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Politics : foreign affairs, unchaperoned -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (193)	9/1/2004 3:56:23 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 261

Yep, Halliburton and Bechtel are waging war against people all over the planet.

To: American Spirit who wrote (193)	9/1/2004 4:00:10 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 261

Bechtel sleaze: In 2000, the government of Bolivia privatized its water industry and awarded a large water contract for Bolivia's 3rd-largest city, Cochabamba, to a Bechtel subsidiary named Aguas del Tunari (which was formed for that purpose). Shortly thereafter, the company tripled the water rates in that city, an action which resulted in protests and rioting. Despite the Bolivian police's attempts to quell the rioting, the situation continued to deteriorate. Amidst Bolivia's nationwide economic collapse and growing national unrest over the state of the economy, the Bolivian government was forced to withdraw the water contract. In 2001, Bechtel filed suit the Bolivian government for $25 million in lost profits. The continuing legal battle has attracted attention from anti-globalization and anti-capitalist groups. In early 2003, the Boston Globe launched an investigation into Bechtel's role in massive cost overruns and accounting irregularities in Boston's Big Dig project totaling over $1 billion. The Globe, along with the Associated Press, filed papers requesting that Massachusetts Turnpike Authority make public the results of all Bechtel's performance audits related to the Big Dig. Bechtel sought a preliminary injunction to block the release of the documents, but the superior court judge in the case denied Bechtel's request on April 11, 2003, opening the way for public release of the documents. Bechtel has long had close ties to the American government. From 1974 to 1982 George Schultz, former Secretary of Treasury and future Secretary of State, was president and director. As Secretary of State, Schultz sent Donald Rumsfeld to Iraq to discuss with Saddam Hussein a Bechtel contract for an oil pipeline to Jordan. In 1988 Bechtel was awarded a contract to build a chemical plant in Iraq, but construction was halted with the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. On April 17, 2003, following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, USAID awarded a $680 million reconstruction contract to Bechtel. This placed Bechtel in the spotlight along with other American firms like Halliburton who have come under intense international scrutiny for receiving no-bid contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq. Like most large American companies, Bechtel has contributed large amounts of money to United States politicians (over a million dollars in campaign contributions between 1999 and 2002). The company has particularly close ties with the current U.S. administration, and critics in both the U.S. and allies like Britain have questioned the process by which the U.S. awards Iraq contracts to American companies. On May 5, 2003, The New Yorker ran an article revealing that the bin Laden family has invested $10 million in The Fremont Group, a private equity fund owned by the Bechtel family (the fund was formerly called Bechtel Investments). encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com