The following is mirrored from its source at
http://www.vshiva.net/aticles/bechtel&blood.htm.
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                        Bechtel And Blood For Water:
               War As An Excuse For Enlarging Corporate Rule
                            by Dr. Vandana Shiva
                               25 April 2003
          Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology



                   * Non-transparency and corruption
                   * Add Water: a Recipe for Conflict
                   * Bechtel in Bolivia
                   * Bechtel in India
                   * Conclusion



     Within a month of the start of the war against Iraq, the real
     victor is emerging. With its $680 million contract for
     "rebuilding" Iraq, Bechtel is the winner of this war.

     The U.S. led war first bombed out Iraq's hospitals, bridges, water
     works, and now U.S. corporations are harvesting profits from
     "reconstructing" a society after its deliberate destruction. Blood
     was not just shed for oil, but also for control over water and
     other vital services. In a period of declining economic growth and
     a slowing down of the globalization juggernaut, war has become a
     convenient excuse for enlarging corporate rule. If W.T.O. is not
     enough, use war.

     This seems to be the underlying economic and political philosophy
     of the neo-conservatives ruling the U.S. and trying to rule the
     world. What the past month has revealed is the total and rotten
     corruption on which the new world order is based.

     As Bob Herbert states in "Ask Bechtel what war is good for"
     (Herald Tribune, April 22, 2003, p6)

          Somewhere George Shultz is smiling

          Shultz, whose photo could appropriately appear next to
          any definition of the military-industrial complex, was
          secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan and has
          been a perennial heavyweight with the powerful Bechtel
          Group of San Francisco, where he previously reigned as
          president and is now a board member and senior
          counselor.

          Under the headline "Act Now; The Danger Is Immediate,"
          Shultz, in an op-ed article in The Washington Post last
          September, wrote: "A strong foundation exists for
          immediate military action against Hussein and for a
          multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq after he is gone."

          Gee, I wonder which company he thought might lead that
          effort.

          Last week Shultz's Bechtel Group was able to demonstrate
          exactly what wars are good for. The Bush administration
          gave it the first big Iraqi reconstruction contract, a
          prized $680 million deal over 18 months that puts
          Bechtel in the driver's seat for the long-term
          reconstruction of the country, which could cost $100
          billion or more.

          Bechtel essentially was given a license to make money.
          And that license was granted in a closed-door process
          that was restricted to a handful of politically
          connected U.S. companies.

     Saddam's dictatorship is being replaced by U.S. corporate
     dictatorship -- with little distinction left between those who sit
     in board rooms and those who sit in the White House, Pentagon and
     other institutions of government. Indeed, the distinction between
     Saddam's dictatorship and the occupying US forces appears slimmer
     by the day. On May 12, Patrick Tyler and Edmund Andrews of the New
     York Times described "Teams of administrators have had to live in
     isolation behind razor wire and machine-gun positions at Mr.
     Hussein's Republican Palace. . . . Iraqis could not easily enter
     the palace compound to meet with the Americans."

     And the poster boy for the US corporate takeover is Bechtel.
     Bechtel enterprises, a privately held firm, is the world's largest
     construction company, having been involved heavily in the US's
     construction boom in the post WWII period. They are responsible
     for over 19,000 projects in 140 countries, with operations on all
     continents (save Antarctica). Bechtel is involved in over 200
     water and wastewater treatment plants around the world, in large
     part through its subsidiaries and joint ventures such as
     International Water (which is partnership of Bechtel, Edison of
     Italy, and United Utilities in the UK).

     The executives at Bechel have thirsted for control over the
     ancient land of Iraq for over 20 years. It was in 1983 that Donald
     Rumsfeld, as the "special Middle East envoy" of the Reagan
     administration, met with Sadam Hussein to discuss a massive
     pipeline project proposed by Bechtel. Saddam Hussein, who had a
     habit of preferring French, German, and Russian companies,
     eventually rejected the Bechtel proposal. Now again Donald
     Rumsfeld has "taken care of business" for Bechtel. As Secretary of
     Defense, he has overseen the war to remove the obstacle of Saddam
     Hussein, and Bechtel is rolling in.


     Non-transparency and corruption

     China's non-transparency has been highlighted in the case of SARS.
     The US' lack of transparency is highlighted by Bechtel. The way in
     which Bechtel got the largest contract for Iraq's reconstruction
     is a glaring example of how corporate rule is established. Whether
     it is water privatization contracts in Bolivia or India, or
     "reconstruction" contracts for Iraq, secrecy and lack of democracy
     and transparency characterizes the methods for gaining markets and
     profits.

     In the case of the contract for rebuilding Iraq, US laws governing
     agency procurement were suspended. The standard competitive
     bidding process was ignored, and the US Agency for International
     Development (USAID) hand picked a few select companies to bid on
     the contract. Of these, only two actually bid, with Bechtel
     emerging victorious.

     People are already questioning the process USAID and the
     Department of Defense used in awarding contracts for work in
     Iraq.  The US General Accounting Office has launched a sweeping
     investigation, and a group of Senators have introduced a bill
     requiring the agencies involved to disclose more details.  As
     examples from around the world show, this secretive collusion of
     huge corporations and government bureaucrats is not an isolated
     phenomenon.

     "Free trade" is clearly totally unfree. It is coercive, corrupt,
     deceitful and violent. Corporate rule is not an alternative to
     Saddam style dictatorship. It is replacing one dictatorship with
     another -- the dictatorship of corporations which have hijacked
     state power and use military might to grab markets.

     The intrinsic dishonesty and deceit of corporate dictatorship
     seems to not be apparent to those who impose it in the name of
     "operation Iraqi freedom". This seems to arise from a fundamental
     confusion about freedom and creation.

     When the artifacts of the 7000 year history of Mesopotamia were
     destroyed in the presence of the U.S. military, Ronald Rumsfeld's
     naïve and irresponsible comment was -

          Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes
          and do bad things.

     On this logic, the terrorists who crashed planes into the World
     Trade Centre towers were exercising a legitimate freedom to
     "commit crimes and do bad things". And on the same logic that made
     the U.S. military presence a mute spectator allowing Baghdad and
     its historical treasures to be looted, the U.S. had no right to
     start a war against terror after 9/11.

     Just as there is confusion about what human freedom entails among
     those trying to create "freedom" for others through war, there is
     confusion about reconstruction and "destruction". What happened in
     Iraq was destruction. It is being referred to as reconstruction.
     Innocent people were killed, thousands of years of a
     civilization's history was destroyed and erased. Yet, Jay Garner
     -- the retired U.S. General appointed unilaterally as head of
     office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, talked
     about "giving birth to a new system in Iraq".

     Bombs do not give "birth" to society. They annihilate life. New
     societies are not "born" by destroying the historical and cultural
     legacy of ancient civilizations.

     Maybe the choice to allow destruction of Iraq's historical legacy
     was a pre-requisite for this illusion of giving "birth" to a new
     society.

     Maybe the rulers in U.S. do not perceive these violations because
     their own society was built on the genocide of native Americans.
     Annihilation of the "other" seems to be taken as "natural" by
     those controlling power in the world's lone super power. Maybe the
     perception of the deliberate destruction of a civilization and
     thousands of innocent lives as a "birthing" process is an
     expression of the western patriarchy's "illusion of creation"
     which confuses destruction with creation and annihilation with
     birthing. The "illusion of creation" identifies capital and
     machines, including war machines as sources of "creation" and
     nature and human societies, especially non-western societies as
     either dead, inert, passive, or dangerous and cannibalistic. This
     worldview creates the "white man's burden" for liberating nature
     and our societies even with violence, and seeing it as the "birth"
     of freedom.

     Whatever the deeper roots of establishing an economy of loot and
     violence in Iraq in the name of "re-construction", the
     profiteering from war by corporations like Bechtel confirms that
     war is globalisation by other means. For people worldwide the
     challenge is to converge the energies of the anti-globalisation
     movement, the peace movement and movements for real democracy.

     Our challenge is to reclaim the real meaning of freedom, rescuing
     it from the degradations it has been subjected to by the
     doublespeak of "free trade" and the doublespeak of "operation
     Iraqi Freedom". The "freedom" being sought through free trade
     treaties and rules of W.T.O. and the "freedom" resulting from the
     Iraq war is freedom of corporations to profit. This freedom is a
     license to loot. And corporate loot and corporate freedom is
     destroying democracy and freedom for people and societies.

     The new freedom people seek worldwide is freedom from corporate
     dictatorship facilitated and enabled by militarism and war.

     This is as important for citizens of Iraq and other countries
     invaded by global corporations under the protection of military or
     "free trade" treaties, as it is for the citizens of the U.S.


     Add Water: a Recipe for Conflict

     The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are a water lifeline in the arid
     Middle East. The alluvial plain between the two rivers was the
     cradle of ancient civilizations including Assyria, Babylonian, and
     Sumer. Millions in the ancient land of Mesopotamia have been
     supported by its waters. Today these rivers represent a precious
     resource for the people of the region.

     They are already in conflict over these two rivers. Turkey's
     massive dam building projects, especially the GAP project, have
     upset the riparian states of Syria and Iraq. With over half the
     flow of both rivers generated in Turkey, the dams put the country
     in a position to regulate river flow. Syria and Iraq have worried
     that Turkish irrigation and electricity generation needs will
     determine how much water flows to them, and have disputed Turkish
     claims to guarantee a minimum flow. UNESCO recently announced at
     the a body of scientific mediators would be formed to handle
     international water disputes such as these.

     The introduction of Bechtel, a company which has a history of
     aggravating water conflict (see Bolivia below), into the situation
     is a recipe for disaster. Its contract for rebuilding Iraq
     includes, but is not limited to "municipal water systems and
     sewage systems, major irrigation structures, and the dredging,
     repair and upgrading of the Umm Qasr seaport." Bechtel's past
     record of pushing the privatization of water has destabilized
     local communities in other parts of the world. In the parched
     middle-east, with an already seething international water dispute,
     an attempt by a multinational water giant to grab this precious
     resource could spark ongoing water wars.


     Bechtel in Bolivia

     The most famous tale of Bechtel's corporate greed over water is
     the story of Cochabamba, Bolivia. In the semi-desert region, water
     is scarce and precious. In 1999, the World Bank recommended
     privatisation of Cochabamba's municipal water supply company
     (SEMAPA) through a concession to International water, a subsidiary
     of Bechtel. On October 1999, the Drinking Water and Sanitation Law
     was passed, ending government subsidies and allowing
     privatization.

     In a city where the minimum wage is less than $100 a month water
     bills reached $20 a month, nearly the cost of feeding a family of
     five for two weeks. In January 2000, a citizen's alliance called
     "La Coordinara" de Defense del Aqua y de la Vida (The Coalition in
     Defense of Water and Life) was formed and it shut down the city
     for 4 days through mass mobilisation. Between Jan and Feb 2000,
     millions of Bolivians marched to Cochabamba, had a general strike
     and stopped all transportation]. The government promised to
     reverse the price hike but never did. In February 2000, La
     Coordinara organised a peaceful march demanding the repeal of the
     Drinking Water and Sanitation Law, the annulment of ordinances
     allowing privatization, the termination of the water contract, and
     the participation of citizens in drafting a water resource law.
     The citizens' demands, which drove a stake at corporate interests,
     were violently repressed. Coordinora's fundamental critique was
     directed at the negation of water as a community property.
     Protesters used slogans like "Water is God's gift and not a
     merchandise" and "Water is life".

     In April, 2000 the government tried to silence the water protests
     through market law. Activists were arrested, protestors were
     killed, and media was censored. Finally on April 10, 2000, the
     people won. Aquas del Tunari and Bechtel left Bolivia. The
     government was forced to revoke its hated water privatisation
     legislation. The water company Servico Municipal del Aqua Potable
     y Alcantarillado (SEMAPO) was handed over to the workers and the
     people, along with the debts. In summer 2000, La Coordinadora
     organised public hearings to establish democratic planning and
     management. The people have taken on the challenge to establish a
     water democracy, but the water dictators are trying their best to
     subvert the process. Bechtel is suing Bolivians, and the Bolivian
     government is harassing and threatening activists of La
     Coordinadora.

     If we go by the lessons from Bolivia, Bechtel will try and control
     the water resources, not just the water works of Iraq. If the
     international community and the Iraqis are not vigilant, Bechtel
     could try and own the Tigris and Euphrates, as it tried to "own"
     the wells of Bolivia.


     Bechtel in India

     In India Bechtel was involved with Enron in the infamous Dabhol
     power plant project. This disastrous project involved the
     suppression of local protests, circumventing environmental
     regulations, and secret deals worth billions of dollars. The
     parties in the state government elections even fought over this
     issue, with the party opposed to the deal winning the election,
     but then turning around and cutting a new contract for the power
     plant anyway.

     Bechtel is now involved in water privatisation of
     Coimbatore/Tirrupur as part of a consortium with Mahindra and
     Mahindra, United International North West Water. As with other
     water privatisation contracts, the contract has not been made
     public. Business that can only be carried out behind closed doors,
     under secrecy, does not promote freedom. It extinguishes both
     freedom and democracy.


     Conclusion

     War has been an excuse for profiteering in the past. Bechtel's
     behavior in World War II helped inspire Ralph Casey of the US
     General Accounting Office to state, "at no time in the history of
     American business, whether in wartime or in peacetime, have so
     many men made so much money with so little risk, and all at the
     expense of the taxpayers, not only of this generation but of
     generations to come."

     The Bechtel contract, and the Iraq war which created the
     opportunity for profits in "reconstruction," have thrown up issues
     of lack of democracy transparency and accountability in the way
     economic and political decisions are made by a U.S. administration
     which has become indistinguishable from U.S. corporations. A
     regime in which governments became instruments of corporate
     interest is no longer a democracy. Instead of governance being "of
     the people, by the people, for the people", governance becomes "of
     the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations".

     For democracy to thrive a "regime change" is urgently needed, in
     the U.S., in Iraq, and in every country where corporate
     dictatorship is getting entrenched.



   Bechtel presence in various               Description of work
        Projects in India

 Bechtel International Inc.       High Pressure water jetting of steam
 Dhabol Power Phase-II, Guhagar,  service pipelines
 Ratnagiri Dist.

 Tanda Thermal Power Station      High pressure water jetting cleaning for
                                  surface condenser for 4 x 110 mw plant

 GAIL, Aurraiya                   Pipeline cleaning with Rotating Hose
                                  Device Water Jetting

 Consolidated fibres & Chemicals  High pressure water jetting cleaning of
 Ltd. Durgachak, Haldia, West     Evaporator and Preheater tubes
 Bengal

 Indian Oil Corporation, Baruni   High pressure water jetting cleaning of
 Refinery, Baruni, Bihar          heat exchangers

 Supreme Petrochem Ltd. Nagothane Chemical cleaning of Heat exchanger and
                                  Reactor

 Toyo Engg. India Ltd.            Pre-Commissioning Chemical Cleaning and
                                  Nahta Furnaces/Steam Drums Exchangers and
                                  Pipeline System At Haldia Petrochemical
                                  Complex.

 Reliance Petroleum Ltd.          Non-conventional flushing of small dia &
                                  large dia Pipeline with hydrojetting &
                                  quick flush technology

 Dhabol Power Corp. Ltd. Dhabhol, Pre Commissioning Chemical Cleaning,
 Maharashtra                      Hydro jetting of condensate system.

 GAIL UPPC Dist Aurya (U.P.)      Chemical cleaning and passivation of
                                  pipeline equipments at UPPC, PATA Auriya

 ONGC, BPA BA Platform, South     a) On line chemical cleaning of cooling
 Bassein Field (Through Essar Oil water circuits of gas processing platform
 Ltd.)
                                  b) Chemical cleaning of plate heat
                                  exchangers and cooling water receiving
                                  console.

 Reliance Industries Ltd. Naptha  Pre-commissioning of cleaning services
 cracker plant, Hazira            using silent steam blowing, slug flush
                                  and hydroblasting of captive power plant
                                  and NGL/Naptha Cracker Plant.

 Gas Authority of India Ltd.      Pre-commission Chemical Cleaning of
 Vijaipur, Guna, M.P.             pipelines & vesselslinked with Propane
                                  Refrigeration Compressor of PRU II

 Naval Dockyard, Mumbai           Chemical cleaning of Boiler

 Mangalore Refineries &           Chemical cleaning of Surface Condensers.
 Petrochemicals Ltd. Mangalore

 Indian Farmers Fertilizer Corp.  Chemical cleaning of Syn-loop Boiler
 Ltd., Aonia Unit, P.O. IFFCO,    supplied by L & T
 Township

 Cyprus Petroleum Refinery        Pre-commissioning Chemical of 4 Nos.
 Nicosia, Cyprus                  Power Plant Boilers.

 National Organic Chemical        Chemical cleaning of Boiler, Heat
 Industries Ltd. Mumbai           Exchangers during shut down

 Dubai Electricity Co.            Post operational Chemical cleaning of 5
                                  Nos. 500 M.W. Boilers.

 Hindustan Fertilizers            Chemcal cleaning of internal surface of
 Cooperation Ltd. Namroop, Assam  tube bundles for HFCL on behalf of L&T
                                  using Citric Acid

 Adarsh Chemicals & Fertilizer    Chemical cleaning of Maleic/Anhydride
                                  Reactor

 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizer a) Pre-commissioning of Chemical Cleaning
 Ltd. Methyl Amine Project        of Deaerator, Waste Heat Boiler, Feed
                                  Water System
                                  b) Pre-commissioning of Chemical Cleaning
                                  of Equipment And Heat Exchangers.

 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizer Chemical cleaning of Boilers, Deaerator
 Ltd - (Ammonia Rehabilitation    and Boiler Feed Water System in Ammonia
 Project)                         Rehabilitation Project & Methanol
                                  Revamping Project

 Enron Oil and Gas India Ltd.     High pressure water jetting & corrosion
                                  monitoring and specially chemicals.

 Larsen & Toubro Ltd.             Chemical cleaning

 Sterlite Industries India Ltd.   Carbon brick lining

 Nestle                           Epoxy Grout

 McDonalds                        Epoxy Grout

 BHEL                             Structural Rehabilitation

 ONGC                             Glass Flake Lining

 Reliance                         Carbon brick lining

 NDDB                             Epoxy Grout.



                       Bechtel Subsidiaries' Names

                   Subsidiary's Name         Country

                   Aguas del Tunari          Bolivia
                   Aqua                      Poland
                   Bechtel (UK)              UK
                   Bechtel Ltd.              UK
                   Bechtel Nevada            USA
                   Bechtel Water Technology  UK
                   Catchment                 UK
                   Catchment (Tay)           UK
                   Dabhol Power              India
                   EDS/Bechtel               USA
                   Guayaquil Interagua       Ecuador
                   Intergen                  UK
                   Intergen (China)          China
                   Intergen (Colombia)       Colombia
                   Intergen (Mexico)         Mexico
                   Intergen (Philippines)    Philippines
                   International Water       UK
                   Manila Water Company      Philippines
                   Samalayuca Power          Mexico
                   Sofiiska Voda             Bulgaria
                   Tallinn Water             Estonia
                   US Water                  USA





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