Why boycott ExxonMobil? All oil companies are bad, aren't they? Polluting the atmosphere, creating wars, displacing families, and exiling millions to poverty seems to be the going trend with these gargantuan corporations. There are degrees however. Greenpeace and Campaign ExxonMobil, among others, have been working to bring attention to ExxonMobils misdeeds.

According to documents Greenpeace has received ExxonMobil has been instrumental in sabotaging the Kyoto Protocol and removing key voices seeking to address the issues of global warming from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ExxonMobil has also been bankrolling PR efforts aimed at silencing scientific inquiry into global warming issues and promoting 'bad science' from groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute (which led the campaign in 2002 to dissuade Bush from attending the Earth Summit in Johannesburg), the George C. Marshall Institute, and Frontiers for Freedom. This information and more is available at www.dontbyuyexxonmobil.org

Other organizations looking at ExxonMobil as a pariah include Campaign ExxonMobil, from which the below has been excerpted

"When Exxon and Mobil merged in November 1999, it created the largest private oil company in the world. The new megacorporation has 15,913 U.S. outlets, $ 233 billion in sales, and the top spot on the Fortune 500 list. ExxonMobil sells gas under its own name and operates the On the Run chain of convenience stores. Black marks: Exxon infamously refuses to pay $ 5 billion in punitive damages ordered by an Alaska court after the 1989 Valdez tanker oil spill. The company spent $ 2.2 billion on cleanup but never took responsibility for the accident. Exxon has since developed a reputation as one of the industry's most outspoken opponents of stronger environmental regulations. The company also spilled more than 500,000 gallons near Staten Island, New York, in January 1990. Fines levied against it include:

* $ 4.7 million for nearly 200 violations of the Clean Air Act, as cited by the EPA in 1998;

* $ 4.8 million in damages (along with Tosco) in August 1998 for discharging carcinogenic selenium into the San Francisco Bay.

ExxonMobil is one of the "Dirty Four" seeking to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In March, ExxonMobil suspended production at the Arun gas fields in Aceh, Indonesia, citing increased violence by separatist groups. Active in the country for 30 years, Mobil has been dogged by controversy over how much it knew about the Indonesian military's violent counterinsurgency campaign.

The merged company's 25-year, $ 3.5 billion project to build a pipeline from land-locked Chad to the Atlantic coast of Cameroon would cut through the rainforest home of indigenous communities. (For more information, see www.sierraclub.org/human-rights/chadcam/index.asp.)

[BBB] Refining record: Of the nine Exxon and Mobil refineries Environmental Defense evaluated, Exxon had two refineries in the bottom 20 percent and Mobil had one.

...ExxonMobil chairman and CEO Lee R. Raymond still insists that there's "uncertainty" over whether global warming is created by human activity or natural causes, and Exxon has contributed financially (along with Chevron) to public-relations efforts that promote the work of climate-science skeptics. Environmentalists in Europe are boycotting ExxonMobil--known there as Esso--until the company accepts the Kyoto Protocol. (Visit www.stopesso.com for details.)"

http://www.campaignexxonmobil.org/learn/news_sierra_090101.html>

And then there is Aceh, Indonesia, which just saw rampaging gangs tearing apartt communities through nightime attacks, torture, rape, and arson. Indonesian army forces were probably at the center of the destruction, and they are in Aceh to 'protect' ExxonMobil's assets

http://www.campaignexxonmobil.org/learn/news_time_080601.html

Being a part of this new war on humanity is a shared psychopathology between ExxonMobil and their man in DC, Bush. Are we to be a part of this madness? To doom these villagers in Indonesia to incessant terror and ourselves to a carcinogenic and storm/drought battered future due to climate change is not the way the most developed nation on the planet should lead. This corporate monolith has no compassion and cares not for your or anyone else's safety. So tear up your ExxonMobil cards and dab some blood red paint on them and mail them back to:



Chairman Lee Raymond

ExxonMobil

5959 Las Colinas Blvd.

Las Colinas, TX 75039

And don't buy their products. This boycott has been very successful in Europe, let's bring it on home.



From Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2911294

Indonesia Red Cross Says Removes 151 Bodies in Aceh

Wed June 11, 2003 07:48 AM ET

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's Red Cross said Wednesday it had taken 151 bodies to hospitals and morgues in Aceh since a fresh military offensive against rebels began, adding all victims had been wearing civilian clothes.

But Iyang Sukandar, secretary-general of the Indonesian Red Cross, told Reuters this did not mean the dead were civilians. The Red Cross has said it was not its job to determine the identity of those killed in the offensive, now into its fourth week.

"The latest figure that I received was Saturday. It was 151 casualties," Sukandar said by telephone, adding more updated figures were not available because of communications problems.

He said the bodies were only those removed by the Red Cross.

Sukandar declined to say if all 151 had been killed in conflict zones in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, although evacuating bodies from the battlefield had been one of their prime responsibilities since fighting erupted.

"Their identities were not clear, all of them wore civilian clothing. But if I have to say that they were civilians, then I'm not sure," Sukandar said.

AMERICAN IN DANGER

Scores of people have been killed in the offensive that began on May 19 aimed at crushing the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence in the resource-rich province for 27 years.

Indonesian military officials in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, said Wednesday 21 government troops had been killed in the offensive.

The military puts the number of GAM fighters killed at 172. It says three policemen and one civilian had been killed. Rebel sources say scores of civilians and hundreds of government troops have been killed.

More than 25,000 people have fled their homes because of the fighting, which Jakarta has said could last up to six months.

A German tourist became the first known foreigner to die in the offensive, shot by the military on June 4 when he did not identify himself to a night patrol.

A second foreigner, American William Nessen, has been reported as being in danger in Aceh.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Nessen was with a group of rebel fighters attacked by the military Tuesday, and before his satellite phone went dead had told his wife his attempt to surrender was met with gunfire.

The committee has written to President Megawati Sukarnoputri saying Nessen, whom it identified as a freelance journalist, "has come under direct attack from Indonesian government soldiers, and his life is currently at great risk."

It urged Megawati to ensure his safe passage out of Aceh.

Indonesian military spokesman in Aceh, Colonel Ditya Sudarsono, told Reuters the military did not know the journalist's exact whereabouts.

"If it is true that he is embedded with GAM, our concern is that if we attacked GAM and he caught a bullet, then we are going to be blamed again," Sudarsono said.

Top Indonesian officials have said the presence of foreigners in Aceh was a problem and their activities might be curbed.

Billie (Billy) Nessen and his wife Shadia, freelance journalist reporting on human rights abuses and civil strife, are in serious danger and fear for their lives following recent threats from the Indonesian military. Please join efforts to ensure safe passage for the Nessens and an end to military aggression in Aceh and East Timor.

See Latest report, June 20, 2003,

‘Nessen Could Be Punished By Death’

June 20, 2003 11:56 PM

http://laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=48&news_id=5591

Rise Up Take Action Take Steps Help:

See Common Dreams Call to Action

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0620-01.htm

Please FAX two letters today

(sample letter at http://www.stanford.edu/group/gradethenews/pages/media%20alerts.htm)

US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce.

Fax: 011-6221-3435-9922

Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S. Soemadi D.M.

Brotodiningrat.

Fax: 202-775-5365

---------

End Military Aggression:

http://www.indonesianetwork.org/action/2003/congress_signon.htm

Committee to Protect Journalist

http://www.cpj.org/protests/03ltrs/Indonesia10june03pl.html

Reporters Without Borders

http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7127

For more Info e-mail West Coast Contact: scottb@igc.org

excerpt from http://www.tip.net.au/~wildwood/01octarms.htm

The Push to Restore Aid: Oil and Old Friends

Even before the war on terrorism provided a new rationale for arming and training the Indonesian military; the Bush administration was under considerable pressure from the Pentagon and the private sector to restore military ties.

Think tanks and institutions with close ties to the oil and gas industries and other corporations with interests in the region urged resumption of military ties. The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, a private body made up of the heads of corporations with interests in Southeast Asia, released an influential report in February 2001 entitled, The Case for Strengthening American Involvement in Southeast Asia.

Weapons contractors like Boeing, United Technologies, and General Electric serve on the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, alongside the mining companies, banks and ubiquitous corporations like Coca-Cola and Nike. The report calls on the U.S. to “lift [the] embargo on military equipment and training while reestablishing direct military-to-military contacts with the Indonesian military.”[33] While the report argues that the military plays a role in encouraging “stability” in Indonesia, companies like Boeing and GE are likely more concerned with the stability of their profit margins, as they stand to benefit directly through new weapons contracts the moment the ban is lifted.

The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council also includes oil and gas companies. This sector generously donated .8 million to President George W. Bush in the last election cycle.[34] While Bush himself is not well briefed on the region—his one remark about the conflict in East Timor during his campaign was an offhand and maladroit reference to the “East Timorians”—he is certainly influenced by those who are.[35]

The high concentration of oil and gas magnates in the Bush administration— from Vice President Richard Cheney, former CEO of oil services giant Halliburton, to Bush’s own connections to the industry—makes the oil-rich archipelago particularly important. ExxonMobil, which has a vast project in Indonesia, gave more than a million dollars in campaign contributions in 2000-- mostly to Republicans.[36] Then-Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab, expressing his excitement about Bush’s election in January, said, “I am optimistic that the military sanctions will be lifted because the Bush government is more pragmatic and realistic.”[37]

Pragmatism and realism notwithstanding, it certainly helps that both Cheney and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz are old friends with Indonesia’s former dictator, General Suharto. Cheney was Bush Senior’s Secretary of Defense at the time of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre and traveled to Indonesia just a few months later, meeting with Suharto and top military officials. Rather than admonishing Jakarta for the military slaughter of 271 unarmed people during his visit, he reinforced the value of strong relations with the military, saying, “we have in the past worked with the Indonesia armed forces and are eager to continue to do that in the future.”[38] Wolfowitz was Ambassador to Indonesia during the worst violence in East Timor and represented Washington’s indefatigable diplomatic, military and political support for the Jakarta regime. In 1997 testimony before Congress, Wolfowitz credited Suharto’s “strong and remarkable leadership” for Indonesia’s “significant progress.”[39]

When asked about arms sales to Indonesia during his January confirmation hearings, Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted that, “every nation has the right of legitimate self-defense, and if they don’t buy it from us, they have many other sources in which they can get such weapons.”[40] Powell’s use of the “better-us-than-them” argument for U.S. weapons sales dovetails nicely with the “stability” argument. The latest version of this well-worn line of reasoning can be found in a recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations, The United States and Southeast Asia: A Policy Agenda for the New Administration. Report chair J. Robert Kerrey, former Senator and current President of the New School University, sums up its central point by saying, “the Indonesian military remains essential to the country’s future stability.”[41] The report characterizes the current ban on military sales and training as “heavy handed,” and “short sighted,” warning that without military training the U.S. will lose the “opportunity to help shape a new attitude toward civil-military relations” in the Indonesian military.[42] Kerrey and his team conclude that “the United States must cease hectoring Jakarta and re-engage Indonesia’s army.”[43]

The report’s findings are based on a narrow and self-serving definition of the Indonesian military as guardians of big business. The composition of the panel is weighed heavily towards corporations; in fact the 27-member panel is 30% corporate representatives, including ExxonMobil and baked good giant Sara Lee, both of which have extensive investments in Indonesia. In addition, given the report’s pro-weapons sale position, it is not surprising that Dov Zakheim, former Reagan official who now serves as the chief financial officer in Bush’s Pentagon, drafted the report. Between working for Reagan and Bush II, Zakheim was a lobbyist for weapons manufacturers like McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing), promoting arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Israel and elsewhere.[44]

The report team was not of one mind on renewed military ties with Indonesia. Sidney Jones, Asia Director for Human Rights Watch, and other members of the team dissented from the conclusions. Their strongly worded statement, which maintained that renewed military ties “would send exactly the wrong signal,” was included in the report. They also emphasized the need to consider the Indonesian military’s “role in obstructing prosecutions for past abuses and of the serious new human rights violations taking place, most notably in Aceh.”[45] This important dissension was barely heard above the din of the pro-business, pro-military rhetoric.

In its 2000 assessment of U.S.-Indonesian relations, the State Department emphasizes the “important economic, commercial, and security interests in Indonesia.”[46] ExxonMobil, Boeing, General Electric and Sara Lee, and the other companies who put their weight behind these studies from the Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council agree. Thus, it seems likely that the Bush administration will pursue a policy of close relations with Jakarta, regardless of human rights violations, corruption, and brutal repression of separatist movements, and will prioritize military sales and training, in tandem with support for U.S. corporations and their aggressive exploitation of Indonesia’s vast oil reserves. And now that he has gained President Megawati’s support in the war against terrorism, there seems to be little standing in the way of President Bush restoring weapons sales and military training programs for Indonesia. Unfortunately, these tactics will neither aid in winning the war against terrorism nor encourage political and economic stability in Indonesia.

In an interview with Australian radio, American freelancer William Nessen describes the danger he faces as the only journalist traveling with separatist rebels in Aceh. He claims that the Indonesian military is both bombing and attempting to starve civilians, the majority of whom side with the rebels.

Sen. Richard Lugar has asked Indonesia's president to secure Nessen's safe passage out of Aceh and Indonesia. The commander of Indonesia's military operation in Aceh assured Nessen that he wouldn't be shot if he left the rebels, but said that he couldn't comply with his request that, as a journalist, he not be detained or questioned. Read the Committee to Protect Journalists' letter.

Billie (Billy) Nessen and his wife Shadia, freelance journalist reporting on human rights abuses and civil strife, are in serious danger and fear for their lives following recent threats from the Indonesian military. Please join efforts to ensure safe passage for the Nessens and an end to military aggression in Aceh and East Timor.

See Latest report, June 20, 2003,

‘Nessen Could Be Punished By Death’

June 20, 2003 11:56 PM

http://laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=48&news_id=5591

Rise Up Take Action Take Steps Help:

See Common Dreams Call to Action

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0620-01.htm

Please FAX two letters today

(sample letter at http://www.stanford.edu/group/gradethenews/pages/media%20alerts.htm)

US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce.

Fax: 011-6221-3435-9922

Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S. Soemadi D.M.

Brotodiningrat.

Fax: 202-775-5365

---------

End Military Aggression:

http://www.indonesianetwork.org/action/2003/congress_signon.htm

Committee to Protect Journalist

http://www.cpj.org/protests/03ltrs/Indonesia10june03pl.html

Reporters Without Borders

http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=7127

For more Info e-mail West Coast Contact: scottb@igc.org