Bay Area Anti-War Activists Mobilize en Masse to Re-affirm Opposition to the Illegal War and Occupation of Iraq
San Ramon, CA – As the Bush administration instigates a full-scale occupation of Iraq and fires verbal warning shots at Syria, hundreds of Bay area residents participated in a mass non-violent direct action at the world headquarters of ChevronTexaco. At this time, nearly 50 arrests have been made. The diverse group of citizens were protesting the company¹s connection to the war in Iraq, and its ongoing polluting of communities in the Bay area and around the world. The action united advocates and residents of communities impacted by ChevronTexaco’s operations in the Bay Area, Ecuador and Nigeria with Direct Action to Stop the War (DASW), an ongoing Bay area mobilization that has been using non-violent direct action to highlight the links between the war in Iraq and U.S. corporate interests.
“We mobilized against the military invasion of Iraq and we are mobilizing against the second invasion of Iraq – the carving up of Iraq’s resources by U.S. corporations. From the beginning, we’ve known this war was heavily influenced by oil companies. ChevronTexaco, with it’s abysmal environmental and human rights record, is a glaring example of a U.S. corporation poised to profit heavily from military aggression in Iraq,’ said Carla West of Direct Action to Stop the War.
According to the U.K. Guardian, ChevronTexaco was one of three U.S. oil multinationals that met with the Iraqi National Congress and it’s leader, Ahmed Chalabi, the multimillionaire who will very likely be installed as the figurehead of a U.S. controlled government in Iraq. Chalabi has virtually no constituency in Iraq, but has made clear that, “American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil.” [Washington Post 9/02]
Chevron is the largest corporation in California and the second largest energy company in the world. Its Richmond refinery and plant have been the site of hundreds of accidents, including major fires, explosions, and toxic gas releases. Likewise, since Chevron’s acquisition of Texaco, the company has refused to pay compensation for dumping over 20 billion barrels of toxic waste into pristine ecosystems of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
“ChevronTexaco wages toxic warfare from California to Ecuador to Iraq. We refuse to allow this criminal corporation to continue poisoning us. Likewise, we refuse to allow ChevronTexaco to refine stolen Iraqi oil in our community,” said Dr. Henry Clark of the West County Toxics Coalition.
The action also drew attention to Chevron¹s close ties with the Bush administration. Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor, is the former director of ChevronTexaco and continues to maintain strong ties to the company. Chevron and Texaco executives advised Vice President Dick Cheney on energy policy, both directly through the Energy Task Force and through the company’s close ties to the conservative think-tank, The Council on Foreign relations.
“U.S foreign policy is clearly being influenced by corporate bottom lines. Real democracies don’t fight wars that benefit oil giants at the expense of human rights, the environment, and international law,” said Susan Maxwell of Direct Action to Stop the War.
Direct Action to Stop the War is an ongoing mobilization in which people from all walks of life have been taking non-violent direct action to protest the illegal and unjust invasion of Iraq and the corporations which are profiting from war. DASW has organized numerous direct actions over the last month including a shut down of the San Francisco financial district on March 20th, in which over 20,000 people engaged in civil disobedience to protest the U.S. Invasion of Iraq.
