Shutting Down the War Machine
Protesting Bechtel, War Profiteer | Prev | Next
See also References

The week of actions against Bechtel began on Sunday, June First, with teach-ins in San Francisco and the University of California at Berkeley organized by Direct Action to Stop War. It continued with outreach in public locations like subway stations where people concerned about Bechtel and its role in war and nation-building reached out to workers in San Francisco and Oakland with leaflets, discussion, and street theater.

The week continued with Congressional contact day when people nationwide phoned, FAXed, and emailed their representatives to demand that the conduct of the war on Iraq and ensuing awards to huge corporations to reconstitute Iraq be made a public concern accountable to the American and Iraqi peoples.

The action culminated in protest at Bechtel headquarters in San Francisco and blockades to shutdown the building for one day with nonviolent acts of civil disobedience. The Federal administration has terrified its citizens by painting an image of Iraq as a loaded gun aimed at the U.S. Yet after battering and killing people in that same country which could mount little defense, the U.S. immediately began a secret, unaccountable reformation of Iraq that, it seems certain, will enormously enrich giant U.S.-based corporations, but certainly not ordinary Americans or Iraquis.

References below enumerate the facts. They spell out a history of corporate activities, including Bechtel's, that show U.S. military acting on behalf of corporations to turn Iraq into a giant hiring hall, to profit by exploitation of Iraq, and to control other economies dependant on Iraqi oil.

The critism of Bechtel is not based on a claim of misguided will. Death and destruction on a global scale aren't motivated by evil hearts in the bodies of fictious personalities like corporations. Something has gone wrong with our social contract. Institutions, like Bechtel, can exist only if they expand relentlessly and control labor and productive resources for their own aggrandizement. The machinery behind war is the root cause. Next

REFERENCES:
• Bechtel web site, www.bechtel.com
• "Bechtel wins giant Iraq contract,", BBC News, April 17, 2003
• "Bechtel's long game in the Gulf,", BBC News, April 22, 2003
• "Bush 'buried' critical report." The Bush Administration reportedly buried a report commissioned by the US Treasury which predicted a budget deficit of over $44 trillion and called for tax rises. BBC News, May 29, 2003
• Direct Action to Stop War
• Direct Action Fact Sheets on Bechtel:
1) Bechtel Profits From Destruction, 2) Bechtel's Dubious Connections, 3) Bechtel's Nuclear Mess, 4) Bechtel's Taxpayer Abuse, 5) Bechtel's Water Grab, 6) Bechtel in Iraq, and 7) Corporate Invasion of Iraq, Bechtel's Rebuilding Contract
• Bechtel: Profiting from Destruction, why the corporation invasion of Iraq must be stopped, collaborative report by Corpwatch, Global Exchange, and Public Citizen
• Behind the Invasion of Iraq, by Research Unit for Political Economy, Monthly Review Press, 2003
• Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You, by Norman Solomon, Reese Erlich, Howard Zinn, Sean Penn, Context Books, 2003
• Imperialism without colonies, by Harry Magdoff, Monthly Review Press, 2003, summarized in Monthly Review, May 2003, "'Imperial America' and War," by John Bellamy Foster
• SF Teach-in, June 1, 2003, titled, Stopping Bechtel, the corporate invasion of Iraq and the Middle East, and Bush's drive for empire, Speakers were Reese Erlich, journalist; Antonia Juhasz, Direct Action to Stop War, Ian Zabarte; the Shoshone Nation; Loni Butler, Chemist and member of IFPTE, local 21; Alex Sakulich, Seeds of Peace; and Lori Naire, Women's Strike for Peace.
• UCB Teach-in titled, Bechtel. Speakers were Loni Nadine, Women's Strike for Peace; Ian Zabarte, the Shoshone Nation; and Tara Dorabji, Tri-Valley CAREs.
NOTE: Teach-ins were recorded as MP3 sound files with pictures of the speakers. Files of both teach-ins are available on CD for $4 per CD from Joseph Woodard
• The Militarization of America's Universities,, !Escrache! media collective, UC Santa Cruz, published by UC Santa Cruz Press Center, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz,CA 95064

Mass Non-violent Action to STOP THE WAR MACHINE | Prev | Next