Boycott

Why Boycott ?

Today October 17, 2003, George Bush Jnr got approval in the US senate for the spending of $78 Billion and 10,000 more troops to continue the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This is only a small part of the total figure. Where is this money coming from ? Taxes paid by anyone (including you and me) who buys US goods and services. Some of this money is in the form of a "loan" to the Iraqis instead of all grants which George would have preferred. The Iraqis never asked for this "loan" to fund their occupation but undoubtedly will have pay for it by the US stealing and selling their oil.
    Some will say boycotts are taking things too far, that the withholding of funds affects not only the US government but also is detrimental to businesses who are against the war. That is a problem but most of us cannot pay for US goods and services without paying tax to the US government as well.
    Also it must be kept in mind that Iraqis were forced to boycott all "dual-use" imports for 12 years from 91 to 03 via UN sanctions driven by the US. These included medication including anticancer drugs to cure the increase in cancer from US Depleted Uranium shells lying all over the desert after Gulf War I. 500,000 to 1 million Iraqi children died from lack of medication during this period not to mention adults and non-fatal diseases. So theres is nothing novel about the US and sanctions / embargos / boycotts. The US has boycotted Cuba through 8 presidencies since 1959 ! even though, according to the same article, the UN have disapproved of it by 157 countries vs. 3 (US, Israel, Marshall Islands). So much for democracy.
    It may be hard to acknowledge it, but by buying US goods and services you are funding the worlds current biggest terrorist and warmonger George W Bush.
For profiles of some of these companies go to www.corporatewatch.org -> Profiles.

Update - Nov 24. Today George Bush signed a $401 billion !!!! defence bill according to www.reuters.com/... which includes " 100 Boeing Co. refueling aircraft, expands veterans' benefits and allows research on new types of nuclear weapons ." !!!. Obviously this boycott thing is not working. Surely it's time to start worrying when the man who would start a war based on how "evil" imaginary WMD are starts pumping billions into nuclear WMD research ! I guess we are to believe that George would only nuclear WMD in a "responsible" manner so it's OK for him to build new ones. Whatever happened the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty) ?

Update - Dec 8. Today the US seems to be starting a sanctions / boycott regime against Syria because it is not cooperating enough in the US "War on terror". From www.msnbc.com/... US says Syria must "stop efforts to obtain or produce weapons of mass destruction". Now where did I hear that one before and why does it lack any credibility ? It must be shown to George & Co. that he's not the only one who can boycott. Also described on www.counterpunch.com/...
Trying to trace the ownership of companies is v. tricky. In the Carrickmines castle dispute the Irish government has spent 3 years trying to find out who owns Jackson Way properties, who had land rezoned, but still don't know. If any of the below is wrong, please let me know. You could argue that shareholders from everywhere own these companies, but when scandals like Enron occur, these shareholders are bottom of the chain for getting returns for their "ownership".
See Googles directory of publicly traded companies for an alphabetic listing of international brands: directory.google.com/.

Which countries governments should be boycotted? - The coalition of the willing:

1.- Afghanistan. Do they have an army? supposedly still ran by warlords.
?. - Albania - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Armenia - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
2.- Australia. Poll says 70% against. US propose Free Trade Association and Aus are on board. New Zealand refuse to join war => trade talks stopped.
3. -Azerbaijan
?. - Bahrain - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
4. - Bulgaria
5. - Columbia
?. - Croatia - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
6. - Czech Republic
7. - Denmark
?. - Dominican Republic - - withdrew troops according to www.inq7.net/... .
8. - El Salvador
9. - Eritrea
10. - Estonia
11. - Ethopia
12. - Georgia < 100 troops according to www.radicalruss.net/... .
- - . Honduras update: Honduras to withdraw 400 soldiers.
13. - Hungary
?. - Israel - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
14. - Italy (69% against)
?. - Jordan - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Kuwait ("liberated" by US in '91 but not a democracy) - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
15. - Japan (70% against)
?. - Kasakhstan <100 troops according to www.radicalruss.net/... .
16. - South Korea.
17. - Latvia
18. - Lithuania
19. - Macedonia
?. - Moldova - withdrew troops from 42 to 19 according to www.inq7.net/... .
?. - Mongolia - 100+ troops according to www.radicalruss.net/... .
?.- Morocco- volunteered to send 2,000 monkeys to assist with land mines. according to www.buzzflash.com/... .
20. - the Netherlands - to withdraw troops in 2005 according to www.inq7.net/... .
?. - New Zealand - to withdraw troops in Sept 2004 according to www.inq7.net/... .
21. - Nicaragua
?. Norway - withdrew troops according to www.inq7.net/... .
?. Oman - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
22. - Philippinnes - withdrew troops in 2004 according to www.inq7.net/... .
23. - Poland update: Poland to withdraw 2,500.
?. - Portugal - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
24. - Palau ( group of north Pacific Islands with population of 20,000. no soldiers.
?. - Qatar - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Romania - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Saudi Arabia - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Slovakia - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Slovenia - - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .
?. - Thailand - to withdraw troops in Sept 2004 according to www.inq7.net/... .
25. - Iceland,
26. - Costa Rica,
27. - Marshall Islands,
28. - Solomon Islands,
?. - Tonga (not a democracy) - according to www.matangitonga.to/.. "one of the original members of the Coalition of the Willing that sent soldiers ".
?. - Ukraine 1,000 + soldiers according to www.radicalruss.net/... .
29. - Micronesia.
30. - Turkey.
?. - Singapore - withdrew troops from 191 to 33 according to www.inq7.net/... .
31. - Spain (90% against)
? - UK
? - United Arab Emirates - according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) .

Numbered list is from Michael Moores "Hey Dude wheres my country?" pg 71.
Remember there are 193 countries in the world geography.about.com/... so only 31/193 i.e. 16% of the Worlds countries ( or 10.4 % of the world population, according to www.ips-dc.org/..(pdf) . ) went to war, so much for a "democracic" war to install a democracy, and it leaves plenty of other countries to buy your goods from.
Heres a good map, showing the countries involved, what they provided and how support has waned: "Spain, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras said they planned to withdraw their forces from Iraq. ...Poland had been "misled" about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction Poland's defense minister reportedly said ... that Poland's forces would stay throughout 2005 but withdraw sometime soon afterwards. Costa Rica also asked in September 2004 that it be removed from the list of Iraq coalition members after a court ruling that found that inclusion on that list violated the country's constitution.
Heres a 2005 list of numbers of troops from the COTW members and withdrawing countries in bold. Loads of figures on www.globalsecurity.org/... .

1. US Companies

more on www.boycottUSA.com

Apple	Computers e.g. Macintosh, iMac, G3.
Bechtel	88-90. Built petro-chemical plant in Iraq.
Ben Sherman	Clothes
Berkertex Brides	Clothes
Burger King	Fast food restaurant
Cannondale	Bicycles
CAT	Makers of building equipment and boots / shoes / clothes but also military equipment such as armoured bulldozers used in Iraq and Israel /Palestine even in the killing of US peace activist Rachel Corrie. In the 80's they sold $10 million of tractors to Iraq for construction of nuclear program. M.M. Drivers account of "Shaving" houses with 60ton bulldozer (in the name of peace & democracy).
Chevrolet	US car maker took over Korean company Daewoo in 2005 so sales of all that companies models now contribute eventually to George W.
Chrysler	Car e.g. Chrysler Neon,. "Buses" e.g. Chrysler Voyager, Off-road vehicles e.g. Chrysler Jeep, Chrysler Jeep Cherokee.
Claire's accessories	Jewellry etc. www.clairesstores.com/... listed on NYSE.
Coke inc. Sprite, Fanta, Fruice, NRG, Lilt & Riverrock mineral water.	Soft drinks, Fruit juice & mineral water. Other reasons for boycotting coke www.indymedia.ie/... (union busting / dodgy activity in Columbia ). UCD and TCD Student Unions have both had referenda to boycott Coke on campus and have it banned. If you walk into one of those restaurants that servers no drinks other than Coke and it's affiliated brands, just leave !! INTO decline Coke sponsorship www.indymedia.ie/... .
Colgate-Palmolive	Food and toiletries e.g. Colgate toothpaste, Palmolive shampoo.
Cinema (US films)	This is a tough one. Most films are US made and many US TV people at the Oscars in 03, particularly Michael Moore let the world know they're against the war. But others such as Arnold Schwarzenegger see nothing wrong with going to Iraq to entertain the troops. Obviously cinema goers should fund people such as Moore to continue publicizing the truth, but taxes on a Moore film, and a Schwarzenegger film will both fund the US war machine.
Daewoo	General Motors owned motor company. e.g Daewoo Nubira, Lantz, etc.
Dell	PCs.
Esso / Exxon	US oil company
Ford	Motor Vehicles e.g. Ford Ka, Fiesta, Fusion, Focus, Mondeo, Scorpio, etc.
Gateway	PCs.
Gap	Clothes
Gary Fisher	Bicycles
Gymboree	Childrens clothes ir.gymoboree.com/...
Halliburton	Their subsidary, Kellogg, Root & Brown were hired by the Irish Government to be project managers for the Dublin Port Tunnel, despite Halliburton beings Dick Cheneys company at one stage and the biggest military-industrial company in Iraq at the moment, awarded contracts that Irish & French etc. companies are not allowed to bid for.
Hersheys	Chocolate bars & Sweets, e.g. Hersheys Kisses.
Hewlett-Packard & Compaq	Printers, Computers. HP sold computers to Iraq in 85-90 for work on Scud missile research.
Hughes	In 83 sold 60 helicopters to Iraq which they converted for military use.
Intel	Computer chips.
Isuzu	General Motors owned motor company.
Kelloggs	Breakfast cereals
Kodak	Cameras & Film. In '89 they sold $172,000 of equipment to Iraq for their missile program. M.M.
Levis	Jeans and clothes.
Marin	Bicycles
Mars / Masterfoods	Confectionary, food & Petfood. From www.mars.com/... Caesar, Flavia, Klix, Mars Milky Way M & Ms Pedigree (Chum etc.) Sheba, Snickers Twix, Uncle Bens Whiskas
McDonalds	Fast food restaurant. McDonald's Salad Has More Fat Than Cheeseburger - story.news.yahoo.com/...
Microsoft	PC software
Motorola	Mobile Phones and chips.
Nike	Shoes and Clothes.
Opel	General Motors owned Car company. e.g. Opel Corsa, Astra, Vectra, Omega, Frontera off-roader.
Oreo	Biscuits e.g .Oreo Cookies.
Pepsi	Soft drinks.
Procter and Gamble.	Drugs, toiletries, food etc. e.g. Ariel, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Fabreze, Sunny Delight, Pringles, & from here Always Bold Bounce Camay Clearasil Cover Girl Crest Toothpaste Dreft Febreze Giorgio Beverly Hills Hugo Boss Head & Shoulders Max Factor Minute Maid Oil of Olay Old Spice Pantene Pro-V Pringles(yeah, the crisps - everyone's all for boycotting P&G til they discover it means no more Pringles) Secret Sunny Delight Sure Swiffer Tampax Tide Vidal Sassoon Vicks Family of Cough/Cold Products: Sinex, VapoRub, VapoSteam, Vicks 44, Vitamin C Drops
Scott	Bicycles
Specialized	Bicylces
Timberland	Shoes and clothes.
Texaco	US oil company. Part of the PR machine is www.texacochildrensart.com ....
Trek	Bicycles
Viacom	Includes CBS & MTV. pg 81 M.M.
Volvo	Ford owned car company e.g. S40, S60, S80, off road SUV
Wrangler	Jeans and clothes

2. UK companies

Accessorize	Jewellry. Owned by Monsoon - see below.
Argos	Supermarkets.
Bodyshop	Cosmetics etc. www.thebodyshop.com/...
B & Q	Hardware stores.
Boots	Chain Pharmacies. Also owns Farley baby milk company according to here
British Eagle	Bicycles
Burtons	Biscuits.
Cadbury's chocolates	E.g Bourneville, Creme Eggs, Dairy milk, Double Decker, Fruit & Nut,
Campbells	Canned Soup
Cinema (UK films)	Bond and Hugh Grant films are off the menu... One of the UK militarys raids was even called "Operation Bond"...
Clarks	Shoes
Debenhams	Clothes stores
Dixons	Electrial stores
Evans	Clothes
FCUK	Clothes
Game	Computer Game stores.
HMV	Music stores
Jaguar	Cars
Karen Millen	Clothes www.mri-world.com/...
Lever Bros	Part of UniLever - see below.
Lush	Soap shops. www.lush.co.uk/...
Marks and Spencers	Supermarkets
Monsoon	Clothes. Also owns "Accessorize" www2.monsoon.co.uk/comphistory.htm
PC world	PC stores

Penneys / Primark	Clothes stores
Raleigh	Bicycles
Raytheon	Joe Public will not be buying missiles off this company, ( $750,000 per tomahawk) but it makes the headlines for making bombs used in Iraq. Monthly Protest at Raytheon on Jan 15 '05.Yes it is strictly a US firm but an Irish branch makes it more relevant. Since the war started: Shares up 27 cent. Sales up 11% Profits $111 million
Reebok	Runners and sportswear
Selfridge & Co.	Department store / clothes
Sock Shop	Socks
Tescos	Supermarkets
Tie Rack	Ties, scarves.. www.tie-rack.co.uk/...
Topman	Clothes
Tower Records	Music stores.
Unilever	Anglo-Dutch chemical giant. Holland is also strongly pro-war, so you get 2 for the price of 1 by boycotting this companies products. Brands, from www.unilever.com/... & www.unilever.co.uk/... include: Axe, Bertolli, Becel, Ben & Jerrys, Birdseye, Carte d'Or, Cif, Chicken Tonight, Colmans, Comfort, Cornetto, Crave Calvin Klein, Domestos, Dove, Escape, Eternity, Family Brand, Findus, Flora, HB icecream, Healthy Heart, Hellmans, Igloo, Impulse, Knorr, Lipton, Lifebouy, Lux, Lynx, Magnum, Marmite, Nautica, Obsession, Olivio, Omo, Organics, Persil, Physio Sport, PG Tips, Ponds, Pot Noodle, Radiant, Rexona, Signal, Slimfast, Solero, Sun, Sunsilk, Sure, Surf, Timotei, Truth Calvin Klein, Twister, Valentino, UBF food solutions, Vaseline, Viennetta, Walls.
Virgin	Music stores
Waterstones	Bookshops
Weetabix	Breakfast Cereals.

3. Spanish companies - UPDATE 15/3/04 -if PM Zapatero of newly elected Socialist Party withdraws the 1,300 Spanish soldiers soon Spain may be OK.
- UPDATE 28/4/05 The democratically elected Spanish goverment has seen through Bush & Blair's lies and withdrawn its troops, so this list is defunct.

SEAT	E.g. Seat Ibiza, Leon, Torrado, Ahlambra people carrier.
Zara	Clothes stores e.g. new one in Roches stores, Henry St.

4. Dutch compainies


DAF	Vehicle manufacturer of Dutch origin, as far as I know.

Phillips	Household elecronics, lighting, iQon range of PCs.
Shell	"Royal Dutch Shell" is the full title of this global oil brand.
Spar	Worldwide local supermarket chain which started in the Netherlands

5. Italian companies

Fiat	Car manufacturer of Panda, Siecento, Punto, Marea, Brava, Bravo, Multipla etc.
Olivetti	PCs / Printers

6. Polish companies

????
Polish Coal...

7. Japanese companies



Mitsubishi	Vehicles e.g. Colt, Lancer, Pajero, EVO, Household Electronics e.g. TV / video, Heavy machinery, air conditioning equipment etc.
Panasonic	Household electronics


Toyota	Vehicles e.g. Corolla, Avensis, Yaris, Landcruiser, Rav 4, Previa.

8. South Korean companies



Hyundai	Cars e.g. Lantz, coupe, Santa Fe & heavy machinery.

Samsung	Household electronics

9. Czech Republic

Skoda	Vehicle manufacturer e.g. Octavia, Fabia etc.

10. Denmark

Carlsberg	Beer
Lego	Toys
Bestseller A/S -brands: Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Selected, TDK & EXIT	Clothes as listed on www.jackjones.com

11. Australia

Harvey-Norman	Chain of Furniture / Electrical stores.

12. Columbia

???

13. Afghanistan

??? Do they export anything to Ireland?

14. Azerbaijan

???

15. Bulgaria

???

16. El Salvador

???

17. Eritrea

???

18. Ethiopia

???

19. Georgia

???

20. Hungary

???

21. Latvia

???

22. Lithuania

???

23. Macedonia

???

24. The Philippinnes

???

25. Palau

???

26. Iceland

???

27. Costa Rica

???

28. The Marshall Islands

???

29. The Solomon Islands

???

30. Micronesia

???

31. Turkey

???

Irish companies - not on the official list of "Coalition of the Willing", but close enough.

Can't exactly advocate boycotting all Irish companies in order to affect the Irish governments tax returns when you're living in Ireland.... but here are some companies more involved in the war than others...


CRH	This Irish building materials company owns 25% of the Isreali company building the controversial Isreali wall. Amnesty question to Cement Roadstone Holdings f

Irish Independent	This paper did not give the Ed Horgan vs. the Irish Government case half the publicity it should have received. When judges start proclaiming the constitution as "aspirational" etc. it should be publicized. Even funnyman Brendan O'Connor joined the anti-anti-war brigade, branding them all left wing pinkos etc.
Irish Times	As above. Kevin Myers in "An Irishmans Diary" in particular, comes across as a particularly nasty piece of work.



TOP oil	Irish oil company who don't sell oil to US military aircraft in Shannon, but have the contract to carry out the logistics of refuelling of these planes such as Hercules, C-11 etc.

Israeli companies

In late March 2004, Israeli Gunship helicopters supplied by the US fired missiles at a head cleric, aged 67, paraplegic in his wheelchair. He and 7 others died. He was no angel, but this type of action by the state army, of a democratically elected government of a "civilised" society outside that countries juristiction is enough in itself to warrant a boycott.

Products with barcode 729 xxxxxxxx according to boycottisrael.co.uk list of brands on same site	Full list of all countries barcode prefixes available on www.export911.com/... update - may not be barcode prefixes... If anyone knows the country codes please send me an email.
	Structure of Type A 1+12 digit barcode www.upcdatabase.com/... and www.bbs-web.com/... and www.howstuffworks.com/...

Countries currently being boycotted / sanctioned / embargoed by the US:

1. Cuba

Tourism	US citizens are not allowed to visit Cuba on holidays at the moment...
Havana Cigars	Not so sure if these are banned in the US too.

2. Libya

Everything	Talks are ongoing to lift sanctions put in place by US after Libyan involvement in Lockerbie disaster.

3. Non-members & some members of the "Coalition of the willing"

Non-members	The rest of the world were not allowed bid for Iraqi civilian contracts after the war.
Members	Even though Ireland was a member of the coalition (see Quotes link on homepage) we were not allowed bid for the same civilian contracts because as Bush Jnr said we "have not put enough lives at risk" in Iraq.

4. Syria

"items that could be used in weapons programs", "barring U.S. businesses from investing in Syria, restricting travel in the United States by Syrian diplomats, and banning exports of U.S. products other than food and medicine to Syria."	home.eircom.net/content/reuters/...

5. Individuals wanted by US for breaking its sanction orders.

Bobby Fischer, chess player, 62, is wanted by the United States for violating sanctions imposed on the former Yugoslavia by playing an exhibition match there against Russian Boris Spassky in 1992.	According to www.irishantiwar.org/... .

Other Boycott sites ( for different reasons) but featuring many of the same companies:

www.oocities.org/vegansite/pandg.htm
www.mcspotlight.org/beyond/nestle.html

If there is any reason that brandnames cannot be quoted here, please email me as on bottom of homepage.