A history of poor planning, mismanagement, cost over-runs, and environmental destruction lands Bechtel Corporation a sweetheart deal in Iraq -- and American taxpayers pick up the tab!

A few weeks ago, I watched an ABC Nightline interview with Andrew Natsios, head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The thing I remember most about that interview was how he kept repeating that the cost to the American people for rebuilding Iraq would be no more than $1.7 billion.

Now that President Bush is asking for another $87 billion to rebuild Iraq; I did a little investigating. It seems that during 2000-2001, Mr. Natsios was the director of Boston's "Big Dig" project, the biggest boondoggle in American history; and guess who the prime contractor was -- Bechtel Corporation, who was just awarded the largest reconstruction contract in Iraq by none other than Mr. Natsios' USAID.

Bechtel's bid was the lowest among the few companies that got an invitation to bid in the Bush Administration's secret bidding process, and Mr. Natsios seemed delighted that Bechtel got the contract because they are so good at what they do. After a couple of years at the Big Dig, I think he should know better.

Over its nearly 20-year history, the cost of [Boston's "Big Dig"] has ballooned from $2.5 billion to $15 billion. The state government is investigating whether Bechtel is responsible for mistakes that total more than $1 billion. --LA Times, 4/18/03

"These cost overruns affected every single community in Massachusetts, every single taxpayer. . . . The state was clearly outsmarted and outgunned by Bechtel." --Massachusetts state senator Mark C. Montigny, 2/11/03

"The delay cost Bechtel nothing. In fact, as with all the other overruns, it only added to the company's profit. While taxpayers covered the $128 million in overruns, Bechtel took home an additional $3.7 million for its extra time." --Boston Globe, 2/9/03

"It would appear that [Bechtel] has been paid nearly $2 billion to simply monitor these design contracts, process payments and pass documents through to the Turnpike Authority. For $2 billion, the Commonwealth expected [the company] to do more than shuffle paper." --Massachusetts State Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan

The Big Dig: Guaranteed profits with limited liability, little or no oversight of planning or management, where mistakes and delays mean increased profits. You won't find a better deal than that -- unless you have some inside connections that can get you on the gravy train in Iraq.

"On April 17, Bechtel received one of the first and largest of the rebuilding contracts in Iraq. Worth $680 million over 18 months...The contract was granted in backroom deals without open and transparent bidding processes and the content remains hidden behind a veil of secrecy." --CorpWatch, Global Exchange, Public Citizen, Collaborative Report, 6/5/03

"U.S. officials recently decided that Bechtel requires the additional $ 350 million 'to maintain momentum in high-priority infrastructure projects'... U.S. officials and Bechtel assessment teams now estimate Iraqi reconstruction will cost at least $16 billion and likely much more. L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, has said that the costs of rebuilding Iraq and revitalizing its economy could top $100 billion." --Dow Jones Newswires, 08/28/03

"All of these costs will initially be paid by American taxpayers, who will also pay for the bombs used to destroy Iraqi infrastructure in the first place. The rest of the burden will fall on the Iraqi people, as the US loots the country's oil resources to pay off the huge corporate contracts." --Joseph Kay, 4/29/03, World Socialist Web Site

"Bechtel and privatization go hand in hand. As people learned the hard way in Bolivia and around the world, when Bechtel comes to town, you can expect costs to soar and accountability and local control to evaporate."

--Juliette Beck, Public Citizen office

"Bechtel has demonstrated brazen moral corruption by first contributing to the development of Iraq's weapons, then pushing for a war against Iraq, and finally profiting from the tragedy and destruction wrought by that war." --Andrea Buffa, Global Exchange

"...Bechtel board members and employees with advisory positions to the Bush Administration helped ensure that Bechtel would receive one of the most lucrative contracts for rebuilding what they had helped to destroy." --CorpWatch, Global Exchange, Public Citizen, Collaborative Report, 6/5/03

"[The report, Bechtel: Profiting from Destruction] documents a track record by Bechtel of environmental destruction, disregard for human rights and financial mismanagement of projects that has affected communities all over the world and does not bode well for the people of Iraq." --Corpwatch, 6/5/03

Since CEOs now run our government, it should not surprise anyone that Operation Iraqi Freedom is managed just like any other Bechtel project, complete with poor planning, mismanagement, cost over-runs, and no oversight. Corporate profits are guaranteed, so the more they waste, the more money they make. No one loses except our troops, the Iraqi people and American taxpayers.

----

Mick Youther is an Instructor in the Department of Physiology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL.

 

Fair Use Notice: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, economic, democratic, domestic and international issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.