They
have written that “American foreign and defense policy
is adrift… Does the United States have the resolve
to shape a new century favorable to American principles and
interests…” Project for a New America, statement
of principles, 1997.
A
combination of Big Corporations using big money, small-minded
people and enormous greed now rule a growing number of countries.
Behind a thin veneer of “development” and “free
trade” they scheme for ever expanding profits at the
expense of the public, the environment and global harmony.
Below
are a few of the huge monopolies that are awakening the once
slumbering masses with their increasingly bold misbehavior.
Bechtel
Corporation
It
is not surprising that Bechtel, one of the largest construction-engineering
companies in the country, got the lion’s share of contracts
for the reconstruction of Iraq. They’ve got pull. Their
CEO, Riley P. Bechtel, sits on Bush’s Export Council,
whose members give advice on new ways to make money for corporations
globally. They have a former Defense Secretary and a former
Secretary of State on their board of directors and their senior
vice president is a retired four-star general.
Bechtel
will rebuild much of Iraq’s basic infrastructure, i.e.
power grids, water and sewage systems. The US Agency for International
Development (USAID) has awarded Bechtel a total of $680 million
dollars for the rebuilding of Iraq, but many say that figure
could increase to as much as $20 billion. Despite promises
of sub-contracting to the Iraqi’s themselves (Shouldn’t
the people that live there prosper from the re-building of
it?!) Bechtel has used mainly British, U.S. and their allies
as sub-contractors (how cute the old and the new imperialism
unite for a common cause- it’s like Madonna and Britney
Spears!)
It
is no surprise that many are yelling favoritism over the awarded
contracts. All companies chosen have strong political ties
and many have been involved in scandals that should have automatically
taken them out of the running. In the past, Bechtel has cost
taxpayers millions in nuclear waste clean up (www.corpwatch.org)
and in a particularly “Duhhh” moment, Bechtel cost
the city of Boston $991,000 because its engineers forgot to
take into account an existing stadium when designing the Central
Artery/Tunnel Project, better known as the “Big Dig.”
(www.boston.com)
Halliburton
Co.
Halliburton
subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) has been under
scrutiny for its contract, awarded by the U.S. Army Corp of
Engineers, which put KBR in control of Iraq’s oil repair
and distribution. Among the cries of favoritism, Rep. Henry
Waxman, has been leading an investigation into KBR’s
billing for its gas distribution.
“From
the facts available to us, Halliburton seems to be inflating
gasoline prices at a great cost to American taxpayers. The
overcharging by Halliburton is so extreme that one expert
privately called it ‘highway robbery,” writes
Waxman. (corpwatch)
Halliburton
charges an average of $1.59 per gallon, adding a 2-7 percent
fee against this amount. Halliburton states this is fair and
competitive pricing, but others disagree. When asked about
these costs, Waxman’s experts were “stunned.”
By their estimation a reasonable transport cost would be around
10 to 25 cents per gallon. As of September 19th, the U.S.
has already paid Halliburton $300 million to distribute 190
million gallons of gas.
Halliburton,
like the other companies awarded contracts, has strong political
ties. Cheney was Halliburton’s CEO and is still receiving
an annual “deferred” salary of $162,392 for 2002
and $205,298 in 2001. Ray Hunt, a director at Halliburton,
is on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and
Lawrence agleburger, another Halliburton director, was the
secretary of state in the first Bush presidency.
Unocal
The
Caspian Sea is thought of to be the last massive untapped
oil reserve. Everyone, from Unocal to Gazprom, a Russian oil
company, was trying to devise ways to exploit this multi-billion
dollar possibility. Amid the flurry of companies busy devising
plans, Unocal began talks with the Taliban about building
a pipeline through Afghanistan. The fact that the Taliban
was an oppressive regime that had housed Osama bin Laden since
1995 was not entertained until two U.S. embassies were bombed
with bin Laden as the suspected culprit. Clinton responded
by bombing Afghanistan ending the lucrative deal. All corporations
involved in the race for the last, vast oil reserve, were
out billions. What should they do?
“A
new president wouldn’t hurt.”
In
the wake of a new administration, talks of a pipeline started
back up. The Taliban was back, offering bin Laden as a way
of easing the political tension. All the way until 9/11, Bush
was still talking to the Taliban. Of course, we all know what
happened next: In a Third Reich-esk moment, the Patriot Act
was passed (written before 9/11) suspending many of our constitutional
rights. Bush and Co. were also able to slip in a mandate allowing
companies to drill in Alaska (what did that have to do with
terrorism?) and Bush started his war(s). After overthrowing
the Afghanistan government, Bush appointed Zalmay Khalizad,
a former Unocal consultant as the American ambassador to Afghanistan.
On December 27, 2001, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan
signed a pipeline deal. Finally Unocal got its oil. Wasn’t
that tidy?
MCI/
World Com
Arguably
the most egregious example of corporate corruption, World
Com was fined $500 million for an admitted $11 million accounting
fraud. In recent months and with government assistance ($700
million in government contracts), MCI/ WorldCom has emerged
from its bankruptcy with a new name, hoping we all have short
memories. In May, the government was highly criticized for
its $45 million contract to build Iraq’s cellular telephone
network for the 10,000 military and aid officials based in
Iraq. The contract was not even open for bidding and many
believe it will give MCI a head start in rebuilding Iraq’s
wireless network. Understandably, the competition was perturbed.
“We
don’t understand why MCI would be awarded this business
given its status as having committed the largest corporate
fraud in history…,” said Len Lauer, head of Sprint
Corp’s wireless division. Motorola spokesman, Norm Sandler
added, “I was curious about it, because the last time
I looked, MCI’s never built out a wireless network.”
Employees
and investors have lost billions. Despite this, WorldCom has
been rewarded. The $500 million fine has been essentially
laundered into lucrative contracts from the government. In
August, after pressure from competitors, the General Service
Administration (GSA) suspended further federal contracts with
WorldCom, but critics fear this suspension will only last
long enough to placate the masses. After a short while, many
say, the company will resume business with the U.S.
While
the government slaps corporations hands for billion dollar
frauds, the banking industry is trying to pass the “Bankruptcy
Reform Act,” which will make it more difficult for ordinary
folks, like us (of which only 3% file unlawful bankruptcies),
file for bankruptcy.
