Confirmation on Bechtel Contract in Iraq

posted by nmb on Thursday April 17, @11:44AM

http://money.cnn.com/2003/04/17/news/companies/bechtel/index.htm

Bechtel wins Iraq contract

Private contractor wins State Dept. contract, worth up to$680M, to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.

April 17, 2003

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -

"...The U.S. State Department has tapped Bechtel Corp. to be the primary contractor to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, giving it a contract that could be worth up to $680 million, the department said Thursday.

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San Francisco-based Bechtel, a private corporation, whose board includes former Secretary of State George Shultz, will do the initial work of rebuilding the "vital elements of Iraq's infrastructure," including electrical grids, municipal water and sewage systems.

"Restoration of the country's key infrastructure is a priority of the U.S. government's effort to strengthen Iraq's economy and ensure delivery of essential public services to the Iraqi population," the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department agency handling the first stages of Iraq's rebuilding, said in a press release.

The first phase of the work will be worth $34.6 million, though the contract provides for funding of up to $680 million in the next 18 months, "subject to Congressional authority and availability," USAID said. It's by far the largest of eight contracts USAID will be awarding during the first stages of Iraq's reconstruction.

Several other companies have at different times been listed as possible competitors for the contract, either as primary bidders or as parts of teams, including Houston-based Halliburton Co. (HAL: Research, Estimates) -- of which Vice President Dick Cheny was once CEO -- Parsons Corp., Washington Group International Inc. (WGII: Research, Estimates), Louis Berger Group and Fluor Corp. (FLR: Research, Estimates)

Halliburton has said it hopes to win subcontracting work, and the USAID said subcontractors would work on "a number" of Bechtel's tasks under the contract.

Halliburton, Washington Group and Fluor have already won contracts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform other work in and around Iraq.

Bechtel's contract includes repairing airports and helping Stevedoring Services of America, another private company, repair the port of Umm Qasr.

Later, Bechtel's duties could include repair of hospitals, schools, selected ministry buildings, irrigation structures and transport links.

"Through all of its activities, [Bechtel] will also engage the Iraqi population and work to build local capacity," the USAID said..."

Related Sources:

Bechtel in the GFP-911 Section

How Bechtel, Halliburton and Carlyle profits from war against Iraq

Special GNN-Interview with Jim Vallette on Bechtel

Read the complete interview at http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc1510.html

CounterPunch Special Report:
Secret Bechtel Documents Reveal: Yes, It Is About Oil

April 9, 2003

War a tragedy for some, boon for others (Bob Herbert, NY Times)

The Star

Ultimate Insiders (Bob Herbert)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/opinion/14HERB.html

"...In December 1983 Donald Rumsfeld was sent to the Middle East as a special envoy in an effort to jump-start the peace process in Lebanon and advance a presidential initiative for peace between Arabs and Israelis.

One of his stops was Baghdad, where he met with Saddam Hussein. That was unusual. Mr. Rumsfeld was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Iraq since 1967, when Iraq and other Arab nations severed relations with the U.S., which they blamed for Israel's victory in the Six-Day War.

The primary goal of Mr. Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad was to improve relations with Iraq. But another matter was also quietly discussed. The powerful Bechtel Group in San Francisco, of which Secretary Shultz had been president before joining the Reagan administration, wanted to build an oil pipeline from Iraq to the Jordanian port of Aqaba

Disinfopedia on Bechtel

MediaTransparency.org on Bechtel

Financed by money from Bechtel Construction, one of the largest privately-held companies in the U.S. Closely tied to the oil companies, Bechtel holds the contracts for building most of the oil wells in Saudi Arabia. First Stephen Bechtel, Sr., and then Stephen Jr. "...cultivated political power at the national and international levels," with Stephen Jr. developing close ties to the Reagan Administration. Reagan's Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Schultz were both former executives with Bechtel. Forbes estimates both Junior's personal wealth as well as that of his son Riley at $1.4 billion apiece, making them among the country's sixty richest individuals. Bechtel has funded a wide range of conservative think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation.

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