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Quite odd-if one is to hire companies based on their track record-for Bechtel to have received this contract. Bechtel has botched past projects in the U.S. and elsewhere. In Boston, what promised to be a $2.5 billion job for the infamous tunnel project became $14.6 billion, costing taxpayers $1.8 million a mile. In California, Bechtel installed one of the nuclear power plant reactors backwards.
In Bolivia, Bechtel was part of a consortium which took control of the water supply and increased prices by an average of 35 percent. Many in the city of Cochabamba could not afford to pay and street protests led to several deaths. Bechtel pulled out, but is suing the Bolivian government for $25 million for canceling the contract. "Bechtel is not a company that has a sound social or environmental track record," said Juliette Beck of the public interest watchdog group Public Citizen. "It should not be involved in the humanitarian reconstruction effort in Iraq.. Bechtel and privatization go hand in hand."
"Their record depicts that trend-they privatize the service, they raise the price and only those who can afford it get it," said Antonia Juhasz, a project director at the International Forum on Globalization think tank in San Francisco. "If one were to define a core democratic decision a people could make, the treatment of things like water and power and media would be it," said Benjamin Barber, author of the newly released book Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism and Democracy. "It's a pretty basic part of government." [19]
Research Triangle Institute: Not so harmless [20]
The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) of North Carolina was awarded a contract by USAID on April 11, 2003. The contract is for $7.9 million initially, and up to $167.9 million over 12 months. RTI's contract provides for the "strengthening of management skills and capacity of local administrations and civic institutions to improve delivery of essential municipal services such as water, health, public sanitation and economic governance; includes training programs in communications, conflict resolution, leadership skills and political analysis." No uproar on this contract, though. RTI had given no money to the Republican partners. No RTI board members are tied to the Pentagon. Cheney is not on the RTI payroll. Seems rather innocent, right?
Not at all.
RTI's president and CEO, Victoria Franchetti Haynes, openly sees RTI as a vehicle for advancing corporate interests. Under her leadership, RTI has aggressively pursued relationships with pharmaceutical, health care and biotechnology industries, in addition to many, more benign, government and non-profit contracts.
Let's look again at the RTI contract. One of the major overarching issues is RTI's work in building allegedly "strong, indigenous, democratic governments." Is this merely PR to smooth relations between the Iraqi people and the occupying power? Each step of RTI's project-"identifying indigenous leaders," "training administrators in political analysis"-opens a door for smuggling in pro-U.S. propaganda and generally making Iraq's political climate more hospitable to U.S. interests.
The second, related issue is whether, in the process of "designing and implementing programs to enhance or improve basic human services," RTI will advance the interests of the people or the interests of the business elite (foreign and domestic). RTI will likely push heavily for corporate control as opposed to public control of municipal services, just as they did in Eastern Europe. Furthermore, RTI has historically received lots of U.S. government contracts to work in "rebuilding" countries undergoing a major "transition." Internationally, some of RTI's biggest contracts over the last decade have been to assist former Soviet Bloc countries with "pro-market reforms" in their "transition to capitalism." The fact that those countries are now in economic shambles, with governments plagued by scandal and corruption, might be cause for concern.
Their basic policy is to push for privatization-turning over government programs and services to corporations. In South Africa, this privatization agenda has been a total disaster. For example, a huge French multinational took over the water services during the late 1990s, and quickly hiked up rates and turned off water supplies to entire poor townships, sparking riots and strikes. A recent report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists claims those efforts to privatize water systems in South Africa led to a cholera outbreak, as people unable to pay higher rates started drinking from polluted streams, ponds and lakes. The outbreak killed nearly 300 people. [21]
If RTI pushes for the same thing in Iraq-and there is no reason to believe that RTI will act differently there-then RTI will be ensuring U.S. (and to a lesser extent, European) control over Iraqi society long after the armies are gone. It is neoliberal occupation, but still occupation. Already, RTI is "identifying public water works specialists to provide short-term and long-term technical assistance in Iraqi water supply/distribution systems, and to provide Iraqi counterparts with the knowledge, skills and abilities to repair and sustain Iraqi water systems."
"The reason apartheid fell is because the whites didn't need it any more to maintain control," said one South African activist to Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies. "They just privatized everything, and who do you think runs the corporations? They didn't need apartheid anymore, they had capitalism." Iraq could be the next chapter in that story.
The context for all of this is the history of USAID, which contracted RTI. As an arm of the government, it largely engages in development projects that are in line with U.S. political and military interests. It has also long been criticized for having overly-close ties to corporate America, and its projects end up as tools to help businesses penetrate new markets. [22]
RTI also received a subcontract from USAID, via Creative Associates International in Washington, D.C., for "education system reform." This contract ignited much controversy when it was revealed that there were plans to rewrite Iraqi school textbooks-i.e., make them more pro-U.S. Reports conflict as to whether that aspect of the contract has now been cut or de-emphasized.
How RTI's activities play out on the ground should be closely monitored, and we need to not only focus on Bechtel and Halliburton and other large contracts, but vigilantly monitor RTI as well.
Other culprits to monitor:
DynCorp Aerospace Operations (UK), a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), awarded, by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, a $22 million contract-that could grow to $500 million-to "re-establish police, justice and prison functions in post-conflict Iraq." As noted by the Observer, "by hiring military contractors such as DynCorp, the U.S. government has found an effective way to conduct foreign policy by proxy and in secret. These proxies cannot be monitored, are effectively immune from all criminal sanctions, and are dangerously hard to control since they answer to corporate bosses, not military officials," (April 13, 2003). In Bosnia, DynCorp personnel were involved in sex slave trading of young girls as well as a number of other fraudulent acts. In Ecuador, farmers filed a class action lawsuit and charged that DynCorp recklessly sprayed their homes and farms, causing illnesses and deaths, and destroying crops.
The viciously anti-union Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) was awarded, by USAID, an initial contract of $4.8 million for the "provision of initial assessment of the Umm Qasr port in order to facilitate timely delivery of humanitarian supplies and other needed materials for reconstruction; development of improvement plans to overcome port-imposed constraints; hiring of port pilots to guide ships up the channel; facilitation of cargo-handling services such as warehousing, shipment tracking, refrigerated and other cargo storage; and coordination of onward transport of shipments from the seaport at Umm Qasr." SSA got this contract before the U.S. forces had even occupied the city.
Deconstructing more than just the economy
In addition to transforming the economy into a free-for-all for corporations, the U.S. plans to build three permanent military bases in Iraq. Clearly, these military bases will significantly limit any real Iraqi sovereignty, ensure that the pro-U.S. leader remains in power and limit true democratic struggles in Iraq. In addition, the bases will have far-reaching regional consequences, and further develop the military reach of the U.S. Empire.
The U.S. government also plans to change Iraq's position towards the Palestinians. The new Iraqi government, whenever the U.S. appoints it, will have to acquiesce to Israel, [23] open an oil pipeline through Israel [24] and relinquish support for the Palestinians. It is no coincidence that the first (and thus far only) foreign diplomatic mission that the U.S. troops invaded and ransacked, the first diplomats arrested and the first legally licensed weapons confiscated, were Palestinian.
In addition, 90,000 Palestinians are threatened with eviction in Iraq. Most of the displaced and threatened Palestinians are families from Haifa who were displaced in 1948, when the exclusively Jewish state of Israel was built on the land of Palestine. They cannot go back to their homes and lands in what is now Israel because the Israeli government does not recognize their legal right of return. They are not welcome because they are Christian and Muslim, and not Jews.
The similarities between Iraq and Palestine grow daily. Both people have the same demands: an end to the occupation, no theft of their natural resources and full respect of international law (including the right of return for the 6.5 million Palestinians.)
What to do?
There are numerous ways to examine this occupation of Iraq: through the lens of military occupation and drive for empire; the racism that allows the dehumanization of people; or the driving force of increased corporate power. All are accurate. The first two angles have been discussed thoroughly; corporate power-and its influences on foreign and domestic people-needs to be brought further into the discussion of Iraq.
So, what can be done about corporate power? What has been done before?
After the First World War, a Senate committee was formed under the leadership of Gerald Nye to investigate the activities of the munitions industry during the war. Public hearings before the Munitions Investigating Committee began on September 4, 1934. In the reports published by the committee it was claimed that there was a strong link between the American government's decision to enter the war and the lobbying of the munitions industry.
A more powerful historical example, is the use of excess war profits tax. During the Civil War, there was a public outcry in Georgia against profiteering from the war. Georgia's General Assembly responded by enacting a special profits tax. In 1917, the U.S. federal government adopted an excess profits tax, which continued in various forms and at increasing rates until 1921. It was revived by federal legislation during the Second World War and during the Korean War. The tax was imposed on the excess over a firm's peacetime earnings or over an arbitrarily decreed earnings rate. Great Britain also levied an excess profits tax from 1915-21, with a rate varying from 40 to 80 percent. During the era of the Second World War, Britain's excess profits tax was revived, with tax rates increased to 100 percent.
Presently in Congress, several senators have introduced the Sunshine in the Iraq Reconstruction Contracting Act of 2003, to bring transparency to the awarding of contracts. The act is far from sufficient, but a start. More importantly, the Berkeley city council passed a resolution urging "our Congress members in the House and Senate to introduce legislation calling for a high percentage tax on all excess profits on every contract dealing with U.S. military action in Iraq and/or the "rebuilding" of Iraq, including renegotiation of all such contracts made to include this tax." [25]
It's a start.
The Institute for Southern Studies has launched a War Profiteers Campaign to highlight and attack the various ways corporations are profiting from the death and destruction of war in Iraq-from multi-million dollar reconstruction contracts to Bush-connected corporations, to the looming privatization of oil, water and other industries in Iraq that are designed to ensure U.S./European multinational control of the country well after the military occupation ends. [26]
No real change can occur to end corporate power, domestically here in the U.S. and abroad, without demands from the people, without organizing.
The only liberation in Iraq is the "liberation" of Iraq's resources to U.S companies. The same companies that are stealing Iraq's resources, are stealing U.S. taxpayers' money, and moving for privatization of everything abroad and at home, from water to prisons. Both countries-Iraq and the U.S. (and others)-are being cut open for corporations. Here in the U.S., our streets are not-yet-run by the military. We are not shot at checkpoints. We are not under threat of a civil war. And many of us remain, however much we may hate it, the guardians [27] of this very military-industrial-congressional-prison complex that is robbing and killing in Iraq, and elsewhere.
As the guardians, let's revolt against this system.
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Notes
* Bio: Rania Masri is the director of the Southern Peace Research and Education Center, a project of the Institute for Southern Studies (www.southernstudies.org). She has articles published in the following books: Iraq: Its History, People, and Politics (2003); Iraq Under Siege (2002); and The Struggle for Palestine (2002). Contact her at rania@southernstudies.org for information on the War Profiteers Campaign. She has a doctorate from North Carolina State University. Born in Beirut, she currently lives in North Carolina.
1 Bob Graham, "I just pulled the trigger," London Evening Standard, June 19, 2003, available online at www.thisislondon.co.uk. Also note that these same soldiers, when they come home to the U.S., are more prone to committing domestic violence than their civilian counterparts, see Jon Elliston and Catherine Lutz, "Hidden Casualties: An epidemic of domestic violence when troops return from war," Southern Exposure, available online at www.southernstudies.org/backissues.asp.
2 See Arundhati Roy, Power Politics (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2001).
3 "Promoting privatization," February 3, 2003, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, available online at www.icij.org.
4 Tim Carney was the U.S. ambassador to Sudan and Haiti.
5 The breakdown of Iraqi companies and ministries is planned in three stages: those that could be privatized early (fast-track), those that "should" be held back and those that "should" be dissolved, or merged before they are sold.
6 See online www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/transcripts/_20030604.htm. It is very ironic, by the way, for Bremer to criticize Saddam Hussein's regime for "expending at least one-third of GDP on the military" when the current U.S. federal budget sets aside about 20 percent-almost $400 billion-for military expenditure. Iraq's total military expenditure was a tiny fraction of U.S. expenditure.
7 Read Bremer's remarks at the World Economic Forum, available online at usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/summit/text2003/0623bremer.htm.
8 A complete listing of the appointed "advisers" is available online on The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research Web site at www.transnational.org/pressinf/2003/pf183_AmericansInIraqPart3.html. See Jan Oberg, "Profiles of the Americans really Running Iraq," May 18, 2003.
9 Elizabeth Schulte, "Bush and his corporate pals rob Iraq. The cronyest capitalists in the world," Socialist Worker, May 9, 2003.
10 See Rohan Jayasekera, "U.S. military and free speech: Gives with one hand, takes away with the other," June 11, 2003, Index on Censorship, available online at electroniciraq.net/news/909.shtml; and Robert Fisk, "Censorship of the press: A familiar story for Iraqis," Independent, June 11, 2003, available online at www.independent.co.uk.
11 Mark Forbes, "'Dumb' bombs used to topple Saddam," The Age (Melbourne, Australia), June 3, 2003.
12 Ibid.
13 Also see Simon Jeffery, "War may have killed 10,000 civilians, researchers say," Guardian, June 13, 2003.
14 "Iraqis living in limbo struggle to keep hope alive," CARE, June 22, 2003, available online at www.care.org.
15 "One in five Iraqis suffers from chronic poverty: Survey," World Food Program, June 19, 2003, available at www.wfp.org.
16 Jim Krane, "U.S. announces creation of new Iraqi army," Associated Press, June 23, 2003.
17 Humeira Iqtidar, "Celebration in Iraqi streets," Znet, April 23, 2003, available online at www.zmag.org.
18 For example, see Stephen Shalom, "Iraq war quiz," Znet, March 26, 2003 and "The corporate invasion of Iraq: Profile of U.S. corporations awarded contracts in U.S./British-occupied Iraq," U.S. Labor Against the War, June 15, 2003, available online at www.uslaboragainstwar.org.
19 David Baker, "Debate rages over who will run Iraq's utilities. Privatization vs. public control emerges as key issue in shaping future of country," San Francisco Chronicle, June 8, 2003.
20 Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies, contributed most significantly to this section on RTI.
21 Baker.
22 For good background on the history of USAID, see Communications for a Sustainable Future Web site at csf.colorado.edu.
23 "Sources at the State Department said that concluding a peace treaty with Israel is to be 'top of the agenda' for a new Iraqi government, and Chalabi is known to have discussed Iraq's recognition of the state of Israel." Ed Vuillamy, "Israel seeks pipeline for Iraqi Oil," Guardian, April 20, 2003.
24 See Hoomam Peimami, "In the pipeline: More regime change," Asia Times, April 4, 2003, available online at www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED04Ak01.html and Akiva Eldar, "The pipeline to Haifa: Israeli minister dreams of Iraqi oil," CounterPunch, April 1, 2003, available online at www.counterpunch.org/eldar04012003.html.
25 Read more about the Cities for Peace Campaign on their Web site at citiesforpeace.org.
26 Contact the Institute for Southern Studies for more information about the War Profiteers Campaign at their Web site www.southernstudies.org or contact the author at rania@southernstudies.org.
27 This phrase-"guardians of the system"-is derived from Howard Zinn, who wrote in the conclusion of his book The Twentieth Century: A People's History: "The prisoners of the system will continue to rebel, as before, in ways that cannot be foreseen, at times that cannot be predicted. The new fact of our era is the chance that they may be joined by the guards. We readers and writers of books have been, for the most part, among the guards. If we understand that, and act on it, not only will our life be more satisfying, right off, but our grandchildren, or our great grandchildren, might possibly see a different and marvelous world."
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