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BECHTEL AND BLOOD FOR WATER IN IRAQ |
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By Vandana Shiva*
The introduction into Iraq of Bechtel, a company which has a
history of aggravating water conflict, is a recipe for disaster
and long-lasting water wars, writes Vandana Shiva, author,
international campaigner for women and the environment, and
recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel
Prize) in 1993.
Editor's note:
The introduction into Iraq of Bechtel, a company which has a history
of aggravating water conflict, is a recipe for disaster and long-lasting
water wars, writes Vandana Shiva, author, international campaigner
for women and the environment, and recipient of the Right Livelihood
Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993.
Its 680-million-dollar contract for rebuilding Iraq includes but
is not limited to ''municipal water systems and sewage systems,
major irrigation structures, and the dredging, repair and upgrading
of the Umm Qasr seaport''.
In this article for IPS, the author writes that if we go by the
record of the company's water privatisation experience in Bolivia,
Bechtel will try to control the water resources, not just the water
works of Iraq, claiming ownership of the Tigris and Euphrates.
The executives at Bechtel have thirsted for control over Iraq for
over 20 years. In 1983 Donald Rumsfeld, Reagan administration ''special
Middle East envoy'', met with Hussein to discuss a massive pipeline
project proposed by Bechtel. Hussein eventually rejected the Bechtel
proposal. Now again Donald Rumsfeld has ''taken care of business''
for Bechtel. As secretary of defence, he has overseen the war to
remove the obstacle and Bechtel is rolling in.
(*) Vandana Shiva is an author and international campaigner for
women and the environment. She received the Right Livelihood Award
Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993.
This is an excerpt from the article. Editors interested in acquiring
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