Special to Mulch from EWG Communications Director Alex Formuzis.

I couldn't resist. When agribusiness's version of The Death Star accuses a competitor of being 'dishonest, disingenuous and downright deceitful', it's too rich to let it go.

On Monday, August 17, Monsanto Chairman, President and CEO Hugh Grant sent a letter to his counterpart and competitor, DuPont board Chairman, Charles O. Holliday, Jr. claiming that the chemical giant's actions "were misleading to the public and a serious breach of business ethics far beyond honest competitor behavior." You can find Mr. Grant's letter along with other documents here.

Mr. Grant went on to demand that DuPont's board investigate its own tactics in its efforts to chip away at Monsanto's near-stranglehold of the genetically altered seed business, which helped Monsanto net over $2 billion in 2008 alone.

Chuck Neubauer, a reporter for the Washington Times, reported that

An attorney for Monsanto said the tactics used against his company included forged letters to Congress, misinformation, attempts to improperly influence public officials and support for a special interest group which opposed Monsanto.

This is not the first time a Big Ag black ops scheme has been exposed.

In the May 2008 edition of Vanity Fair, journalists Donald Bartlett and James B. Steele reported:

As interviews and reams of court documents reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the "seed police" and use words such as "Gestapo" and "Mafia" to describe their tactics.

Some other highlights of Monsanto's storied history:

'65-'72: Monsanto contractors illegally dumped tons of toxic chemicals in landfills throughout the United Kingdom. As a result, UK government researchers have found components of Agent Orange, dioxins and PCBs in groundwater testing.

'05: Monsanto paid $1.5M for bribing a top official in the Indonesian government in an effort to side step environmental and safety assessments for the company's genetically altered cotton.

The cottonseed subsidiary of Monsanto based in India employed children.

...around 17,000 children work for Monsanto and their Indian subsidiary Mahyco. These children get no education, earn less than 40 Eurocents (Rs. 20) a day and are exposed to poisonous pesticides like Endosulphan during their work.

According to a report by The Center for Food Safety, Monsanto has gone after at least 112 farmers with lawsuits accusing each of "seed patent violations". From the CFS report: "many innocent farmers settle with Monsanto because they cannot afford a time consuming lawsuits".

And, of course we can't leave out Anniston, Alabama, where local farmers were urged by Monsanto to use soil the company knew was contaminated with PCBs.