Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Corporate Feeding Frenzy In Iraq

Devlish | 21.04.2004 22:00 | Anti-militarism | Globalisation | Iraq | London

Between 26-28 April representatives from 300 companies - including Shell, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and US arms manufacturer Raytheon – will be attending a business conference in London entitled Iraq Procurement 2004: Meet the Buyers. They will be meeting members of the US occupation authority, the US-installed Iraqi “government”, and wealthy Iraqi business-people to discuss "the wide range of opportunities available" to make a profit out of the increasingly blood-soaked occupation of Iraq. The conference takes place in the context of a series of new laws passed by the US last September, that "effectively put [Iraq] up for sale" to foreign investors (Guardian, 22 Sept. 2003)

A growing body of evidence that the way in which the Bush administration has been "treating [reconstruction] contracts as prizes to be handed to their friends" has been "delaying Iraq's recovery, with potentially catastrophic consequences" (economist Paul Krugman, New York Times, 30thSept. 2003) On the other hand, US attempts to ‘restructure’ (rather than cancel) Iraq’s odious debts, attempts likely to "rob Iraq of [its] economic freedom by requiring that it adhere to an IMF structural adjustment program" (Jubilee Iraq). All of this as a backdrop for the killing of over 600 people in the US siege of Fallujah, "the vast majority of [whom] were women, children and the elderly" according to the director of the town’s general hospital (Guardian, 12 April)

A protest to coincide with the gala dinner for the business conference 'Iraq Procurement 2004' was called for Tuesday 27th April. See Photos: 1 | 2 | Protest website.
Read more on the Iraq Procurement conference [here.

Voices in the Wilderness UK has been campaigning on Iraq for the last six years. To visit the Iraqi procurement website and see the blatant carve up of Iraq see The Iraqi Procurement Conference where you can check out their agenda for the event.

bank notes of death
bank notes of death


BBC'S JOHN SIMPSON REFUSES TO SPEAK AT IRAQ BUSINESS CONFERENCE

Activists to protest at oil and arms trade-backed Iraq Procurement Conference

The BBC's World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, has refused to speak at a business conference next week at which representatives from 300 companies - including Shell, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and US arms manufacturer Raytheon - will meet members of the US-installed Iraqi "government" to discuss 'the wide range of … opportunities available' to make a profit out of the increasingly blood-soaked occupation of Iraq.

Mr Simpson's agency had apparently forgotten to inform their client, who only found out that he was listed on the conference web-site as the 'guest speaker' at the conference's 'four course [gala] dinner with wine' yesterday afternoon, after Voices UK circulated a press release urging him to pull out of the event.

In an email to Voices UK, Mr Simpson explained that the moment he heard his name was on the conference web-site he 'immediately rang the organizers to make it clear there was no possibility of [his] taking part.' 'I'd never accept an invitation to anything that was as contentious as this,' he added.

Voices spokesperson Gareth Evans said 'We are very pleased to learn that John Simpson will not be speaking at this conference and that he was unaware his name was being used by the event's organizers. John Simpson was one of the few journalists to speak out against the devastating UN sanctions on Iraq, so we are not surprised to learn that this "booking" had nothing to do with him. We would urge any other public figures that are approached to speak at this event over the coming week to similarly decline.'

Voices is one of a number of groups and individuals helping to organise a protest to coincide with next Tuesday's conference dinner. Two suited 'pigs' bearing corporate logos will gorge themselves on a trough of blood-stained banknotes at 6.30pm next Tuesday outside the London Hilton on Park Lane to protest against the 'corporate feeding frenzy' taking place at the business conference and dinner. The Hilton is the 'official hotel of choice' for the conference. The protest, in support of the rights of Iraqi workers and demanding 'reconstruction, not rip-off',will also feature speakers from the Union of Unemployed Iraqis, the Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq, and the Campaign Against Arms Trade amongst others.

For more info. contact 0845 458 2564 or 07947 839 992

Voices in the Wilderness UK has been campaigning on Iraq for the last six years. For more info see their website.

To visit the Iraqi procurement website and see the blatent carve up of Iraq without the Blair bulls go to The Iraqi Procurement Conference and check out Their agenda for the event is here.

Monday 26th April Protestors Put Iraq Privatisation on Trial

On the first day of the Iraq Procurement Conference 2004 an international business expo dedicated to the privatisation of Iraq two female human rights activists, Ewa Jasiewicz (25) recently returned from 8 months solidarity work in Iraq, and community film-maker Pennie Quinton (33), walked into the host venue unhindered twice.

Security was surprisingly slack given the UKs High Alert terror status and that representatives from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA),the Iraqi Governing Council, plus arms dealers Raytheon and private security firm Erinys already attacked by the Iraqi resistance in Baghdad were in attendance.

On re-entry through a wide-open un-guarded back door, they unfurled a banner in the main lobby written in Arabic and Polish stating UK, US AND POLAND PARTNERS IN CRIMES AGAINST HUMANTIY. Referring to the delegates as collaborators, they declared the conference an affront to those struggling under continual attack both social and physical from the Occupation, entrenched poverty, exploitation and Occupation sanctioned neo-Baathism in Iraq.

Their protest also aimed to honour the estimated 1500 (local figure) dead in the enduring Fallujah massacre. The two were forcibly ejected and charged with Aggravated Trespass for disrupting a lawful event.

The accused will be challenging their charge, represented by maverick civil liberties lawyer Jim Nichol (Taylor Nichol) on the grounds that the conference itself is unlawful as it is based on Occupation Orders which have forced a free market economy on the people of Iraq in violation of international law on the prohibition of destruction of state or social property under the Geneva Conventions 1949, and Pillage and Usufruct under the Hague Regulations of 1907 to which both the UK and US Are signatories.

In a leaked memo dated March 26th 2003, UK Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith advised Prime Minister Blair that in his view, the imposition of major structural economic reforms would not be authorised under international law

Jasiewicz and Quinton will be appearing in Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, Holloway Road, N7, 10am on May 19th

Iraq Procurment 2004 runs from Monday 26th - Wednesday 28th April

Devlish

Additions

Video Available

18.12.2005 23:14

There's a video of this protest at  http://www.archive.org/details/Iraq_Procurement

Barney


Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Their Payday

22.04.2004 14:39

Also see their  http://www.theirpayday.org

thanks ;-)

No hierarchies
mail e-mail: info@theirpayday.org
- Homepage: http://www.theirpayday.org


Another Link To Voices In The Wilderness

22.04.2004 18:47

1./Please remove that idiotic kiddie trolls offensive post.
2./ The voices link does not appear to be woprking at the moment for some reason. Here is
another link to the Voices In The Wilderness  http://www.voices.netuxo.co.uk/index.html
This is working.

mark r


Done

22.04.2004 20:24

Thanks mark r for pointing out that the VoicesUK link in the feature wasn't working. I've changed it. Also deleted trolls abusive comment.

imcista


Soggy People

27.04.2004 20:59

Enough respect to all the soggy people outside The New Connaught Rooms rooms tonight. I really don't think the weather could have been any worse :/

Moonsquirrel


they are making $$$

01.05.2004 23:22

Yes, and I just saw the headline today that chevron/texaco was making huge profits this year. So they should lower the price, but they raised it instead to make $$$$. About 50 cents goes to pay high salaries to government employees, and fringes, or corporate welfare/inside jobs, and then the $1.75 goes to the oil companies.

chris


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech