A very interesting book and a New York Best Seller, it I have chosen another non-fiction to read onboard my long-haul flights. It's a paperback version of a 2004 book, Confession of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. An editor at Malaysian Business has been pestering me to read this book for months. I find it a rivetting read.
"...highly-paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organisations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources.
Their tools include fradulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalisation."
Perkins confessed that the book, conceived in 1982, was disrupted four times and delayed for over 22 years because he was threatened, and bribed, to get him kill the idea. But his only child, college-graduated Jessica, coaxed him into it despite his fears over the threats and bribes.
"Don't worry, dad. If they get you, I'll take over where you left off. We need to do this fo rthe grandchildren I hope to give you someday!" The daughter said. And the book came out in 2004, published by Berrett-Koehler, after the manuscript was reviewed by declined by a reputable international chain.
According to Perkins, the EHMs are the heralds of people who walk the corridors of Monsanto, General Electric, Nike, General Motors, Wal-Mart and the likes.
What is more alarming is that, when the EHMs failed, another type of hitman will take over -- the CIA.
When the CIA fail, in come the jackals, and heads of states are overthrown or die in violent "accidents".
And when even the jackals fail, then the old models resurface. Young Americans are sent in to kill and die. As in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Countries mentioned by Perkins in his capacity as an EHM are Indonesia (1963-1971), Panama and Saudi Arabia (1971-1975), Panama, Iran, Columbia and Ecuador (1975-1981), and Ecuador, Panama, Iraq and Venezuela (1081-Present).
The common string that ties all this economic espionage together is, among others, one commodity: Oil.
To those uninitiated into the EHMs, they often dress up as professionals from international consulting firms. They will convince developing countries to accept enourmous loans, often to see them default in a short number of years. The American government and international "aid agencies" will then request their "pound of flesh". Depending on the luck of the respective countries, the flesh may include access to natural resources, military cooperation, and political support that encompasses partisan votes in the UN.
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