DISASTER CAPITALISM

"Last summer, in the lull of the August media doze, the Bush administration's doctrine of preventive war took a major leap forward. On August 5 the White House created the office of the coordinator for reconstruction and stabilisation, headed by Carlos Pascual, the former ambassador to Ukraine. Its mandate is to draw up elaborate "post-conflict" plans for up to 25 countries that are not, as yet, in conflict. According to Pascual, it will also be able to coordinate three full-scale reconstruction operations in different countries "at the same time", each lasting "five to seven years".

Fittingly, a government devoted to perpetual pre-emptive deconstruction now has a standing office of perpetual pre-emptive reconstruction. Gone are the days of waiting for wars to break out and drawing up plans to pick up the pieces. Pascual's office keeps "high risk" countries on a "watch list" and assembles rapid-response teams made up of private companies, NGOs and members of thinktanks - some, Pascual told an audience at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, will have "pre-completed" contracts to rebuild countries that are not yet broken."

By Naoim Klein, read full artcile here...