Texas
Profits on Palestinian Pain
The Texas Observer
April 26, 2002
TEXAS FUELS OCCUPATION As the Israeli incursion into the West Bank
entered its second week and world opinion turned against the Israelis,
President Bushs rhetoric suddenly became quite strident. "Enough
is enough," he told the world on April 4, demanding that Sharon
begin an immediate pullout. Some-body forgot to notify the Pentagon,
which awarded a contract the very next day to a Texas company for
a major shipment of diesel fuel to Israel, where it will power the
tanks, jeeps, and armored bulldozers being used to demolish West
Bank towns.
Valero Energy Corporation, based in San Antonio, is set to ship
242,000 barrels of EN590 diesel, valued at $8,744,537, to Israel
by the end of April, according to the U.S. Department of Defense
(DOD). Valero is producing the diesel at its Texas City facility.
"It is an on-road diesel and it is used for jeeps, trucks and
any ground vehicle with a diesel engine," said Valero spokeswoman
Mary Rose Brown. When asked where in Israel this fuel is headed
and how it would be used there, Brown said, "I have no idea."
The diesel shipment is part of the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Israel
Program and it is bound for Haifa, according to bid solicitation
documents on the Defense Energy Support Centers (DESC) website.
"Youd have to talk to Israel," said DESCs
Tony Frontiero, when asked what the fuel would be used for. Israel
could not be reached at press time, but one likely recipient of
the diesel is the armys main battle tank, the Merkava, which
is equipped with a diesel engine supplied by Teledyne Continental
Mo-tors. Then there are the specially armored D-9 dozers, which
Israeli soldiers use like battering rams to flatten entire rows
of houses.
The $8.7 million diesel shipment this spring is a fraction of what
Valero stands to gain from supplying fuel to Israel this year. Aprils
diesel contract supplements a $94.7 million DOD award to Valero
granted in December, which is to be delivered by years end.
The bulk of this order will pay for 2.4 million barrels of JP-8,
a grade of jet fuel. Both Israels F-16 jet fighters and its
Apache helicopters use JP-8, according to Nancy Ray, an Army spokeswoman
at the Pentagon. Jordan Green, author of an April 4 Institute for
Southern Studies report called Arming the Occupation, says that
in Israels war "the F-16s and Apache attack helicopters
are the most widely used weaponry." In addition to fuel, Texas
also supplies the jets. In December, Ft. Worth- based Lockheed Martin
received a $1.3 billion DOD award to build 52 additional F-16 fighters
for the Israelis.
© Texas Democracy Foundation
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