Burma Crisis Update: Perhaps Chevron should Re-Name the Yadana Pipeline after Condolezza Rice?
By Richard Power
Remember Frank Herbert's extraordinary Dune series?
"The spice must flow ..."
Yes, but there was no alternative to spice in that legend; there are alternatives to oil and gas, and yet, the oil and gas giants and the governments they have co-opted refuse to adapt to the 21st Century.
"The oil must flow ..."
And with it, the blood of US soldiers flows in the desert quagmire.
"The oil must flow ..."
And with it, the last few dollars flow from the wallets of the US middle class.
"The oil must flow ..."
And with it, the life flows from the planet's poorest people.
"The oil must flow ..."
And with it, the planetary climate itself flows into a harsh unknown.
"The oil must flow ..."
Even though its peak production has come and gone.
Once upon a time, Chevron named an oil tanker after Condolezza Rice, perhaps now they should re-name the Yadana gas pipiline after her, since she has looked the other way, instead of taking the most meaningful action she could, i.e., demanding Chevron cease empowering the Burmese thugocracy.
The ugly truth about Chevron in Burma is told in a new report: The Human Cost of Energy: Chevron’s Continuing Role in Financing Oppression and Profiting From Human Rights Abuses in Military-Ruled Burma (Myanmar).
According to the report, The Human Cost of Energy: Chevron’s Continuing Role in Financing Oppression and Profiting From Human Rights Abuses in Military-Ruled Burma (Myanmar), Chevron relies on the brutal Burmese military for pipeline security. The pipeline security soldiers conscript forced labor (including forced sentry duty along the pipeline route) and commit other serious human rights abuses in the course of their operations. As revealed by original field data collected by ERI between 2003-2008 in Burma and along the Thai-Burma border, abuses in the pipeline region include murder and rape by pipeline security soldiers, forced conscription of porters for security patrols, land confiscations, forced plantation programs, and general predation including widespread theft of goods by soldiers. Earth Rights International, 4-29-08
For the full report, click here.
Some Burma-Related Words of Power Posts
Why Protecting the People of Darfur, Tibet & Burma is in Our Own Self-Interest; & What These Crises Tell Us about Our Own Slide into the Pit
Don't Forget Darfur, Tibet or Burma This Summer, Don't Forget Men & Women of US Military Either; Reflections On Speaker Pelosi's Visit to Dharmsala
Burma Crisis Update: Non-Violent, Democratic Resistance of Burmese People Offers Stark Contrast to US Political Scene
Burma Crisis Update: Talk is Cheap, Business as Usual; On Martin Luther King Day -- Remember Aung San Suu Kyi
In Burma & Sudan, Business As Usual -- What Must & Can Be Done Now!
Burma Crisis Update 11-10-07: Amnesty International on "Grave & Ongoing Human Rights Violations"; Alternate Media Vital to Resistance
Burma Crisis Update: An Open Letter to the Executives of Chevron
Burma Crisis Update: Two Weeks Into the Crackdown, China Has Not Tempered the Thugocracy's Hand; Chevron Has Not Even Slapped Its Wrist
Human Rights Update 10-6-07: Chevron, Condoleeza Rice & the Burmese Thugocracy
Human Rights Update: Blackwater, Burma, Darfur & You
Human Rights Watch to Business: "Keeping quiet while monks & other peaceful protesters are murdered & jailed is not ... constructive engagement."
Human Rights Update: Blackwater, Burma, Darfur & You
Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Aung San Suu Kyi was Elected in 1990, Al Gore was Elected in 2000 -- Consider What Has Befallen Both Countries Since
For a directory of Words of Power Human Rights Updates, click here.
Richard Power's Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available now! Click here for more information.
Chevron, Burma, Earth Rights International, Human Rights, Richard Power, Words of Power
