Diverst Rutgers University from Military Contractors

To:  Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Board of Governors

Currently there are 168,000 American troops and close to 200,000 military contractors in Iraq. Many companies have made billions of dollars off of the war, supplying horrendous tools of destruction, stealing reconstruction money or providing private security armies. Meanwhile veterans continue to suffer from a dilapidated and under-funded VA system. This privatization of war, in which military contractors conduct themselves with no regard for law or little oversight has resulted in atrocious acts being committed.

The following companies profit from the war and occupation. They (among other military contractors) are also companies in which the Rutgers Endowment Fund for Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey chooses to invest.

Dyncorp: A private security firm involved in training Iraqi police. Was found responsible for the slaying of an unarmed taxi driver. Provides translators for U.S. military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba through a joint venture carried out by Global Linguistics Solutions . (Hall, Camilla. “Baghdad Taxi Driver Killed by Dyncorp Guard, Iraq Official Says.” Bloomberg.com. November 12, 2007 and “L-3 Communications Files Protest Over 4.65B U.S. Army Pact for Linguistics Services.” Herald News Tribune. December 28, 2006.)

L-3 Communications: During the height of the Abu Ghraib scandal, where prisoners were tortured and humiliated by American forces, every interpreter in the prison worked for Titan (an L-3 subsidiary) L-3 has also provided translation services for the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.(Davidson, Osha Gray. Contract to Torture. Salon. August 9, 2004 and “Top 100 Military Contractors for 2007.” Washington Technology. http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top-100/2007/9.html.)

Raytheon: Raytheon supplied cluster bombs and now make “JSOWs,” fragmenting missiles designed for soft (human) and hard targets which can be programmed for “blast and fragmentation effects.” In addition, they also manufactured the missile that killed 62 civilians in a Baghdad market in Sept. 2003. (Milmo, Cahal. “Iraq: Marketplace Deaths Caused by Raytheon Missile.” The Independent. April 2, 2003.)

Honeywell: Produces engines for Predator unmanned aerial vehicle and targeting systems for military aircraft such as F-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier fighter jets for precision guided warheads and artillery. (Trinkle, Jason. “Honeywell-Albuquerque Wins DOD Work.” New Mexico Business Weekly. March 17, 2006 and “Unmanned Aerial Systems.” Honeywell, http://www.honeywell.com/.)

Rutgers has an ethical obligation to avoid complicity in the ongoing brutality associated with the occupation in Iraq and other human rights violations worldwide. It should not serve as a financial backer of militarism and crimes against humanity.

• As New Jersey Citizens and Rutgers Students we are demanding that our university not be invested in military contractors who are exploiting our soldiers and committing human rights violations at home and abroad.
• We also demand an open endowment, with information on investments publicized regularly.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Diverst Rutgers University from Military Contractors Petition to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Board of Governors was created by Rutgers Against the War and written by Ellen Whitt (ellenwhitt@optonline.net ).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.