MichaelMoore.com

From Three Continents to Duncan, Oklahoma

By Nathaniel Batchelder / Peace House Oklahoma City

From Nigeria, Peru, and at least six of the United States, objectors to Halliburton's global operations traveled to Duncan, Oklahoma, to protest at the corporation's annual stockholders' meeting, Wednesday, May 17th.

Some 150-200 protesters gathered outside the Simmons Center where Halliburton's meetings were held, holding signs and chanting "Shame" while stockholders filed in, and later left the meeting. All morning, a stream of Duncan citizens drove past the protest location to see the protest to the Duncan-based corporation. Many responded to the prominent "Honk For Peace" signs.

A dozen or so Duncan citizens actually joined the protest. Three Duncan ministers came to speak their support for the protest, including 99-year-old Rev. Phil Wahl, longtime advocate of abolition of the death penalty and many other social justice and peace causes.

Michael Karikpo flew from Nigeria, representing Environmental Rights Action (Nigeria) and Friends of the Earth International Network, to report that Halliburton has been charged in Nigeria with bribery, corruption, and reckless environmental activities there.

Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch.org came from Oakland, CA, to report how Halliburton has failed to perform on numerous contracts in Iraq, but has still been paid. Chatterjee said that 40,000 of the 50,000 workers employed by Halliburton in Iraq are imported Asian workers being paid only $300/month. "Some are trafficked human beings," he said.

HalliburtonWatch.org director Jim Donahue came from Los Angeles, CA, to share his organization's research and objections to Halliburton's corporate abuses of people and the environment around the world.

Roberto Vasquez came from Peru to report on the environmental damage to the rain forest resulting from Halliburton's operations there, in violation of contractual guarantees that such damage would not take place.

Michael McPhearson, president of the national Veterans For Peace, came from St. Louis, MO, to speak against the dangerous trend toward privatization of military activities. McPhearson is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, and his son is currently deployed in Iraq with the US Army.

Maureen Haver, representing Houston Global Awareness, spoke eloquently about war-profiteering and the collusion between Halliburton and the US government, which granted "no-bid" contracts to the company formerly managed by Vice President Dick Cheney. She said that Halliburton's global business policies endanger local cultures, populations, and the environment.

Hart Viges, Iraq War veteran, said that mercenary security forces of private corporations like Halliburton in Iraq operate with virtually no accountability or oversight. "Their private soldiers earn four to five times what US troops make, get to choose what weapons to carry, often operate side-by-side with American military forces, then return to their comfortable hotels in the evenings to drink beer," Viges said.

Jeri Reed, mother of an Iraq vet from Norman, OK - representing Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace - said her son had often written her from Iraq asking her to send high protein food because meals supplied by Halliburton were inadequate, and that the soldiers knew that they were sometimes supplied water by Halliburton which they did not trust to be safe. She said that the Iraq experience had hardened her son into a cynical and bitter person unlike the son she had raised.

Led by Keith Myers of Edmond, OK, 15 individuals committed nonviolent civil disobedience, intentionally crossing the permit boundary in the effort to do a "citizen's arrest" of Halliburton's CEO. They carried indictment papers listing well-researched corporate crimes. The 16th person arrested was a young man who pulled down a section of the plastic security fence erected to surround the protest location. All were released later that day having paid fines relating to the charge of simple trespass.

Four Oklahoma City attorneys were present all day, helping to reduce tensions between protesters and the astonishingly large presence of police, state troopers, and armed and padded riot police. They accompanied the arrested civil disobedients until their release later that afternoon. Rex Friend, Doug Parr, Lynn Barnett, and Tina Azadi provided invaluable pro-bono support for the Halliburton protesters.

Also taking turns at the rally microphones were musicians, poets, Vietnam veterans, representatives of Peace Action, CodePink, Peace House of Crawford, TX, Peace House of Oklahoma City, OK, Dallas Peace Center, and others who brought colorful and creative signs and banners to the protest.

Reporters from print and airwaves media from Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Lawton, Associated Press, and a reporter from Boise, ID, circulated among the protesters interviewing participants for their stories.

Photos and reports from the protest are appearing on websites including MichaelMoore.com; HoustonGlobal.org, CorpWatch.org, HalliburtonWatch.org, AntiWarfair.com, PeaceHouseOK.org, and others.

THE DUNCAN 16

Back row from left: Mary Francis, Will Covert, James Fain, Josh Tucker, Diane Baker, Carol Ezzel, Huti Reynolds, Hiram Myers, Jon Cantrell and Ivan Hutchcroft. Seated from left: Trent Goss, Joni LeViness, Maureen Haver, Chris McMullen, Katie Heim, and Jennifer Rooks.

*** Click Here to read a report from Darla Shelden ***