Posted on 04/02/2006 12:52:37 PM PDT by WestTexasWend
IRVING,TX (AP) - About 50 war protesters rallied outside Exxon Mobil Corp.'s headquarters Saturday, saying that $7 billion of its record 2005 profits were earned from the war with Iraq and should be paid to injured veterans and those with health problems living near refineries.
After chanting "Boycott Exxon! Stop the war!" the group marched down the street in the rain, with a police escort for safety reasons.
Some held banners that read, "Spare the innocents" and "No war for oil."
The rally kicked off the "March to Redeem the Soul of America" that is to end up about 120 miles away in Crawford near President Bush's ranch on Easter weekend, for a third war protest in less than a year.
"This two-week march is to bring attention to the sins of corporate America," said state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who also is the director of the Dallas Peace Center.
Mark Boudreaux, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, said the company was offended by the way such groups claim to represent the public's interest by making "inflammatory statements" that he said were "blatantly untrue."
"They're living in a fantasy world," Boudreaux said, adding that the company has donated $3.5 billion to charities the past several years.
He also said employees and retirees gave $60 million to charitable organizations and volunteered 800,000 hours last year.
Irving-based Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, earned $36.13 billion last year, the highest ever for a U.S. company.
Economic studies show that about 20 percent of that can be attributed to the war that has sent oil prices soaring, said Nick Mottern, director of ConsumersforPeace.org.
He is compiling a list of people - including injured Iraq war veterans and Beaumont and Baytown residents with health problems living near Exxon refineries - who peace activists believe should receive some of Exxon's $7 billion.
Protesters plan to drive south to several cities, marching along part of the way each day, and will arrive the week of Easter in Crawford.
There they will be joined by Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who camped in ditches near Bush's ranch last summer, demanding to ask him for what noble cause her soldier son died in Iraq in 2004.
Two of his top aides met with Sheehan, but Bush never did.
Her August vigil galvanized the peace movement while drawing thousands of anti-war demonstrators to the tiny Texas town, but it also attracted scores of Bush supporters who said Sheehan was hurting troop morale.
Sheehan and a few hundred protesters returned to Crawford for a second protest the week of Thanksgiving while Bush again was at his ranch.
Wow! Thanks for the useful information! I propose that these activists shift their energy toward something America can really benefit from, like lobbying Congress to open up ANWR and other sites!
The same people destroyed Seattle during the WTO riots a few years back. They're always looking for the scapegoat of the day and today it happens to be Exxon. They don't care that the very companies they protest provide millions of jobs around the world and help hundreds of millions of people provide for their families. These are mere details to the people who can afford to take 2 weeks off to travel around the country, sing songs and chant silly slogans. Then they go back to their comfy home and move on to the next protest.
Like you said, let's open up ANWR and actually help people.
You won that bet...
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