Company With Shady Past Coming To Iceland

A company that has been involved with the Contras and the Mujahedeen is coming to Iceland to give a lecture on foreign policy.

Creative Associates International (CAII), DV reports, intend to visit Iceland soon. They hope to hold a lecture for young academics and politicians on the subject of the Middle East.

While the CAII says their aim is “to support people around the world to realize the positive change they seek,” the company has been involve in some dubious projects in the past.:

One example of one of the prominent projects CAII has worked on, involved them providing support to “the Contra guerillas in Nicaragua” in 1989 which highlight(s) continuities in the role of education in aggressive U.S. foreign policy interventions in ways favorable to U.S.-based transnational capital” (Saltman, 2006: 28). Since the start of the ‘‘Reagan revolution’’ in ‘‘democracy promotion’’ ((see the National Endowment for Democracy)) CAII has been involved in “projects that merged development work with political, military, and economic influence strategies on the part of the U.S.” (Saltman, 2006: 26). In 1991, CAII was also involved with the coup against democratically-elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide (Saltman, 2006: 40). Since September 2001, Creative has been working on a USAID-funded Haitian media assistance and civic education program.

“…the United States, through the Agency for International Development (USAID), contracted with… Creative Associates International, Incorporated (CAII) to lead the rebuilding of education. School buildings, textbooks, teacher preparation, curriculum planning, administration—all would be implemented by CAII directly or by firms subcontracted by CAII. In 2003, the company came under close scrutiny by congress and the press for receiving its Iraq contracts without competitively bidding for them. The no-bid contract with CAII was one of a number of no-bid contracts benefiting U.S. corporations including Bechtel (which has been subcontracted by CAII to build schools), Halliburton, and others that profited from rebuilding in Iraq.

It is still unknown when the company plans to come to Iceland, or even if the Icelandic government has approved their arrival.