The repercussions of the war in Iraq are far reaching, transcending not only Iraq's economy but our own. Last month, the San Francisco based engineering superpower known as Bechtel won the major rebuilding contract for Iraq. This contract, which is massive in size, is worth at least 680 million dollars. Depending on how the reconstruction goes and congresses efforts to support or hinder the company's funds. The contract outlines a large number of efforts for Bechtel to pursue in Iraq, with the most notable being water supplies, electrical supplies, roads, schools, sewers and hospitals.
The United States government was initially considering as many as six companies for the contract, but Bechtel was awarded the massive and historic bid for Iraq. Andrew Natsois, a representative of the United States Agency for International Development, was the man who chose Bechtel for the current Iraqi project. Natsois has had some experience with the company before, as he gave them the bid to build a massive freeway in a tunnel beneath downtown Boston. This project was nicknamed the "big dig", and like many of Bechtel's projects, the cost of the project had ballooned 12.5 billion dollars over budget, and has been dragging on for 18 years. .
Andrew Natsois is not the only United States government official with ties to Bechtel. Many people in our current government have had close nit relationships with the company. With a significant number of people from our current administration holding past Bechtel positions. This has led to somewhat extensive criticism for what in reality is probably the best construction company on the face of the Earth. .
Although I describe the criticism of Bechtel as being extensive, I wouldn't call it to be well known. That's because our current media has chosen not to discuss the Bechtel situation, despite its newsworthiness. .
The average American hasn't even heard of Bechtel, despite the fact that each of us, through our taxes, has probably funded the company in some form or another.
