fappy
Active member
...of the American corporate machine.
makes me fucking sick to my stomach. how can anyone still support this pathetic excuse for a war??
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m47991&hd=&size=1&l=e
One would think
that Iraqi farmers, now prospering under "freedom" and "democracy,"
would be able to plant the seeds of their choosing, but that choice,
under little-known Order 81, would be illegal.But
first, it is important to set the context. Most people have never heard
of the infamous "100 Orders," but they help explain why the majority of
Iraqis remain opposed to foreign occupation. The 100 Orders allow
multinational corporations to basically privatize an entire nation, and
this degree of foreign and private control has not been witnessed since
the days of the British East India Company and its extraterritoriality
treaties.
A few examples of the 100 Orders are illuminating:
Back
to one of the most blatant orders of all: Order 81. Under this mandate,
Iraq's commercial farmers must now buy "registered seeds." These are
normally imported by Monsanto, Cargill and the World Wide Wheat
Company. Unfortunately, these registered seeds are "terminator" seeds,
meaning "sterile." Imagine if all human men were infertile, and in
order to reproduce women needed to buy sperm cells at a sperm bank. In
agricultural terms, terminator seeds represent the same kind of
sterility.
Terminator
seeds have no agricultural value other than creating corporate
monopolies. The Sierra Club, more of a mainstream "conservation"
organization than a radical "environmentalist" one, makes the exact
same case:
"This
technology would protect the intellectual property interests of the
seed company by making the seeds from a genetically engineered crop
plant sterile, unable to germinate. Terminator would make it impossible
for farmers to save seed from a crop for planting the next year, and
would force them to buy seed from the supplier. In the third world,
this inability to save seed could be a major, perhaps fatal, burden on
poor farmers." (2)
What
makes this Order 81 even more outrageous is that Iraqi farmers have
been saving wheat and barley seeds since at least 4000 BC, when
irrigated agriculture first emerged, and probably even to about 8000
BC, when wheat was first domesticated. Mesopotamia's farmers have now
been trumped by white-smocked, corporate bio-engineers from Florida who
strive to replace hundreds of natural varieties with a handful of
genetically scrambled hybrids.
Where
does such hubris come from? It comes from the entire mission
surrounding the invasion of Iraq, which, upon closer inspection, had
been planned years in advance by a faction of "neo-cons" who adopted
Leon Trotsky's glorification of the state, his theory "permanent
revolution," and his goal of exporting revolution worldwide. The
neo-con revolution aims to alter the economic, political and cultural
foundations of nations on the other side of the planet (rejecting
old-fashioned notions of self-determination, popular sovereignty and
even the nation-state system). This mission includes the transformation
of agriculture and the establishment of "food control" over local
populations.
Order 81
fits into this revolutionary program, and it is quite diabolical upon
closer inspection. First, it forces Iraq's commercial farmers to use
registered terminator seeds (the "protected variety"). Then it defines natural seeds as illegal (the "infringing variety"), in a classic Orwellian turn of language.
This
is so incredible that it must be re-stated: the exotic genetically
scrambled seeds are the "protected variety" and the indigenous seeds
are the "infringing variety."
As Jeffrey Smith explains, author of Order 81: Re-Engineering Iraqi Agriculture:
"To
qualify for PVP [Plant Variety Protection], seeds have to meet the
following criteria: they must be 'new, distinct, uniform and stable'...
it is impossible for the seeds developed by the people of Iraq to meet
these criteria. Their seeds are not 'new' as they are the product of
millennia of development. Nor are they 'distinct'. The free exchange of
seeds practiced for centuries ensures that characteristics are spread
and shared across local varieties. And they are the opposite of
'uniform' and 'stable' by the very nature of their biodiversity." (3)
Order
81 comes with the Orwellian title of "Plant Variety Protection." Any
self-respecting scientist knows, however, that imposing biological
standardization accomplishes the exact opposite: It reduces
biodiversity and threatens species. So Order 81 comes with an Orwellian
title and consists of Orwellian provisions.
Jeffrey
Smith peels away the layers of mischief behind Order 81, finding it
nonsensical that six varieties of wheat have been developed for Iraq:
"Three will be used for farmers to grow wheat that is made into pasta; three seed strains will be for 'breadmaking.'
Pasta?
According to the 2001 World Food Programme report on Iraq, 'Dietary
habits and preferences included consumption of large quantities and
varieties of meat, as well as chicken, pulses, grains, vegetables,
fruits and dairy products.' No mention of lasagna. Likewise, a quick
check of the Middle Eastern cookbook on my kitchen shelves, while not
exclusively Iraqi, reveals a grand total of no pasta dishes listed
within it.
There can
be only two reasons why 50 per cent of the grains being developed are
for pasta. One, the US intends to have so many American soldiers and
businessmen in Iraq that it is orienting the country's agriculture
around feeding not 'Starving Iraqis' but 'Overfed Americans'. Or, and
more likely, because the food was never meant to be eaten inside Iraq
at all…" (4)
Just
in case Iraqi farmer can't read, Order 81 enforces the new monopoly on
seeds with the jackboot. Order 81 makes this clear in its own text,
buried at the bottom of the document, as is most screw-you fine print:
"The
court may order the confiscation of the infringing variety as well as
the materials and tools substantially used in the infringement of the
protected variety. The court may also decide to destroy the infringing
variety as well as the materials and tools or to dispose of them in any
noncommercial purpose." (5)
Order 81 is about power and profit, but it disguises itself as humanitarian legislation.
Topping
it all off, the entire document puts on rather magisterial airs. It was
signed by L. Paul Bremer himself, with his own hand, and presumably
with his own pen:
"Pursuant to my authority as Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority…"
Like the Roman Proconsuls, Paul Bremer also spent a year in the provinces, governing the so-called barbarians…
makes me fucking sick to my stomach. how can anyone still support this pathetic excuse for a war??
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m47991&hd=&size=1&l=e
One would think
that Iraqi farmers, now prospering under "freedom" and "democracy,"
would be able to plant the seeds of their choosing, but that choice,
under little-known Order 81, would be illegal.But
first, it is important to set the context. Most people have never heard
of the infamous "100 Orders," but they help explain why the majority of
Iraqis remain opposed to foreign occupation. The 100 Orders allow
multinational corporations to basically privatize an entire nation, and
this degree of foreign and private control has not been witnessed since
the days of the British East India Company and its extraterritoriality
treaties.
A few examples of the 100 Orders are illuminating:
- Order 39 allows for the tax-free remittance of all corporate profits.
- Order 17 grants foreign contractors, including private security firms, immunity from Iraq's laws.
- Orders
57 and 77 ensure the implementation of the orders by placing
U.S.-appointed auditors and inspector general in every government
ministry, with five-year terms and with sweeping authority over
contracts, programs, employees and regulations. (1)
Back
to one of the most blatant orders of all: Order 81. Under this mandate,
Iraq's commercial farmers must now buy "registered seeds." These are
normally imported by Monsanto, Cargill and the World Wide Wheat
Company. Unfortunately, these registered seeds are "terminator" seeds,
meaning "sterile." Imagine if all human men were infertile, and in
order to reproduce women needed to buy sperm cells at a sperm bank. In
agricultural terms, terminator seeds represent the same kind of
sterility.
Terminator
seeds have no agricultural value other than creating corporate
monopolies. The Sierra Club, more of a mainstream "conservation"
organization than a radical "environmentalist" one, makes the exact
same case:
"This
technology would protect the intellectual property interests of the
seed company by making the seeds from a genetically engineered crop
plant sterile, unable to germinate. Terminator would make it impossible
for farmers to save seed from a crop for planting the next year, and
would force them to buy seed from the supplier. In the third world,
this inability to save seed could be a major, perhaps fatal, burden on
poor farmers." (2)
What
makes this Order 81 even more outrageous is that Iraqi farmers have
been saving wheat and barley seeds since at least 4000 BC, when
irrigated agriculture first emerged, and probably even to about 8000
BC, when wheat was first domesticated. Mesopotamia's farmers have now
been trumped by white-smocked, corporate bio-engineers from Florida who
strive to replace hundreds of natural varieties with a handful of
genetically scrambled hybrids.
Where
does such hubris come from? It comes from the entire mission
surrounding the invasion of Iraq, which, upon closer inspection, had
been planned years in advance by a faction of "neo-cons" who adopted
Leon Trotsky's glorification of the state, his theory "permanent
revolution," and his goal of exporting revolution worldwide. The
neo-con revolution aims to alter the economic, political and cultural
foundations of nations on the other side of the planet (rejecting
old-fashioned notions of self-determination, popular sovereignty and
even the nation-state system). This mission includes the transformation
of agriculture and the establishment of "food control" over local
populations.
Order 81
fits into this revolutionary program, and it is quite diabolical upon
closer inspection. First, it forces Iraq's commercial farmers to use
registered terminator seeds (the "protected variety"). Then it defines natural seeds as illegal (the "infringing variety"), in a classic Orwellian turn of language.
This
is so incredible that it must be re-stated: the exotic genetically
scrambled seeds are the "protected variety" and the indigenous seeds
are the "infringing variety."
As Jeffrey Smith explains, author of Order 81: Re-Engineering Iraqi Agriculture:
"To
qualify for PVP [Plant Variety Protection], seeds have to meet the
following criteria: they must be 'new, distinct, uniform and stable'...
it is impossible for the seeds developed by the people of Iraq to meet
these criteria. Their seeds are not 'new' as they are the product of
millennia of development. Nor are they 'distinct'. The free exchange of
seeds practiced for centuries ensures that characteristics are spread
and shared across local varieties. And they are the opposite of
'uniform' and 'stable' by the very nature of their biodiversity." (3)
Order
81 comes with the Orwellian title of "Plant Variety Protection." Any
self-respecting scientist knows, however, that imposing biological
standardization accomplishes the exact opposite: It reduces
biodiversity and threatens species. So Order 81 comes with an Orwellian
title and consists of Orwellian provisions.
Jeffrey
Smith peels away the layers of mischief behind Order 81, finding it
nonsensical that six varieties of wheat have been developed for Iraq:
"Three will be used for farmers to grow wheat that is made into pasta; three seed strains will be for 'breadmaking.'
Pasta?
According to the 2001 World Food Programme report on Iraq, 'Dietary
habits and preferences included consumption of large quantities and
varieties of meat, as well as chicken, pulses, grains, vegetables,
fruits and dairy products.' No mention of lasagna. Likewise, a quick
check of the Middle Eastern cookbook on my kitchen shelves, while not
exclusively Iraqi, reveals a grand total of no pasta dishes listed
within it.
There can
be only two reasons why 50 per cent of the grains being developed are
for pasta. One, the US intends to have so many American soldiers and
businessmen in Iraq that it is orienting the country's agriculture
around feeding not 'Starving Iraqis' but 'Overfed Americans'. Or, and
more likely, because the food was never meant to be eaten inside Iraq
at all…" (4)
Just
in case Iraqi farmer can't read, Order 81 enforces the new monopoly on
seeds with the jackboot. Order 81 makes this clear in its own text,
buried at the bottom of the document, as is most screw-you fine print:
"The
court may order the confiscation of the infringing variety as well as
the materials and tools substantially used in the infringement of the
protected variety. The court may also decide to destroy the infringing
variety as well as the materials and tools or to dispose of them in any
noncommercial purpose." (5)
Order 81 is about power and profit, but it disguises itself as humanitarian legislation.
Topping
it all off, the entire document puts on rather magisterial airs. It was
signed by L. Paul Bremer himself, with his own hand, and presumably
with his own pen:
"Pursuant to my authority as Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority…"
Like the Roman Proconsuls, Paul Bremer also spent a year in the provinces, governing the so-called barbarians…
