Stop Bechtel's war profiteering. Stop the Bush Administration from taking money from our schools and communities to subsidize Bechtel - leavingdesperate human needs unmet in Iraq and the U.S. Lend your voice andactivism to on-going community struggles against Bechtel.

Two wars and over a decade of sanctions have crippled Iraq's infrastructure. It is imperative that the humanitarian needs of the Iraqipeople - particularly the right to self-determination - take precedencein the rebuilding effort.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration is putting U.S. corporate profitsover humanitarian needs, awarding a $680 million 18-month contract to the San Francisco-based Bechtel Corporation - a company with one of the worsthuman rights and environmental abuse records in the world, far morelikely to line its own pockets than meet the needs of the Iraqi people, acompany with intimate ties to the Bush Administration, and a company thathelped bring us into the war in the first place and is now profiting from it. This type of crony capitalism underscores the need to remove the control of Iraq's resources and reconstruction from the Pentagon and the Bush Administration and put it into the hands of the Iraqi people,humanitarian relief organizations and the United Nations.

Bechtel's contract includes rebuilding the drinking and waste watersystems in Iraq. A Bush Administration plan for "a broad-based MassPrivatization Program" of state-owned industries in Iraq may alsoinclude water - raising the specter of Bechtel seizing Iraq's water toincrease profits at the expense of the Iraqi people.

A few samples from Bechtel's record of putting profits over people provide reason for concern: Just over a year ago, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors canceled a contract with Bechtel for the management of the city's water systems upgrade. Bechtel was doingunnecessary and overpriced work and charged the city for tens ofthousands of dollars worth of personal expenses. Many also feared thatBechtel had its eye on privatizing the city's water.

After privatizing the water systems in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a Bechtel subsidiary made the price of water so expensive that many, particularly the poorest users, could no longer afford it. Bechtel then, at best, satstill while the Bolivian government met mass public protests with deadly force. In the end, the people of Cochabamba prevailed and the government canceled Bechtel's contract. In response, Bechtel is suing Bolivia for $25 million in lost profits.

In the 1980's, with the help of then Middle East envoy Donald Rumsfeld, Bechtel aggressively lobbied the Iraqi government to allow Bechtel tobuild an oil pipeline from Iraq to Jordan, while Hussein was simultaneously bombarding his own people and the people of Iran with chemical weapons. Hussein called off the deal. Now Hussein is out and Bechtel is in - this time, pumping water instead of oil.

For more on Bechtel, including ongoing community struggles, see upcoming DASW fact sheets atwww.actagainstwar.org.The corporate take-over of Iraq must be stopped. The needs of the people of Iraq and the U.S. must be met. It is time to act. Please join us.

FOUR DAYS OF ACTION AGAINST BECHTEL
AND THE CORPORATE INVASION OF IRAQ: June 1- June 5, 2003

JOIN US IN SAN FRANCISCO, WASHINGTON, DC
OR HOST ACTIONS IN YOUR COMMUNITY!

Sunday, June 1: Day of Religious Outreach and Teach-In. Outreach atchurches and other places of worship during the day and a teach-in in the evening to provide greater details on the issues outlined above.

Tuesday, June 3: Day of Direct Education and Outreach. Using creative street theater, educational materials, listening actions, etc. we willspread out throughout the Bay Area (nationally and internationally aswell) to share information on Bechtel and the issues described above. Wemay also hold additional teach-ins in the evening.

Wednesday, June 4: Day of Direct Action at Congressional and Federal Offices. Support (or demand) legislation opposing the rebuilding contractprocess of the Bush Administration and proposing positive alternativesthat provide for Iraqi self-determination and humanitarian needs andredirecting money to address the "war at home." We imagineevery form of peaceful activism including a national phone and fax day;visits to congressional offices; taking over congressional offices withsit-ins that may turn into on-the-spot teach-ins; protests at FederalBuildings and the White House and other forms of non-violent directaction.

Thursday, June 5: Day of Direct Action at Bechtel's World Headquarters, Offices and Sites. In San Francisco, we'll peacefully shutdown Bechtel'soffices, around the nation and the world, non-violent direct actions willtake place at other Bechtel locations.

Each of these events will advance the following goals:

1. Expose Bechtel's record of human rights, environmental, health andsafety and tax-payer abuses and links to the ongoing community campaignsagainst Bechtel;
2. Stop the Bush Administration's system of awarding contracts in Iraq that put the profits of U.S. corporations over the humanitarian needs andself-determination of the people of Iraq;
3. Explore and support positive alternative rebuilding proposals put forward by Iraqis, the United Nations and Members of Congress;
4. Stop the flow of billions of dollars from our schools and communities to subsidize the corporate invasion of Iraq, starting with the $680million for Bechtel;
5. Stop the Bush Administration from using a military invasion to impose an economic globalization agenda on Iraq without the consent of the Iraqipeople;
6. Stop the Bush Administration's Empire-Building agenda; and
7. BUILD ON THE POWERFUL GLOBAL RESISTANCE TO THESE ABUSES AND SUPPORT THE POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES THAT ALREADY EXIST!

You don't have to wait until June. Keep the pressure on Bechtel NOW! Hold your own teach-ins (we'll help), create art and street theater, contactelected officials, hold press conferences, write letters to the editor,join local communities in struggles against Bechtel and the war at home,join the global peace movement and help us organize the week of action!