work for the State Department in Iraq—the Worldwide Personal Protection Program—has its roots in Haiti during the Clinton administration. In 1994, private US forces, such as DynCorp, became a staple of US operations in the country following the overthrow of Jean Bertrand Aristide by CIA-backed death squads. When President Bush invaded Iraq, his administration radically expanded that program and turned it into the privatized paramilitary force it is today. At the time of his overthrow in 2004, Aristide was being protected by a San Francisco-based private security firm, the Steele Foundation.

This organization broke away from Blackwater after the murders in Iraq which took the lives of 17 Iraqi citizens, and for which, so far, there has been no accountability.

I would like to know if any of the money donated for the victims will go to pay these mercenaries. And if so, I think we should be given a list of which 'charities' will be paying for their 'expertise'.

I don't know who paid Blackwater to go to NOLA, but their mission there was not to help the victims, it was to protect the wealthy.

Haiti was already a failed state as a result of being subjected for so long to neo-liberal policies. Privatization of everything. The Global Capitalists have had a field day in Haiti, and this is their tragic creation.

I hope this tragedy, which many believe would not have been as devastating had the infrastructure not been so degraded and had there been more government-run organizations, like the Fire Department eg. is a warning to anyone who has been supportive of such policies in this country and elsewhere.

The following CNN headline, will probably be seen as a justification for more 'security' measures. Anderson Cooper graphically describing this incident. It works to gain support for 'law and order' even though it is apparently not widespread.

But buried deep in the article is what maybe should have been the headline, especially considering the massive devastation caused by this disaster:

Looting Reported as Desperation Grows in Haiti

Earlier Monday, Kenneth Merten, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, said that "overall, people are very calm."

To make sure I do not inadvertently contribute to bringing mercenaries to Haiti, I will donate only to Doctors Without Borders.