Schools. Hospitals. Bridges. Medical suppliers. Residential buildings. Journalists. Civilians.
These are the targets of the U.S. and Israel bombings across Iran. They claim their goal is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but the truth has never been spoken louder: “We will bomb them back to the Stone Age,” said Trump. This week, his rhetoric has only gotten more unhinged as he threatens to destroy Iran entirely: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
Though Trump hasn't yet carried through on his threat, the possibility persists. Would the U.S. and Israel really use nuclear weapons against Iran? According to diplomat Mohamad Safa, the UN is already preparing for it. He resigned from his post last week in order to leak the information, accusing senior UN officials of being influenced by a “powerful lobby.”
There’s a powerful lobby here in the U.S. as well, influencing policymakers to continue increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal. We must turn our attention to the nuclear weapon supply chains—the elites who are profiting off the creation of weapons, the murder of innocents, and the extraction of resources like oil and gas. They are, in fact, all the same people.
Fluor Corporation is an energy giant critical for sourcing tritium for the U.S. nuclear stockpile. In February, Fluor Corp was tapped for a multi-year contract to expand uranium enrichment and production at a plant in Ohio. This is part of a multibillion-dollar project by the federal government to support nuclear weapons and technology. Not only does Fluor profit off building nuclear weapons, but they were also historically Iran’s largest oil and gas siphoner for 18 years until they were forced out during the 1979 revolution.
A week after the U.S. went to war on Iran, Fluor Corp. announced the appointment of a new CEO, James T. Hackett, a lifelong oil and gas executive who worked with U.S. companies that sourced oil from Iraq after the U.S. invasion. Hackett was the former CEO and Chairman of Anadarko Petroleum, which has faced quite an extensive collection of misconduct allegations over the years—fraud, sexual harassment, and they were even charged with a $159.9 million fine for their part in the worst U.S. offshore oil spill at Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 people.
Fluor Corp. is having its next shareholder meeting on May 6th to confirm Hackett as the new CEO. We urge you to write to the board members and demand that they vote no on confirming Hackett, an upward-failing oil and gas exploiter who has spent his life profiting off war.
👉 Write to the Fluor Corp. Board Members: Vote NO on Confirming James T. Hackett as CEO!
The U.S. has repeatedly used the “nuclear threat” as a justification for invading and destroying other countries to gain access to their critical resources. We saw it leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq when government officials lied about Iraq having a WMD program, and we are seeing it again with Iran. Similarly, there is no evidence that Iran was creating nuclear weapons. The motivation for U.S. invasion has always been about profit and destruction, and that hasn’t changed.
Top nuclear physicist Dr. Ira Helfand warned that “Hiroshima and Nagasaki do not begin to prepare us for what would happen if nuclear weapons were used today.” Today, nuclear bombs are six to 50 times more powerful and would result in “the total destruction of human civilization.”
You’d hope that would deter anyone from using nuclear weapons. But capitalism does not breed common sense. It is inherently self-destructive, dehumanizing, and irrational. Our proof is the perpetual prioritizing of profit over human life and the well-being of the planet. The U.S. was built on slavery and genocide. It's maintained its empire through war and imperialism. Its legacy is being the only country in history to have ever used a nuclear weapon—and in total violation of international law, the U.S. continues to threaten nations with the use of them if they don’t acquiesce to U.S. demands.
The Fluor Corporation's motto is “We are Building a Better World.” Yet, they’ve spent millions lobbying for nuclear expansion and a larger defense budget—approximately $66.5 million since 2003. The only better world they’re building is for elites like James T. Hackett, who has managed to profit off war while remaining in relative obscurity, unplagued by media engagement and public headlines. It’s time we start pulling these creeps out of the shadows and forcing them to face the consequences of their actions.
👉 Fluor Corp. Board: Don’t Confirm Oil-Exploiter James T. Hackett as CEO!
Just last week, JD Vance said the most important national security objective is to prevent “the worst people in the world from having nuclear weapons.” Unfortunately, the worst people in the world already do: the U.S. arsenal contains about 5,400 nuclear weapons, and it is constantly increasing. In 2024, nuclear-armed states wasted $3,169 per second building and maintaining their nuclear arsenals. How many people could be housed and fed with $3,169 per second?
James T. Hackett said, “God didn’t put us here to be good. He put us here to do good. And do it in a morally proper manner.” He believes capitalism is enshrined in Christianity, and that “human dignity is satisfied by working.”
Well, we think human dignity is inherent and should be treated as such. There is certainly nothing dignified or morally proper about leading a petroleum company that paid one of the largest environmental fines in history ($5.15 billion) because of the contamination of thousands of sites, including on Navajo Nation land.
Hackett is one of many elites who contribute to the ever-expanding U.S. military-industrial complex. Help us write to Fluor Corp. to expose his history of profiting off human suffering!
👉 Fluor Corp: James T. Hackett Is Not Your CEO!
Peace and solidarity,
Megan, Jodie, and the CODEPINK Team
