WHAT'S NEW ON CORPWATCH
Holding Corporations Accountable
http://www.corpwatch.org
New War Profiteer Website Launched on Anniversary of Iraq Invasion

Oakland, CA, March 19, 2004: Exactly one year after the United States
launched the dawn invasion of Iraq, war profiteering by multinational
companies is at an all-time high with military contractors dramatically
boosting revenues by 19% over 2002.

Today Corpwatch, an Oakland, California, based non-profit is launching a
brand new version of the popular War Profiteers website to track these
military contractors on a regular basis. The website, which can be found
at www.warprofiteers.com, is the one-stop shop for communities, citizens,
taxpayers, policy makers, media, students and activists to learn about the
new merchants of global conflict.

"Profiting from killing is wrong. What makes it even more outrageous is
that taxpayers have to foot the bill. We intend to investigate these
abuses and inform the public about what these companies are doing. This
new website will be the premier place for the pubic to find out what is
happening behind the scenes of the so-called war on terrorism," said
Pratap Chatterjee, program director at Corpwatch.

Today one in ten personnel in the 2003 invasion of Iraq come from private
industry, a dramatic ten-fold increase over the previous Gulf War in 1991.
Not only were most of these employees drawn from the biggest military
contractors in the United States: the company that won the most new work
was the company that the Vice-President Dick Cheney headed up before he
took office: Halliburton Corporation and its subsidiaries (e.g., Kellogg,
Brown, and Root) have won over $8 billion in contracts. Their military
revenue in 2003 of $3.9 billion was a staggering 700% higher than the
previous year!

The new website will feature weekly updates and regular investigative
features from our new military researcher, Adam Clay Thompson, based in
Washington DC. A special "Focus on Iraq" section will provide the latest
news about companies profiting from the continued occupation of that
country, continuing Corpwatch's award winning coverage of companies like
Halliburton and Bechtel.

In addition, it will have selected profiles of major war profiteers and
explanations of the main sectors: weapons making, security, intelligence,
military logistics, reconstruction, policy & planning, multilateral and
bilateral finance and the mineral extraction industry. The website will
also offer updated factsheets, action items and a calendar of events.

The War Profiteers web site was originally created to distribute the
popular War Profiteer deck of cards, which has sold over 10,000 sets to
date. This deck will is available for a donation to the Ruckus Society,
one of the original creators of this popular game.

GO TO: http://www.warprofiteers.com

Corpwatch mission: CorpWatch counters corporate-led globalization through
education, network-building and activism. We work to foster democratic
control over corporations by building a diverse movement for human rights
and dignity, labor rights and environmental justice.

CorpWatch
1611 Telegraph Avenue., #702
Oakland, CA 94612 USA
Tel: + 1 510-271-8080
http://www.corpwatch.org
http://www.warprofiteers.com

New Address!
CorpWatch -- Holding Corporations Accountable
1611 Telegraph Ave, Suite 702
Oakland, CA 94612 USA
Tel: 510-271-8080
Fax: 510-271-8083
Email: corpwatch@corpwatch.org

http://www.corpwatch.org

In a landmark decision that will have ramifications across the country, the Supreme Court of Canada recently released a decision in a case concerning the clean up of a contaminated site in Levis, Quebec. In its decision, the Court upheld crucial government powers to protect the environment and public health by ordering polluters to clean up their contaminated sites. In so doing, the court has reinforced the importance of ensuring that polluters, and not the community, bear the full cost of cleaning up contaminated brownfield sites. A key concern was the need to preserve the "polluter pays" approach to environmental protection in Canada. The polluter pays principle is internationally recognized as a key element of environmental regulation.

Friends of the Earth Canada would be interested in hearing from any other group working on clean-up of contaminated sites in their province or municipality and who might like to work with them on using this decision. For further information please contact: Beatrice Olivastri, Friends of the Earth Canada, (613) 241-0085 ext.26.