capiitalism
mainly US and British companies.
Private contractors were heavily used during reconstruction in Iraq. For example, In Iraq in 2003, KBR provided 70,000 contractors to support the US in Iraq. Private firms specialise in a particular role which enables them to respond faster and more cost-effectively compared to military or government workers. This can lead to contractors being more efficient and innovative compared to national forces. (Jackson et al, 2007). These firms often recruit a lot of former soldiers, police men and civil servants as they generally pay significantly higher wages. A major benefit of this is that the new employees have already been trained to a high standard and have experience within the industry. Contractors often avoid sanctions even when they violate human rights e.g. US companies were involved in the torture of Iraqi detainees. They use the government contractor defence which effectively means they can’t be held liable for their actions as they are operating under the exclusive control of the US government. This leads to contractors having a lack of accountability.
Th School of the Americas (SOA) is a US combat training school for Latin American soldiers established in 1946. The school was set up with the intention of preventing the spread of communism in Latin America and encouraging capitalism instead. SOA has trained over 70,000 soldiers and leaders from Latin America. SOA taught its students about right-wing military suppression and torture. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped and assassinated by those trained at the SOA. For example, many Chilean graduates were involved with the running of Chile’s dictatorship era from 1973 to 1990. The overthrowing of the government in 1973 was backed by the CIA. Thousands of Chileans went missing or were murdered under the regime. The regime implemented neoliberal economic reforms (e.g. privatisation, widespread deregulation) which were advised by a team of Chilean free-market economists known as the ‘Chicago Boys’ who were educated at American universities. (Brender, 2010). Many of the Chicago Boys trained under Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago.
By Harry Ringrose
Co-Founder and Editor
President of Cardiff University Economics Society
Third year Economics and
Finance BSc (Econ) student