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In this collaborative report we look at Bechtel's history of operations in the water, nuclear, energy and public works sectors.
Survelliance technologies raise serious questions about invasions of privacy and violations of civil liberties. They also cost a lot of money. Taxpayers fund this massively beefed up security. Private corporations and even individuals are also paying large amounts to boost their own security procedures in light of the war on terrorism. Naturally, someone is also profiting off this boom.
Corporate watchdogs, poker aficionados and concerned citizens will all have reason to delight in The Ruckus Society's newest bid to expose the ''War Profiteers'' who benefit from combat at the expense of Iraqis and Americans alike, engagingly rendered on a harmless-looking set of playing cards.
The nation's leading defense contractors are gobbling up small technology firms in a consolidation binge driven by the Pentagon's demand that future military conflicts be dominated by high-tech warfare.
I suppose it's old news at this point that the Bush administration lied us into the Iraq war and that the cost of this mess will be fully realized by the next generation when Bush leaves office with the biggest budget deficit in U.S. history.
Calling for transparency in multi-million dollar government contracts, Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., Friday strongly urged that congressional hearings be held to examine in detail the no-bid contract awarded to a Halliburton Corporation subsidiary to extinguish Iraqi oil well fires.
Bechtel has also played a major role in construction for the fossil fuel economy and the mining industry. Today as we lurch into a world where climate change has become a daily reality because of our over-consumption of fossil fuels Bechtel must take a share of the blame having built quite a few of the nation's as well as the world's major oil and natural gas production facilities and pipelines.
In November 2001 Bechtel sued the country of Bolivia for $25 million for canceling a contract to run the water system of Cochabamba, the third largest city in the country, after local people took to the streets to protest massive price hikes for water.
In part II of this special series, we look at the environmental and human rights impacts of just a few Bechtel ventures in nuclear, water and mining.