Stop Bechtel and the Corporate Invasion of Iraq

Press Release

Contact: Joshua Clover 510.206.6751

Week of Action against Bechtel and the Corporate Invasion of Iraq
June 1 June 5

Local and National Activists Use Week of Action to Demand that
''Bechtel Must Be Held More Accountable, Not Made More Profitable.''

San Francisco On Sunday, June 1, Direct Action to Stop the War kicks off
a week of activities culminating in protests at Bechtel's headquarters in
San Francisco and offices throughout the country. Activists will expose
Bechtel's role in both instigating and profiting off of the war against
Iraq at the expense of both the Iraqi and American people. The activist
demand that the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people take precedence
over corporate profits in the rebuilding effort and that the corporate
invasion of Iraq and the Middle East be stopped.

''The military invasion should not be followed by an even more brutal
corporate invasion,'' said Joshua Clover of Direct Action to Stop the War,
''the needs of the Iraqi people must come first.''

Bechtel's $680 million contract includes upgrading Iraq's water and sewer
systems. Activists are concerned that if Bechtel's contract is extended
to selling water, just as Halliburton's was for oil, the people of Iraq
will suffer. ''Bechtel's record in providing water, as well as other
services throughout the world, is one of unsustainable and destructive
practices that have reaped permanent human, environmental and community
devastation, it is a model that should not be allowed to be replicated in
Iraq,'' said Daniel Stauber of Direct Action to Stop the War.

Sunday, June 1 is a day of Religious Outreach and Education. Activists
will gather at places of worship to distribute information on Bechtel's
human rights abuses. For example, the Mourning Mothers affinity group
will gather at Grace Cathedral and the Prayer and Resistance affinity
group will do out-reach at yoga studios. Friar Louie Vitale will discuss
Bechtel during his morning service at St. Boniface Church in San
Francisco.

There will be a teach-in at 7:00pm at the United Unitarian Church at
Filmore and Geary Streets in San Francisco called, ''Stopping Bechtel, the
corporate invasion of Iraq and the Middle East and Bush's drive for
Empire.'' Speakers include Lonnie Butler of IFPTE Union Local 21 which
successfully ousted Bechtel from San Francisco's public water systems last
year; Reese Erlich, Foreign Correspondent and co-author (with Norman
Solomon) of ''Target Iraq: What the news media didn't tell you;'' Ian
Zabarte of the native American Western Shoshone National Council,
organizing against Bechtel's proposed nuclear dump at Nevada's Yucca
Mountain; Antonia Juhasz of the International Forum on Globalization, an
expert on Bechtel and corporate globalization; Alex Sakulich, of Seeds of
Peace, organizer against the Nevada Nuclear Test Site which Bechtel
manages; and Lori Nairne of Global Women's Strike, organizers of weekly
protests at Bechtel's headquarters since the war against Iraq began.

Tuesday, June 3 will be a Day of Direct Education and Outreach. Activists
will meet at BART stops in San Francisco and Oakland to distribute
materials, engage in conversations and perform street theater.

On Wednesday, June 4, Public Citizen, Global Exchange and CorpWatch will
release a report, ''Bechtel's Global Trail of Tears: Stopping the Corporate
Invasion of Iraq,'' which details Bechtel's long history of corporate
abuses and calls for real humanitarian assistance in Iraq. This will also
be a National Congressional Call-in Day with activists around the nation
calling their Members of Congress demanding legislation that supports
Iraqi self-determination and humanitarian needs instead of corporate war
profiteering.

On Thursday, June 5, activists will hold protests at Bechtel's world
headquarters and offices across the country. In San Francisco, they will
meet at 7:00am at Bechtel for a day of nonviolent direct action, dancers,
speakers and community leaders in on-going struggles against Bechtel
around the world.

Detailed information on all the actions can be found at ActAgainstWar.org

• 106 Money & Politics
• 107 Energy