Tag: military-industrial complex
Ukraine service members fire a shell from a M-777 Howitzer from Ukrainian position in Peski toward Donetsk. [Source: UFO Reports Are Fertilizer For Military Budgets
5 June 2021 — Moon of Alabama
Since December 2019 the United States has a Space Force as one of eight branches of U.S. Armed Forces. Each of those branches has lots of higher ranking officer positions. All people who are put into those want a lucrative board seat at some weapon manufacturer when they retire. They will only get one if they manage to create enough revenue for those manufacturers while they are still in uniform.
The Best Intentions of Sir Ronald Cohen: Building the Crypto-Corrals of Social Investment
28 April 2021 — Mint Press News
2E6FCW5 Ronald Cohen, chair of a global steering group on social impact investing, attends a news conference in Tel Aviv March 14, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
The Great Reset
It’s a tangled web but the bottom line is that social-impact investing, given a big boost by the pandemic and the “Great Reset” planned in its wake, can be made to sound so good that it’s hard to conceive what a dangerous threat it poses: it only “works” by herding and caging.
The Ruling Class Wants Us To Accept War As Something That Will Never End
28 February 2021 — See you in 2020
The ruling class of the U.S./NATO empire justifies the heinous actions of its military forces, the brutality of its internal police states, and the cruelty towards the poor of its neoliberal economic deprivation by claiming that everything it does is necessary to combat some grand evil. Whether this evil is Islam, or communism, or the very presence of opposition to Washington’s war narratives, the threat is portrayed as being so all-encompassing and enormous that it should solely occupy our political concerns.
India’s forever wars and forever warriors
19 February 2021 — Indian Punchline
Disengagement between Chinese and Indian forces at the banks of the Pangong lake in Eastern Ladakh
The Washington-based Quincy Institute, arguably the most intellectually stimulating American think tank nowadays, in its compulsively readable publication Responsible Statecraft featured on Tuesday an investigative report titled Weapons biz bankrolls experts pushing to extend Afghan War, authored by Eli Clifton, noted expert and journalist on US foreign policy.
The Stubborn Truth About Employment and the Defense Industry by Nia Harris
5 August 2019 — TomDispatch
Co-Written by Nia Harris, Cassandra Stimpson, and Ben Freeman
A Marilyn has once again seduced a president. This time, though, it’s not a movie star; it’s Marillyn Hewson, the head of Lockheed Martin, the nation’s top defense contractor and the largest weapons producer in the world. In the last month, Donald Trump and Hewson have seemed inseparable. They “saved” jobs at a helicopter plant. They took the stage together at a Lockheed subsidiary in Milwaukee. The president vetoed three bills that would have blocked the arms sales of Lockheed (and other companies) to Saudi Arabia. Recently, the president’s daughter Ivanka even toured a Lockheed space facility with Hewson.
United Technologies – Raytheon Merger Is the Definition of Crony Capitalism
18 June 2019 — TRNN
Trump opposes the merger of these two arms manufacturers, which would create the world’s largest such corporation, but why? Bill Black gives us the interesting answer and explores why these mergers are dangerous and on the rise
The US locomotive of world military spending By Manlio Dinucci
9 May 2019 — Voltaire Network
Every month of last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the federal government of the United States spent $250 per citizen.
The Military Industrial State Confronts Russia and China By Brian Cloughley
26 February 2019 — Strategic Culture Foundation
The swaggering arrogance of Washington’s Military-Industrial Complex never ceases to intrigue the rest of the world, much of which shrugs collective shoulders but has to acknowledge that the swaggering reflects the US National Defence Strategy which informs us that the military is going to concentrate on confronting Russia and China.
Risking Total Annihilation for the Sake of Profit – with Wilkerson and Jay (3/3)
15 January 2019 — TRNN
Larry Wilkerson says the US government is raising the danger of nuclear war by spending more than a trillion dollars to upgrade the American nuclear arsenal, with no real objective other than money making – with host Paul Jay (inc. transcript)
Continue reading
Convert Military to Green Production, or Perish – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (13/13)
30 November 2018 — TRNN
A massive reduction in ICBM’s and transforming the economy away from the military-industrial complex are prerequisites for our survival – says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay
Bipartisan panel: US must prepare for “horrendous,” “devastating” war with Russia and China By Andre Damon
16 November 2018 — WSWS
A bipartisan commission appointed by Congress issued a lengthy report Tuesday backing the Pentagon’s plans to prepare for a “great-power” war against Russia, China, or both, making clear that the Trump administration’s belligerent policies are shared by the Democratic Party.
National Defense Strategy Commission Report Advises Trump To Boost Military Budget To Solve Problems Faced By US Armed Forces
15 November 2018 — South Front
US military superiority “has eroded to a dangerous degree,” with “grave and lasting” consequences unless Washington undertakes swift action to reverse the adverse effect by increasing the Pentagon’s funding, according to a new reported ordered by the Congress.
International relations: the calm before the storm? By Thierry Meyssan
9 October 2018 — VoltaireNet
All international problems are currently suspended, awaiting the results of the US mid-term elections. The partisans of the old international order are gambling on a change of majority in Congress and a rapid destitution of President Trump. If the man in the White House holds fast, the protagonists of the war against Syria will have to admit defeat and move on to other battle fields. On the other hand, if Donald Trump should lose the elections, the war on Syria will immediately be revived by the United Kingdom.
Video: The Political Power of Weapons By Manlio Dinucci
5 October 2018 — Global Research
European Markets and Union on alert, opposition on the attack, a reminder about the Constitution by the President of the Republic, all this because the government-planned financial manoeuvre, which has already been announced, would lead to a deficit of about 27 billion Euros. On the other hand, absolute silence from the government and the opposition about the fact that every year, Italy spends a similar sum for its military budget.
Doomed Prospects for Achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 By Carla Stea
28 August 2018 — Global Research
Funds Squandered on Military-Industrial Complex Are Indispensable for Success
Criminal UN Security Council Authorized Military Actions and Sanctions are Gross Violation of Sustainable Development Goals and Obliterate all Hope For Attainment of SDGs
'The Nuclear Enterprise Is on Autopilot'
20 November 2017 — FAIR
Janine Jackson interviewed William Hartung about nuclear overkill for the November 17, 2017, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
Monsanto’s “Insidious” GM0 Food and its Dark Connections to the Military Industrial Complex
4 July 2014 — Analyst Report
Monsanto, the world’s largest genetically modified (GM/GMO) seed producer, has been at the centre of controversy for decades as evidence of the harmful effects on humans of GM foods continues to mount. Joined with the likes of DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Syngenta, Monsanto and partners comprise the corporate nexus of Big-Agri, where the control over our food supply is increasingly transferred into the hands of private trans-national corporations as opposed to local farmers and governments.
If Militarism Continues, Humankind is Doomed By Jan Oberg
27 June 2014 — Dissident Voice
Both NATO and the EU has just announced that their members will now invest more in the military. It’s indicative of the lack of creativity in both organisations. It is self-defeating and counter-productive.
The Soaring Profits of the Military – Industrial Complex And the Soaring Costs of Military Casualties By James Petras
21 June 2014 — James Petras
Introduction: The launch of two major wars by the US government had two major beneficiaries, one domestic and one foreign. The three major weapons manufacturers, Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOG) and Raytheon (RTN) have delivered record-shattering returns to investors, CEOs and investment banks during the past decade and a half.
The Israeli regime has expanded its territory and increased its power and influence in the Middle East. Israel’s territorial dispossession of Palestinians, was aided and abetted by the US invasion and destruction of the Palestinian’s Iraqi allies. Washington destroyed Iraq’s armed forces and fragmented its society and state.
The cost in US physical and mental casualties’ runs in the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who at one time served in the war zones. The financial costs run in the trillions of dollars and counting. Both the military-industrial complex and the pro-Israel power configuration continue to wield a major role in keeping Washington on a wartime footing.
For the weapons manufactures there are no peaceful economic activity that can yield a comparable return – hence the need to continue to pressure for new wars to sustain weapons spending. For the pro-Israel power configuration, peace agreements would put an end to land grabs, reduce or curtail new weapons transfers and undermine pretexts to sanction or bomb countries (like Iran) opposing Tel Aviv’s vision of “Greater Israel”.
Yet the political and financial costs of almost a decade and a half of warfare weigh heavily on the US Treasury and electorate. The wars themselves were dismal failures if not outright defeats. New conflicts have emerged in Syria, Iraq and the Ukraine in which the military-industrial complex and the pro-Israel lobbies hope to capitalize for profits and power.
Yet the cumulative costs of past and continuing wars hangs over the launch of new costly military interventions. Political discontent among the US public with past wars also weighs heavily against new wars for profits and Israel.
War Profits
The power and influence of the military-industrial complex in promoting serial wars is evident in the extraordinary rates of return over the past fifty years. Stocks in military-industries have risen 27,699% versus 6,777% for the broad market according to a recent study by Morgan Stanley (cited in Barron’s, 6/9/14, p. 19). Over the past three years, Raytheon has returned 124%, Northrup Grumman 114% and Lockheed Martin 149%.
The Obama regime talks of reducing the military budget and makes a show of doing so via the annual appropriation bill, and then, uses emergency supplemental funds to pay war costs… which actual increases military spending and fattens the profits for the military-industrial complex.
War profits have soared because of multiple military interventions in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The lobbyists for the industry use their influence over Congressional and Pentagon decision-makers to join forces with the pro-Israel lobby to pressure for greater direct US military involvement in Syria, Iraq and Iran. The growing ties between Israeli and US military industries reinforce their political leverage in Washington by working with liberal interventionists and neo-conservatives. They criticize Obama for not bombing Syria and for withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan. They call for sending troops to Iraq and the Ukraine. Obama argues that proxy wars do not require heavy US military expenditures. Responding to Wall Street pressure to reduce the budget deficit the Obama regime argues that retreating from Iraq and Afghanistan was necessary to reduce US financial and military losses. But withdrawal also reduces profits for the weapons makers and angers Israel and its supporters in Congress.
The Fight over the Military Budget: Veterans versus the Complex and the Lobby
In the face of rising pressure to reduce the deficit and cut the military budget, the military-industrial complex and its Zionist accomplices are heavily engaged in retaining their share of the military budget, by reducing the amount allocated for the medical programs of active and retired soldiers. Disability costs are soaring and will continue for decades. The cost of health care is expected to double to 15% of the defense budget in five years and according to the financial press “that is bad news for defense stocks” (Barron’s, 6/9/14, p. 19).
In response the military-industries are pressing to close Veterans Administration hospitals and reduce benefits, claiming fraud, incompetence and inferior service. The same corporate warlords and lobbyists who pressed the Government to send American soldiers to wars, in which they lost lives, limbs and mental health, are now in the forefront of the fight to reduce spending on their recovery and health. Economists point out that the less the percentage of the military budget spent on veteran’s health, the greater the share allocated for missiles, warships and war planes. The long term costs for VA medical and disability spending resulting from the Afghan and Iraq wars are at present $900 billion and rising.
The corporate warlords are pressuring Congress to increase co-pays, enrollment fees and deductibles for veterans enrolled in public health plans.
The fight is on over Pentagon expenditures: for soldiers health or weapons programs that fatten the profits of the military industrial complex.
The New Dark Age 