Bechtel to honor War dead with profits

[pynchonoid]

April 21, 2003 

What Is it Good For?
By BOB HERBERT

Somewhere George Shultz is smiling.

Mr. Shultz, whose photo could appropriately appear
next to any definition of the military-industrial
complex, was secretary of state under Ronald Reagan
and has been a perennial heavyweight with the powerful
Bechtel Group of San Francisco, where he previously
reigned as president and is now a board member and
senior counselor.

Unlike the antiwar soul singer Edwin Starr — who, in
an ironic bit of timing, went to his eternal reward
early this month just as American ground forces were
sweeping toward Baghdad — Mr. Shultz knows what war is
good for.

And he wanted this war with Iraq. Oh, how he wanted
this war. Mr. Shultz was chairman of the fiercely
prowar Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which was
committed to moving beyond the mere political
liberation of the oil-rich country to the
all-important and conveniently profitable
"reconstruction of its economy."

Under the headline "Act Now; The Danger Is Immediate,"
Mr. Shultz, in an op-ed article in The Washington Post
last September, wrote: "A strong foundation exists for
immediate military action against Hussein and for a
multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq after he is gone."

Gee, I wonder which company he thought might lead that
effort.

Last week Mr. Shultz's Bechtel Group was able to
demonstrate exactly what wars are good for. The Bush
administration gave it the first big Iraqi
reconstruction contract, a prized $680 million deal
over 18 months that puts Bechtel in the driver's seat
for the long-term reconstruction of the country, which
could cost $100 billion or more.

Bechtel essentially was given a license to make money.
And that license was granted in a closed-door process
that was restricted to a handful of politically
connected American companies.

When the George Bushes and the George Shultzes were
banging the drums for war with Iraq, we didn't hear
one word from them about the benefits that would be
accruing to corporate behemoths like Bechtel. And we
didn't pay much attention to the grotesque conflict of
interest engaged in by corporate titans and their
government cronies who were pushing young American men
and women into the flames of a war that ultimately
would pour billions of dollars into a very select
group of corporate coffers.

Now the corporations (not just Bechtel by any means)
have a lock on Iraq, and U.S. taxpayers are obliged to
pay the bill.

Among those in Congress who are beginning to challenge
this loathsome process is Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon
Democrat who is one of the lead sponsors of a
bipartisan bill that would require a public
explanation of any decision to award Iraqi
reconstruction contracts without a "fully open,
competitive bidding process."

In an interview, he said, "You look at this process,
which is secret, limited or closed bidding, and you
have to ask yourself: `Why are these companies being
picked? How's this process taking place, and is this
the best use of scarce taxpayer money at a time when
seniors can't afford medicine, kids are having trouble
getting access to a quality education and local
communities are just getting pounded? The
administration has been keeping the taxpayers in the
dark with respect to how this money is being used, and
that information ought to be shared."

The blatant war-mongering followed immediately by
profiteering inevitably raise questions about the real
reasons American men and women have been fighting and
dying in Iraq. President Bush told us the war was
about weapons of mass destruction and the need to get
rid of the degenerate Saddam. There was also talk
about democracy taking root in Iraq and spreading like
spring flowers throughout the Arab world.

The two things that were never openly discussed, that
never became part of the national conversation, were
oil and money. Those crucial topics were left to the
major behind-the-scenes operators, many of whom are
now cashing in.

The favoritism, the secretive method by which the
contracts are being awarded and the arrogant and
unconscionable exclusion of the United Nations and
even close U.S. allies from significant roles in the
administration and reconstruction of Iraq all
contribute to the most cynical interpretation of
American motives.

The men and women who fought bravely in Iraq, for
reasons they felt were noble and unassailable, deserve
better.   

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/opinion/21HERB.html>

"Don't forget the real business of the War is buying
and selling. The murdering and the violence are
self-policing, and can be entrusted to
non-professionals. The mass nature of wartime death is
useful in many ways. It serves as spectacle, as
diversion from the real movements of the War. It
provides raw material to be recorded into History, so
that children may be taught History as sequences of
violence, battle after battle, and be more prepared
for the adult world. Best of all, mass death's a
stimulus to just ordinary folks, little fellows, to
try 'n' grab a piece of that Pie while they're still
here to gobble it up. The true war is a celebration of
markets."
Gravity's Rainbow, p. 105

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