Firestarter
Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2016
- Messages
- 5,272
The Bush-associated Hallliburton and Carlyle Group are relatively well-known by "conspiracy theorists", while the similarly operating largest construction company in the USA Bechtel Corporation (and the Bechtel family) is relatively unknown.
Bechtel made over $100 million off of World War II.
Bechtel's projects include petroleum and chemical plants, nuclear weapons facilities, oil pipelines, mining and metal projects, and water management.
REVOLVING DOOR
Here are some of Bechtel's friends in high places.
In the 1940s, Bechtel started a fruitful relationship with the CIA, with close ties between the CIA's deputy director, Alan Dulles, and Steve Bechtel's financial advisor, John Simpson.
John A. McCone, Steve Bechtel's close friend and WW II ship-building associate became President Eisenhower's chairman of the Atomic Energy. McCone later became CIA director under Kennedy and Johnson.
From 1981 to 1983, Bechtel's former vice-president W. Kenneth Davis was Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy.
William Casey, who was a consultant for Bechtel, served in 3 Republican administrations: Nixon, Ford, and campaign manager and CIA director for Reagan.
In 1983, formerly president and director of Bechtel, Secretary of State George Shultz orchestrated the discussions for Bechtel's work in Iraq. Shultz had previously been President Nixon's Secretary of Treasury. In 2003, he was again a board member and senior counselor of Bechtel. Shultzwas also a member of the Hoover Institution.
Caspar Weinberger was Bechtel’s general counsel from 1975 to 1981, before becoming president Reagan's secretary of defense.
Donald Rumsfeld, under the guideance of Shultz, lobbied Iraq for Bechtel in the 1980s.
See Iraqi president Saddam Hussein with special envoy of US president Ronald Reagan, Donald Rumsfeld, in Baghdad, 20 December 1983.
In 2003, Bechtel's chairman and CEO Riley P. Bechtel, was appointed to President Bush Jr.'s Export Council.
Other Bechtel alumni, part of the Bush Jr. administration include: Jack Sheehan on Bush's Defense Policy Board, was senior vice president at Bechtel; Daniel Chao on the advisory board of the US Export-Import Bank, was Bechtel senior vice president; Ross J. Connelly executive vice president and COO for the OPIC, even served Bechtel for 21 years.
ARMING SADDAM / REBUILDING IRAQ
It isn't really a secret that in the 1980s Saddam was supported by Western "democracies" (like the US), in the war against Iran, which was likewise supported by Western "democracies" (including the US). Since "evil" Saddam invaded "poor" Kuwait it has been acknowledged that Saddam was using chemical weapons against the Kurds.
Bechtel lobbied the Iraqi government for lucrative contracts to build oil pipelines and was involved in constructing a petrochemical plant that reportedly was used by Iraq to make chemical weapons. Bechtel has also been accused of helping Iraq produce conventional arms.
After the sanctions imposed in 1990, Iraq defaulted on paying Bechtel. After which US taxpayers paid for Bechtel's construction of the Iraqi petrochemical plant.
And after Bush Jr. invaded Iraq, Bechtel was awarded $680 million in contracts over 18 months to rebuild Iraq after the US bombed it back to the stoneages.
WATER BLACKMAIL
Bechtel is one of the top-ten water privatisation firms in the world.
When Bechtel privatised the water system in Cochabamba, Bolivia, water bills became $20 per month overnight, which is a lot for families earning $60 per month. After protests broke out, Bechtel's deal was cancelled.
Bechtel responded with a $25 million lawsuit for lost profits, which was settled in 2006 for $0.30.
The water privatisation in Guayaquil, Ecuador began in 1994. The Inter-American Development Bank provided a loan to Ecuador which required to privatise the public water company ECAPAG. The 30-year contract was awarded to Bechtel's joint venture, International Water, that fired all workers of ECAPAG.
In 2000, Bechtel's joint venture, International Water, was awarded a concession in Bulgaria. There have been on-going labour, consumer and environmental problems, as well as corruption and embezzlement.
In 2002, San Francisco awarded a contract to Bechtel to upgrade the city's water systems Bechtel was charged with doing unnecessary and overpriced work.
INFRASTRUCTURE / ENERGY CORRUPTION
Bechtel designed and manages the Boston Central Artery tunnel project, the most expensive civil engineering project in US history. In 1985 its estimated cost was $2.5 billion, it reached $14.6 billion by 2003.
In the Philippines, Bechtel operated the Quezon power plant through the InterGen joint venture with the notorious Royal Dutch Shell, along with the elite Ayala family.
Bechtel and Shell teamed up in InterGen in 1995, headquartered in the Netherlands (where else?); it was sold in 2005.
ATOMIC BOMB / ENERGY
Already in the early 1940s, Bechtel was involved in the Manhattan Project. In the 1950s, Bechtel became the pre-eminent nuclear construction company in the world.
In the US alone, Bechtel was involved in the design and/or construction of 45 nuclear "power plants".
In Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island reactor melt-down, Bechtel North American orchestrated the worst nuclear disaster in US history by "clean-up operations": http://web.archive.org/web/20060210172246/corpwatch.org/downloads/Bechtel Report.pdf
(https://www.corpwatch.org/article/bechtel-profiting-destruction)
Bechtel made over $100 million off of World War II.
Bechtel's projects include petroleum and chemical plants, nuclear weapons facilities, oil pipelines, mining and metal projects, and water management.
REVOLVING DOOR
Here are some of Bechtel's friends in high places.
In the 1940s, Bechtel started a fruitful relationship with the CIA, with close ties between the CIA's deputy director, Alan Dulles, and Steve Bechtel's financial advisor, John Simpson.
John A. McCone, Steve Bechtel's close friend and WW II ship-building associate became President Eisenhower's chairman of the Atomic Energy. McCone later became CIA director under Kennedy and Johnson.
From 1981 to 1983, Bechtel's former vice-president W. Kenneth Davis was Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy.
William Casey, who was a consultant for Bechtel, served in 3 Republican administrations: Nixon, Ford, and campaign manager and CIA director for Reagan.
In 1983, formerly president and director of Bechtel, Secretary of State George Shultz orchestrated the discussions for Bechtel's work in Iraq. Shultz had previously been President Nixon's Secretary of Treasury. In 2003, he was again a board member and senior counselor of Bechtel. Shultzwas also a member of the Hoover Institution.
Caspar Weinberger was Bechtel’s general counsel from 1975 to 1981, before becoming president Reagan's secretary of defense.
Donald Rumsfeld, under the guideance of Shultz, lobbied Iraq for Bechtel in the 1980s.
See Iraqi president Saddam Hussein with special envoy of US president Ronald Reagan, Donald Rumsfeld, in Baghdad, 20 December 1983.
In 2003, Bechtel's chairman and CEO Riley P. Bechtel, was appointed to President Bush Jr.'s Export Council.
Other Bechtel alumni, part of the Bush Jr. administration include: Jack Sheehan on Bush's Defense Policy Board, was senior vice president at Bechtel; Daniel Chao on the advisory board of the US Export-Import Bank, was Bechtel senior vice president; Ross J. Connelly executive vice president and COO for the OPIC, even served Bechtel for 21 years.
ARMING SADDAM / REBUILDING IRAQ
It isn't really a secret that in the 1980s Saddam was supported by Western "democracies" (like the US), in the war against Iran, which was likewise supported by Western "democracies" (including the US). Since "evil" Saddam invaded "poor" Kuwait it has been acknowledged that Saddam was using chemical weapons against the Kurds.
Bechtel lobbied the Iraqi government for lucrative contracts to build oil pipelines and was involved in constructing a petrochemical plant that reportedly was used by Iraq to make chemical weapons. Bechtel has also been accused of helping Iraq produce conventional arms.
After the sanctions imposed in 1990, Iraq defaulted on paying Bechtel. After which US taxpayers paid for Bechtel's construction of the Iraqi petrochemical plant.
And after Bush Jr. invaded Iraq, Bechtel was awarded $680 million in contracts over 18 months to rebuild Iraq after the US bombed it back to the stoneages.
WATER BLACKMAIL
Bechtel is one of the top-ten water privatisation firms in the world.
When Bechtel privatised the water system in Cochabamba, Bolivia, water bills became $20 per month overnight, which is a lot for families earning $60 per month. After protests broke out, Bechtel's deal was cancelled.
Bechtel responded with a $25 million lawsuit for lost profits, which was settled in 2006 for $0.30.
The water privatisation in Guayaquil, Ecuador began in 1994. The Inter-American Development Bank provided a loan to Ecuador which required to privatise the public water company ECAPAG. The 30-year contract was awarded to Bechtel's joint venture, International Water, that fired all workers of ECAPAG.
In 2000, Bechtel's joint venture, International Water, was awarded a concession in Bulgaria. There have been on-going labour, consumer and environmental problems, as well as corruption and embezzlement.
In 2002, San Francisco awarded a contract to Bechtel to upgrade the city's water systems Bechtel was charged with doing unnecessary and overpriced work.
INFRASTRUCTURE / ENERGY CORRUPTION
Bechtel designed and manages the Boston Central Artery tunnel project, the most expensive civil engineering project in US history. In 1985 its estimated cost was $2.5 billion, it reached $14.6 billion by 2003.
In the Philippines, Bechtel operated the Quezon power plant through the InterGen joint venture with the notorious Royal Dutch Shell, along with the elite Ayala family.
Bechtel and Shell teamed up in InterGen in 1995, headquartered in the Netherlands (where else?); it was sold in 2005.
ATOMIC BOMB / ENERGY
Already in the early 1940s, Bechtel was involved in the Manhattan Project. In the 1950s, Bechtel became the pre-eminent nuclear construction company in the world.
In the US alone, Bechtel was involved in the design and/or construction of 45 nuclear "power plants".
In Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island reactor melt-down, Bechtel North American orchestrated the worst nuclear disaster in US history by "clean-up operations": http://web.archive.org/web/20060210172246/corpwatch.org/downloads/Bechtel Report.pdf
(https://www.corpwatch.org/article/bechtel-profiting-destruction)
