From the start of George Bush’s (and now Obama’s) wars for oil and Empire in Iraq and Afghanistan, OCA has been tracking the machinations of Monsanto, a well-known war profiteer (Agent Orange in Vietnam and currently massive Roundup spraying in Colombia), to take advantage of the current occupations. Monsanto’s moves include pushing the toxic herbicide, glyphosate (Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide), for poppy eradication in Afghanistan, promoting GMO seeds, and forcing Iraq to allow the monopoly patenting of plants and seeds–essentially preventing farmers from saving and exchanging traditional heirloom seed varieties.
Monsanto’s latest business opportunity in the US’s occupied territories has been created by the National Guard’s “Agri-Business Development Teams.” The Missouri National Guard, which has maintained Agri-Business Development Teams in Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan since fall 2007, hosted Safi Mohammed Hussein, agriculture director of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, on a recent visit to Missouri. While in St. Louis, Safi toured the headquarters of biotech giant Monsanto.