{"id":207478,"date":"2022-03-21T12:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=207478"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:08:14","slug":"lockheed-and-raytheon-todays-masters-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/03\/lockheed-and-raytheon-todays-masters-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockheed and Raytheon\u2013Today\u2019s \u2018Masters of War\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cCome, you masters of war; You that build the big guns; You that build the death planes; You that build all the bombs; You that hide behind walls; You that hide behind desks; I just want you to know; I can see through your masks.\u201d<\/i> From Bob Dylan\u2019s iconic song, \u201cMasters of War,\u201d <\/i>released in 1963. It is all the more relevant today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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18 Mar 2022 –<\/em> That the U.S.\/NATO-instigated war in Ukraine could result in a third world war is of major concern for all of humanity, especially workers and oppressed people who ultimately bear the brunt of any war. Yet for some global billionaires \u2014 today\u2019s \u2018masters of war\u2019 \u2014 this conflict is seen as an opportunity to further boost profits.<\/p>\n

Among those already reaping gains are companies involved in the production and sale of weapons, planes and other military hardware. This includes 14 of the world\u2019s 20 largest \u201cdefense\u201d companies headquartered in the U.S. Topping this list are Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon Technologies, which had combined arms sales in 2019 nearing $100 billion.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, the stock value of these arms manufacturers soared. Raytheon and Lockheed officials openly told investors the Ukraine conflict was \u201cgood for business.\u201d In a company \u201cearnings call,\u201d issued Jan. 25, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes described how they could benefit from the conflict. Similarly, Lockheed CEO James Taiclet told investors the \u201cgreat power competition [between the U.S. and Russia] over Ukraine bodes more business for the company.\u201d (The Wire (India), Feb. 28)<\/p>\n

Two lobbyists for every Congress member<\/b><\/p>\n

These fortuitous gains for arms manufacturing companies are no coincidence. Their buildup for this NATO\/Russia conflict has been decades in the making. The industry currently employs two lobbyists for every member of Congress.<\/p>\n

Since the end of the Cold War, weapon manufacturers have been the most aggressive lobbyists for NATO expansion. Their potentially lucrative market included countries in Eastern Europe and former republics of the Soviet Union, disbanded in 1991. This, despite a 1990 promise by then-Secretary of State James Baker to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that if he allowed a reunited Germany to join NATO, the organization would not move eastward.<\/p>\n

In 1997, Lockheed Martin Vice President Bruce L. Jackson headed the advocacy organization U.S. Committee to Expand NATO. Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin and other weapons manufacturers funded Romania\u2019s lobbying for its bid to join NATO.<\/p>\n

The New York Times covered Jackson\u2019s lobbying of the Clinton administration to encourage NATO leaders to vote on expanding the alliance to Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic in July 1997. Clinton\u2019s Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright attended one of Jackson\u2019s lavish dinners to promote NATO expansion to the senators being wined and dined. (tinyurl.com\/ycy6tby9)<\/p>\n

Lockheed Martin gave $2.3 million to congressional and presidential candidates in the 1996 election. Always on the lookout for more opportunities to advance weapons sales, Jackson later became chairperson of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which promoted the 2003 U.S. invasion during the George W. Bush administration.<\/p>\n

In 1999, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were admitted to NATO, despite U.S. and European Union promises to Russia that this expansion would never happen. Over the course of the next two decades, 14 Central and Eastern European countries joined NATO. In 2021, NATO extended membership offers to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine, all located on Russia\u2019s eastern border.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Illustration by Ben Jennings<\/p><\/div>\n

More NATO members = more industry profits<\/b><\/p>\n

According to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics released in early 2021, five of the biggest U.S. defense contractors \u2014 Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Technologies and General Dynamics \u2014 spent a combined $60 million lobbying to influence policy in 2020. This sum is in addition to $2.5 billion the companies spent for lobbying since 2000. (Military.com, March 7, 2021)<\/p>\n

The Center\u2019s website OpenSecrets.org notes that in addition to the significant portion of the Pentagon\u2019s $740 billion going to purchase weapons, U.S. arms manufacturers made $175 billion in weapon sales to other countries in 2020.<\/p>\n

As they joined NATO, new member countries were strongly encouraged to buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers. Unbeknownst to U.S. taxpayers, their money indirectly subsidized the arms industry through a series of Pentagon grants, discount loans and free leases.<\/p>\n

As the arms industry predicted, the incorporation of former Soviet republics and formerly socialist countries in Eastern Europe into NATO drastically increased the potential for armed conflict between the U.S.-led NATO and Russia.<\/p>\n

Arms industry\u2019s revolving door<\/b><\/p>\n

Perhaps reluctant to solely rely on lobbying to influence government officials, the arms industry encouraged former government officials to become industry representatives. Over the past 30 years, nearly 530 members of the Armed Services and the Foreign Relations and Defense Appropriations subcommittees from both congressional houses left office for jobs as defense company lobbyists. By 2005, 80% of the highest-ranking Army generals retired to take jobs with arms makers.<\/p>\n

The revolving door has worked both ways. Biden\u2019s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sat on Raytheon\u2019s board before joining the administration. In 2020, one-third of Biden\u2019s Pentagon transition team came from agencies linked to the defense industry. Biden simply followed the practices of his predecessors.<\/p>\n

Never mind Biden\u2019s declaration in a foreign policy speech while campaigning in July 2019 that \u201cit\u2019s past time to end the \u2018forever wars,\u2019 which have cost us untold blood and treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Vine documents the history of endless U.S. conflicts in \u201cThe United States of War,\u201d published in 2021. He quotes General Mike Holmes\u2019 claim that the goal is \u201cnot losing. It\u2019s staying in the game and getting a new plan and keeping your objectives.\u201d Biden is now talking about prospects for World War III!<\/p>\n

The sheer number of casualties from U.S.-instigated wars over past decades is staggering. Untold millions have been displaced as a result of conflicts driven by the profitability of war, including 1.5 million Ukrainians forced to flee between 2014 and the start of the current conflict.<\/p>\n

Pro-war propaganda is deafening, but it is imperative that a unified global antiwar movement take on this challenge and strongly advocate for humanity. Workers have nothing to lose but our chains.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – workers.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

18 Mar 2022 – That the U.S.\/NATO-instigated war in Ukraine could result in a WWIII is of major concern for all of humanity. Yet for some global billionaires \u2014 today\u2019s \u2018masters of war\u2019 \u2014 this conflict is an opportunity to further boost profits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[1161,1104,2197,232,550,555,562,626,610,91,112,2198,2060,253,278,961,70,1594],"class_list":["post-207478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-capitalism","tag-arms-industry","tag-arms-trade","tag-biden","tag-capitalism","tag-corruption","tag-elites","tag-finance","tag-greed","tag-inequality","tag-nato","tag-pentagon","tag-post-capitalism","tag-profits","tag-putin","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-usa","tag-war-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":284645,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207478\/revisions\/284645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}