Task Force for Business and Stability Operations

The Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) is a division of the U.S. Department of Defense established in 2006 to stabilize the post-invasion Iraqi economy, reduce unemployment, and attract foreign investors to Iraq. In 2009, TFBSO expanded operations to include Afghanistan. TFBSO founder and former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul Brinkley described TFBSO stating: “We do capitalism. We’re about helping companies make money.”

As US troops withdrew from Iraq, TFBSO ended its operations in that country.

TFBSO founder Paul Brinkley joined Department of Defense in 2004 as co-director of the Business Transformation Agency. Before joining the Defense Department, he was Chief Information Officer and senior vice president at JDS Uniphase and served on the economic development advisory council to the Fujian Provincial Government in the People's Republic of China. Brinkley left TFBSO in June 2011 and soon after was named Chief Executive Officer of North America Western Asia Holdings, his self-created firm.

Although the initial authorization of TFBSO only pertained to innovations in the military's contracting methodology, by 2009, TFBSO operations in Iraq included foreign private direct investment; restarting state-owned enterprises, banking and financial networks; restoration of industrial capacity; corporate development; procurement assistance; private sector development; agricultural revitalization; and communications networks.

TFBSO invited several major international corporations to Iraq to understand potential investment opportunities in the country. Prominent invitees included:

...
Wikipedia