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Creative Associates International: Corporate Education and “Democracy Promotion” in Iraq

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10714410600552795

1556-3022

Kenneth J. Saltman,

Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. See Irvin Stelzer, “Introduction,” The Neocon Reader (New York: Grove Press, 2004). The vision of remaking the world on the singular American model is clearly stated in the opening of the National Security Strategy of the United States available at . The publication of The Neocon Reader was launched with an event covered by C-Span television and included lectures by William Kristol and Irvin Selzer. The early plans for the reformulation of U.S. National Security strategy can be found on the neoconservative Project for a New American Century website. 2. Despite repeated assertions by the Bush administration that the invasion of Iraq in March of 2003 was part of the “war on terrorism” no credible links have been found between the Islamist political movement “Al Qaeda” and the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were bitter enemies with incompatible ideological convictions. The admission by the Bush administration that no weapons of mass destruction could be found in Iraq revealed as false the original justification for the war which was the immediate security of the United States. This makes the war an illegal act within international law. In the build up to war and since the invasion the justifications for war by the administration and the news media have been interchangeably security, democratic nation-building, moral imperative, and paternal revenge. In the context of education these interchangeable justifications have been well-documented on Megan Boler's website Critical Media Literacy and War. 3. Jackie Spinner, “Questions Raised About Iraq Contract,” The Washington Post, June 13, 2003, Financial, E2. David Morris, “Criticism Grows of No-Bid Work for Iraq Reconstruction” Congress Daily, 4/16/2003, p. 3. 4. This is detailed in Pratap Chatterjee, Iraq, Inc.: A Profitable Occupation (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004). See also, Christian Parenti, “Fables of the Reconstruction” The Nation August 30/September 6, 2004, 16–19. 5. “War Profiteers” is how corporate watchdog group Corp Watch described the rebuilding contractors. 6. Christian Parenti describes the rebuilding generally this way. 7. “Windfalls of War” is the label provided by The Center for Public Integrity. 8. Irvin Stelzer, “Introduction,” The Neocon Reader (New York: Grove Press, 2004). 9. Susanne Soederberg, “American empire and excluded states: the Millenium Challenge Account and the shift to pre-emptive development” Third World Quarterly Vol. 25n2, p. 281. Pentagon planner Thomas P. M. Barnett celebrates the “Pentagon's New Map” Esquire March, 2003 as a plan for global integration under the rules of corporate-dominated global trade agreements and organizations. 10. See David Harvey, The New Imperialism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) and Giovanni Arrighi, “Hegemony Unravelling” New Left Review 32, March-April, 2005. 11. William I. Robinson has written extensively and importantly on the U.S. foreign policy shift away from support for and promotion of authoritarian regimes and towards promotion of what he terms polyarchy, forms of democracy that ratify elite rule through formal democratic processes while averting popular rule and control and assuring market economies more effectively than authoritarianism. See for example, William I. Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy and William I. Robinson, “Globalization, The World System, and “Democracy Promotion” in U.S. Foreign Policy,” Theory and Society 25: 615–665, 1996. 12. See for example, Pratap Chatterjee, Iraq, Inc.: A Profitable Occupation (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2004). 13. I have taken up the relationships between recent educational reform and privatization in The Edison Schools: Corporate Schooling and the Assault on Public Education (New York: Routledge, 2005). 14. As David Harvey and Giovanni Arrighi note if the prominent figures in the Clinton administration were the finance people such as Rubin and Summers then it is the military people in the Bush White House such as Rumsfeld, Cheney, and the neoconservative staff of hawks like Wolfowitz, Perle, etc. See David Harvey, The New Imperialism (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2003) and Giovanni Arrighi, “Hegemony Unravelling” New Left Review 32, March-April, 2005, pp. 23–34. 15. William I. Robinson, “Globalization, The World System, and “Democracy Promotion” in U.S. Foreign Policy,” Theory and Society 25: 615–665, 1996, p. 619. 16. Leslie Sklair, Sociology of the Global System, Chapter 5, “The Culture-ideology of Consumerism in the Third World” (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991). 17. Henry Giroux has importantly and correctly criticized the theoretical shortcomings of Althusser's project in the context of eductation. See especially Theory and Resistance in Education and Education Still Under Siege for these crucial criticisms. Despite Althussers' shortcomings his insights about state power offer distinct tools for the present historical juncture. 18. This is not to discount the systematic ways the U.S. waged war on the third world from the end of World War Two to the present particularly in Central America, but from the end of the Vietnam War and the coinciding rise of neoliberalism. 19. See Kenneth J. Saltman and David Gabbard, Education as Enforcement: The Militarization and Corporatization of Schools (New York: Routlege, 2003). From public schools made into military academies to JROTC to a rising punitive culture of discipline this phenomenon is only increasing particularly as the U.S. military becomes desperate to fill its ranks. 20. David Harvey, The New Imperialism. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 141–142). 21. See Carl Boggs, Imperial Delusions. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). Henry Giroux, Proto-Fascism in America, Henry Giroux, Abandoned Generation, Kenneth Saltman and David Gabbard, Education as Enforcement. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein's authoritarian Iraq is in part about its replacement by a system of mechanisms designed for authoritarian corporate control not its replacement by a participatory democratic system. This is confirmed across the political spectrum as Pentagon planner Thomas P. M. Barnett celebrates the “Pentagon's New Map,” Esquire March, 2003 as a plan for global integration under the rules of corporate-dominated global trade agreements and organizations, an understanding shared by the New York Times' Thomas Friedman in his “Flat Earth” thesis or assailed on the left by Vandana Shiva, “The Polarised World of Globalization” Znet, May 28, 2005, among others. 22. The surging culture of religious right-wing populism, irrational new age mysticism, and endless conspiracy theorizing appear to symptomatize a cultural climate in which neoliberal market fundamentalism has come into crisis as both economic doctrine and ideology. Within this climate private for-profit knowledge-making institutions including schools and media are institutionally incapable of providing a language and criticism that would enable rational interpretation necessary for political intervention. Irrationalism is the consequence. Not too distant history suggests that this can lead in systematically deadly directions. 23. See Kenneth J. Saltman, Collateral Damage: Corporatizing Public Schools—A Threat to Democracy. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000). 24. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.” Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 25. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.” Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. Jackie Spinner, “Iraq: Operation Iraqi Education” Washington Post, April 21, 2003. 26. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.” Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 27. Mary Ann Zehr, “Schools Open in Iraq, After Two-Week Delay” Education Week 24, n7, Oct 13, 2004, p. 6–7. 28. This is how the Center for Public Integrity describes her teaching past. 29. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.” Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 30. Jackie Spinner, “Iraq: Operation Iraqi Education” Washington Post, April 21, 2003. 31. Vice President Cheney headed Haliburton and continued to benefit economically from the company. Haliburton's subsidiaries include Bechtel. Condaleeza Rice worked for Chevron which named an oil tanker after her. Iraq rebuilding administration shifted to the National Security Agency under Rice and Chevron received early large oil contracts following the invasion. 32. Staff, “The Spoils of War: Cleaning Up,” The Economist, April 3, 2003. 33. Joel Russell, “Public Policy Benefits Providers,” Hispanic Business, 25, n6 June 2003. 34. For my use of the term imperialism I draw on the work of David Harvey, The New Imperialism, Douglas Stokes' essays, Ellen Meiskins Wood, Capitalist Imperialism, Michael Parenti's Against Empire as well as Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism. These more and less nuanced versions of Empire emphasize that while the nation-state may be weakened by the deregulatory rules of the post-fordist economy, they emphasize the tensions between the extra-national interests of a transnational capitalist class and the wielding of national power for economic advantage by military action against other nations. Parenti writes, “By “imperialism” I mean the process whereby the dominant poitico-economic interests of one nation expropriate for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another people.” (1) The term imperialism, long derided in mass media as little more than a loony left marker of conspiracy theory and rejected as illegitimate scholarship in academia has only recently again begun to be taken seriously across the political spectrum as a traditional conservative isolationism joins progressive and radical left criticism of the neoconservative plans for U.S. global military control. 35. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.” Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11, 5. 36. Jackie Spinner, “Operation Iraqi Education.” 37. Jackie Spinner. 38. William Blum, Killing Hope, Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 2004, p. 290. 39. William Blum, Killing Hope, Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 2004, p. 293. 40. Blum, 292. 41. Blum, 304. 42. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.” Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 43. William I. Robinson, What to Expect from U.S. “Democracy Promotion” in Iraq, New Political Science, Vol. 26, No. 3, September: 441–447. 44. Robinson. 45. See the important work of Paul Farmer on the history of Haiti and the European and U.S. legacy of exploitation of it. 46. John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, “The Torturers' Lobby.” Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995. 47. Stephen Horblitt, “The State of Leadership: Haiti” in Leadership in the Carribean, Working Paper, Editor Joyce Hoebing, Policy Papers on the Americas, Volume VII Study 5, September 25, 1996, CSIS Americas Program. 48. Stephen A. Horblitt, 27. 49. Stephen A. Horblitt, 27. 50. Haiti Information Project, “Aristide's Lavalas Puts UN Duplicity to the Test in Haiti”, ZNet, March 6, 2005, Available at www.zmag.org. 51. William Robinson, “Globalization, the world system, and democracy promotion in U.S. foreign policy” Theory and Society 25: 615–665, 1996, p. 619. 52. USAID Haiti/Creative Associates International, Haiti Media Assistance and Civic Education Project, Year 2, 2002–2003, p. 1. 53. USAID Haiti/Creative Associates International, Haiti Media Assistance and Civic Education Project, Year 2, 2002–2003, p. 5. 54. See the important work of Robert W. McChesney on media and democracy such as Rich Media, Poor Democracy, The Global Media, and The Problem of the Media. 55. USAID Haiti/Creative Associates International, Haiti Media Assistance and Civic Education Project, Year 2, 2002–2003, p. 4–5. 56. Highlights: Creative Associates International, Inc. Available at www.caii.com/CAIIStaff/Dashboard_GIROAdminCAIIStaff/Dashboard_CAIIAdminDatabase/highlights1.htm 57. USAID Haiti/Creative Associates International, Haiti Media Assistance and Civic Education Project, Year 2, 2002–2003, Appendix. 58. “Who's Who Among Haiti's New Rulers?” Available at www.OneWorld.net 59. Paul Farmer, “The Flooding and the Coup: An Interview with Paul Farmer” St. Petersburg Times, June 14, 2004. 60. Alice Blanchet, Opening of the Haiti Democracy Project, November 20, 2002, Haiti Democracy Project web page item #359 (http://www.haitipolicy.org). 61. Nancy San Martin, Haitians' Growing Discontent with Aristide May Force U.S. to Act” Miami Herald, August 19, 2002. 62. Nancy San Martin, Haitians' Growing Discontent with Aristide May Force U.S. to Act” Miami Herald, August 19, 2002. 63. Paul Farmer, “The Flooding and the Coup: An Interview with Paul Farmer” St. Petersburg Times, June 14, 2004. 64. Naomi Klein, “The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” The Nation, May 2, 2005, p. 10. 65. Though the Brookings Institution is regarded as a politically “centrist” think-tank it is clearly in favor of conservative educational privatization plans and counts as fellows a number of outspoken advocates of for-profit public schooling such as John Chubb the Chief Education Officer of The Edison Schools. This is discussed at length in Kenneth J. Saltman, The Edison Schools: Corporate Schooling and the Assault on Public Education, New York: Routledge, 2005. 66. Primary Sources, “Foreign Affairs: Iraq By the Numbers,” Atlantic Monthly, V294n1, p. 60, July/August 2004. 67. Primary Sources, “Foreign Affairs: Iraq By the Numbers,” Atlantic Monthly, V294n1, p. 60, July/August 2004. 68. Mary Ann Zehr, “Schools Open in Iraq, After Two-Week Delay,” Education Week 24, n7, Oct 13, 2004, p. 6–7. 69. Mary Ann Zehr, “Iraq Gets Approval to Control Destiny of School System,” Education Week, 4/14/04, V23i31, p. 1. 70. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.,” p. 2. Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 71. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.,” p. 2. Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 72. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.,” p. 2. Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 73. David Morris, “Criticism Grows of No-Bid Work for Iraq Reconstruction,” CongressDaily, April 16, 2003, p. 3. 74. CAII subcontracted Iraq rebuilding work with three of the four companies that were invited to bid but did not. These included Research Triangle Institute and DevTech Systems Inc. Research Triangle in turn subcontracts to CAII. CAII also subcontracts to American University, American Manufacturers Export Group, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Camp Dresser & McKee International and two non-profits led by Iraqi expatriates, American Islamic Congress and the Iraqi Foundation. 75. The Center for Public Integrity, “Windfalls of War: Creative Associates International Inc.,” p. 4. Available at http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=11. 76. Mary Ann Zehr, “World Bank Joins School Rebuilding Campaign,” Education Week, 4/14/2004, V23i31, p. 27. 77. See Rashid Khalidi, Footprints of Empire. New York: The New Press, 2004. 78. See Steven J. Klees, “The Implications of the World Bank's Private Sector (PSD) Strategy for Education: Increasing Inequality and Inefficiency” Draft, January 15, 2002 available at Citizens Network on Essential Services. Available at www.servicesforall.org 79. Mary Ann Zehr, “Iraq Gets Approval to Control Destiny of School System,” Education Week, 4/14/04, V23i31, p. 3. 80. Mary Ann Zehr, “Creative Associates Gets New Iraq Contract,” Education Week, 7/14/2004, V23i42, p. 17. 81. Mary Ann Zehr, “Schools Open in Iraq After Two-Week Delay,” Education Week, 10/13/2004, V24, Issue 7, p. 2. 82. Mary Ann Zehr, “Schools Open in Iraq After Two-Week Delay,” Education Week, 10/13/2004, V24, Issue 7, p. 2. 83. Valerie J. Brown, “Reconstructing the Environment in Iraq,” Environmental Health Perspectives, V112n8, June 2004, p. A464. 84. Mary Ann Zehr, “Iraq Gets Approval to Control Destiny of School System,” Education Week, 4/14/04, V23i31, p. 1. 85. Mary Ann Zehr, “Creative Associates Gets New Iraq Contract” Education Week, 7/14/2004, V23i42. 86. USAID's website has a number of links to a number of programs highlighting its emphasis on privatizing public sector provision. There are explicit programs for development of private sector involvement in education while the neoliberal ideology informing the perspective of USAID celebrates liberalization and privatization of service sector. 87. Alex Molnar, Glen Wilson, and Daniel Allen, “Profiles of For-Profit Educational Management Companies: Fifth Annual Report” (Tempe, AZ: Commercialism in Education Research Unit at Arizona State University, January 2003). Available at www.schoolcommercialism.org 88. Robin Fields, “Iraq Ministry of Education Withholds Approval for Private Assyrian School,” The Los Angeles Times. Available at www.aina.org 89. Mary Ann Zehr, “Iraq Gets Approval to Control Destiny of School System,” Education Week, 4/14/04, V23i31, p. 1. 90. Naomi Klein, “The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” The Nation, May 2, 2005, p. 9.