Bad Combination
Jesus Christ, NATO is thinking of deploying troops to help oil companies.
People in countries like Nigeria already feel that oil companies (Shell, in Nigeria, for example) are screwing them to the wall. Coupled with a kind of noveau imperialist Euro-American conglomerate doing body guard work, they are gonna feel so much worse.
I wonder if this is mainly politics for NATO, mainly revenue-raising (I'm sure they hate watching Blackwater take all the dosh), or a combination of the two. It also raises a whole heap of questions as to what ethical framework, exactly, NATO troops will be operating under.
One of the reasons why Blackwater, et al are so popular is because they can do what they like, when they like it pretty much, with little accountability, unlike the UN, for example (although, with some of the reports coming out of East Timor, they aren't looking so hot these days, either).
Furthermore, it questions NATO's whole existence. They have been recast in recent years as a peace-keeping force, and an advocate for stability. This doesn't fall under either of those categories, really.
Either way, I think this is more than a bad move; it sounds like gross stupidity at this stage, and I hope it doesn't happen.
Nato is considering deploying sea-borne rapid-reaction forces to help private oil firms such as BP, one of its senior officials has announced.Woah. You really don't need to be a foreign policy expert to know that this is a tremendously shitty idea.
Jamie Shea, director of policy planning in the office of Nato's secretary-general, said the proposal may mean sending Nato forces to Africa, Asia and the Middle East to protect oil companies' facilities.
"In Nato, we are looking very actively at using our maritime resources," Shea told a conference in London on Monday. He said Nato wanted to "see how we can link up with oil companies".
Shea said he had so far discussed the issue with Royal Dutch Shell and BP, respectively the world's second- and third-largest Western oil companies by market value.
People in countries like Nigeria already feel that oil companies (Shell, in Nigeria, for example) are screwing them to the wall. Coupled with a kind of noveau imperialist Euro-American conglomerate doing body guard work, they are gonna feel so much worse.
I wonder if this is mainly politics for NATO, mainly revenue-raising (I'm sure they hate watching Blackwater take all the dosh), or a combination of the two. It also raises a whole heap of questions as to what ethical framework, exactly, NATO troops will be operating under.
One of the reasons why Blackwater, et al are so popular is because they can do what they like, when they like it pretty much, with little accountability, unlike the UN, for example (although, with some of the reports coming out of East Timor, they aren't looking so hot these days, either).
Furthermore, it questions NATO's whole existence. They have been recast in recent years as a peace-keeping force, and an advocate for stability. This doesn't fall under either of those categories, really.
Either way, I think this is more than a bad move; it sounds like gross stupidity at this stage, and I hope it doesn't happen.
Labels: International Politics
posted by patrick @ 9:32 PM
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3 Comments:
you're only just learning about capitalism are you?
:P!
I'm not, really, but I keep thinking we've moved beyond it, at least in some areas. I mean shit, it's like decolonialisation never happened... at all.
it didn't. oh dear oh dear patrick... it's still the same old capitalism. the only difference is that instead of govt.s empowering corporations to wage war like the british east india company, corporations have simply taken over government.
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