Do we really want to continue to be the World's Arms Provider? the World's War Mongers?
Will the U.S. continue to fight RESOURCE WARS rather than reduce our Fossil Fuel Gluttony and switch to Clean Energy?
Egypt is the largest U.S. Aid recipient. Israel is the 2nd largest U.S. Aid recipient.
Do you see anything that improves the lives of the citizens in the respective countries?
AlterNet / By Alex Kane
6 Corporations Making Money From U.S. Aid to the Brutal Egyptian Military
Egyptian Army Soldiers during a military exercise with Spain and the U.S.
Photo Credit: USAF/Wikimedia Commons
Photo Credit: USAF/Wikimedia Commons
August 30, 2013 |
Since 1979, the glue that has stuck the Pentagon and Egyptian military together has been cash. In total, America has given the Egyptian military nearly $42 billion since 1948, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Under the terms of the Foreign Military Financing deal struck with Egypt, the vast majority of the arms equipment the country buys is American. Currently, an estimated 80 percent of the Egyptian military's weapons purchases are covered by American military aid.
Here's how the financing system works: the money allocated for the military aid gets sent to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Then, it gets delivered to a trust fund at the Treasury Department, and is finally given to military contractors who make the tanks and bullets that have transformed the Egyptian armed forces into one of the most powerful forces in the Middle East.
This system benefits some of the most powerful American military companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
“It’s clearly a major subsidy program for these companies,” said Shana Marshall, an expert on military aid to Egypt and associate director and research instructor at the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University. “It’s kept open their production line when they would have otherwise been closed down and it’s a source of really reliable profits for them.”
In the aftermath of the military's massacre of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, these defense contractors are closely watching the unfolding debate about U.S. aid to Egypt. But they have little reason to worry.
While reports about the Obama administration reviewing the U.S. military aid package have emerged in recent weeks, there is little chance of an U.S. aid cut off, despite the fact that American law mandates one if a coup is implemented.
“Every time someone mentions a suspension of aid or rethinking the aid program, they send a team of defense industry lobbyists to Capitol Hill to knock on doors to make sure that there’s no suspension of the aid program,” said Marshall.
Further complicating any talk of an aid cut-off is the fact that contracts to provide equipment to the military extend far into the future. Penalties for breaking those contracts would be inflicted on the U.S. taxpayer.
So these military contractors will continue to rake in cash from the U.S.-Egypt relationship for the foreseeable future. Here's a look at six of them.
1. Lockheed Martin
The Maryland-based military company is a tried-and-true customer of the U.S. military. With gross profits of $2.7 billion in 2011, Lockheed Martin is one of the most cash-rich military companies. The vast majority of those profits come from U.S. government contractors to provide fighter jets, missile defense and more. It 's also benefited handsomely from the Egypt-US relationship.
In 2010, Lockheed Martin inked a $2.5 billion deal with the U.S. military to provide 20 F-16 fighter jets to the Egyptian military. Fourteen of the jets have been delivered to Egypt; under the terms of the deal, the remaining six are to be delivered by December 2014. But in the wake of the Egyptian military's violence against supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, the Obama administration announced it would delay the delivery of the remaining jets. While it was a punitive measure in response to human rights violations, in the grand scheme of things it's only a symbolic step, given that it's a temporary suspension and that the vast majority of U.S. military equipment will continue to be sent to the country.
A month after the fighter jet deal was reached, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary in Florida was awarded a $46 million contract to provide night vision sensor systems for Apache helicopters for Egypt.
2. General Dynamics
This major military company has also benefited from the Egyptian-American military relationship. Specifically, it is the source for key parts needed to build Egypt's M1A1 tanks, a vehicle that the U.S. has delivered to the country since the late 1980s. In total, Egypt's military has acquired more than 1,000 of these tanks—far more than the armed forces actually need—for over $3.9 billion.
Since 1992, General Dynamics has provided components for tank kits for M1A1 vehicles. In 2011, the U.S. military awarded the company a $395 million deal to provide these tank kits to Egypt. The parts are shipped to a production facility in Egypt—an example of how the military relationship with the U.S. also benefits Egyptian military engineers and provides some jobs for Egyptians. (Other contracts have similar arrangements, where some of the production of military goods occurs in the U.S. and the other portion occurring in Egyptian factories.) The deliveries of these specific tank kits will take place from July 2013-January 2016.
In 2012, General Dynamics signed another contract, this time for $37 million, related to M1A1 tanks.
3. L-3 Communications
Known for its prowess in the production of communications, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment for the U.S. government, L-3 Communications brings in billions of dollars in profits each year. Some of the money comes from its contracts with the U.S. military to provide Egypt communications equipment.
This year, L-3 Communications was awarded a $10.5 million contract to provide high-frequency transceivers for Egypt's military.
In 2010, L-3 Communications received even more benefits from the U.S. aid package to Egypt. The company made $24 million to assemble a sonar system for the Egyptian navy. “ L-3's sonar provides long range and detection capability under the harshest of sea state conditions, and we are honored to provide the Egyptian Navy with our high-performance solution,” crowed Jerry Ozovek, the president of L-3's Ocean Systems.
4. General Electric
General Electric has its hands in everything: energy, computers, digital cameras—and U.S. military contracting, specifically in the aviation field.
In August 2013, General Electric signed a $13.6 million deal with the U.S. Air Force to give Egypt's air force “service life extension kits” for the F110 jet fighter engine used in the Lockheed Martin-produced F16s.
“Orders like these translate into stable employment for years,” a GE spokesman told an Ohio newspaper.
5. Exelis
While this company is a relatively small name in the world of military contractors, Exelis does well for itself. The Virginia-based company made nearly $6 million last year. The Washington Post describes it as specializing in “electronics and communications equipment such as radios, as well as technical services such as cybersecurity and intelligence offerings.”
This year, it inked a $24 million deal with the U.S. Navy to produce “six radio frequency repeater systems for the government of Egypt.”
6. Boeing
Boeing is the second largest military contractor in the world. Its relationship with the Egyptian military stretches back years.
In 2000, Boeing agreed to upgrade 35 of Egypt's Apache helicopters for $400 million. Nine years later, Boeing signed a $820 million contract to provide more Apache aircraft. The U.S. is set to deliver some of the remaining helicopters from that 2009 deal next month.
And in 2010, Boeing signed yet another contract to provide Apache helicopters, this time for $22.5 million.
Alex Kane is AlterNet's New York-based World editor, and an assistant editor for Mondoweiss. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane.
http://www.alternet.org/world/6-corporations-making-money-us-aid-brutal-egyptian-military?page=0%2C0
Obama Was This Close to Bombing Syria
flickr: @The White House
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/08/obama-was-close-bombing-syria/68934/
The Syria Intervention Plan Is Being Pushed by Oil Interests, Not Concern About Chemical Weapons
Photo taken August 21, 2013 shows an oil well near Tioga, North Dakota. New York oil rallied to the highest level for more than two years on Wednesday, with concerns about Middle East supplies intensifying as Western powers prepare for possible military a
August 30, 2013 |
The latest episode is merely one more horrific event in a conflict that has increasingly taken on genocidal characteristics.
http://www.alternet.org/world/syria-intervention-plan-fueled-oil-interests-not-chemical-weapon-concern
Not For
Profit - For Global
Justice
The
Peoples Press - Powered By People - For
People
"The
biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is not to trust [our own] government
statements." - Senator James W. Fulbright
"All men
having power ought to be mistrusted." - James
Madison
"There
is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust
no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." - John Adams
America Totally
Discredited
Paul
Craig Roberts
If Obama goes it alone, he will be harassed
for the rest of his life as a war criminal who dares not leave the US.
Chemical
Hallucinations
By
William Bowles
So there we have it, all the essential
elements of a false flag operation, initiated by Mossad.
The biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is
not to trust [our own] government statements.
The
Lie of "Limited" War Against Syria
By Shamus
Cooke
The rats are jumping ship. Obama's strongest
allies can't stomach the stench of lies that are the foundation of the war
effort against Syria.
Cruise Missile Law
Enforcement
By David
Swanson
Of course, dropping missiles on people is a
serious crime, just as kicking in your door at night with guns blazing is
normally against the law. But if a policeman -- global or normal -- does it,
well, then it's law enforcement, not law breaking.
Engineering
Consent For An Attack On Syria
Kerry
Makes Case For Syria Military Action
Video
Kerry laid out some of the
evidence U.S. intelligence has put together and shared with members of Congress
and international allies.
Syrians
In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical
Attack
By Dale
Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh
Rebels and
local residents in Ghouta accuse Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of providing
chemical weapons to an al-Qaida linked rebel group.
Who
Blocked Syrian Peace Talks?
By Robert
Parry
Painful experiences of recent years should
have taught the American people the danger that comes when the government and
the mainstream press adopt a pleasing but false narrative, altering the facts to
support a "good guy v. bad guy" scenario.
The Vassal's
Revolt
By Tariq
Ali
Rejoice.
Rejoice. - For the first time in fifty years, the House of Commons has voted
against participating in an imperial war.
This
Slaughter Has To Stop
Incendiary Bomb
Victims 'Like the Walking Dead'
BBC Video Report -
Warning
A BBC team
inside Syria filming for Panorama has witnessed the aftermath of a fresh
horrific incident - an incendiary bomb dropped onto a school playground in the
north of the country.
A Call
to Resist
By
George Capaccio
What is the
difference between a Syrian father cradling the lifeless body of his son, a
victim of some dreadful neurotoxin, and a mother in Iraq delivering a horribly
deformed baby?
NO U.S.
WAR ON SYRIA!
TAKE
ACTION NOW
Click here for
list of actions around the country to oppose war with Syria.
The
Unknown Social Warriors, Bernays and Norquist
By
Steve
"Our goal is to
inflict pain. It is not good enough to win; it has to be a painful and
devastating defeat. It is like when the king would take his opponent's head and
spike it on a pole for everyone to see,"
Engineering Consent For An Attack On Syria:
Kerry Makes Case For Syria Military Action :
Video and Transcript:
Kerry laid out some of the "evidence" U.S.
intelligence has put together and shared with members of Congress and
international allies.
Deja Vu All Over Again:
Colin L. Powell, Remarks to the United Nations
Security Council:
February 5, 2003: I cannot tell you everything
that we know, but what I can share with you, when combined with what all of us
have learned over the years, is deeply troubling.
U.S.
Had Intel on Chemical Strike Before It Was Launched:
American intelligence agencies had indications
three days beforehand that the Syrian regime was poised to launch a lethal
chemical attack that killed more than a thousand people and has set the stage
for a possible U.S. military strike on Syria.
Washington's threats to attack Syria
unacceptable - Russia:
Washington's statements threatening to use
military force against Syria unilaterally are unacceptable, Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.
Pentagon Can't Afford Syria Operation; Must
Seek Additional Funds:
The U.S. military, struggling after defense
cuts of tens of billions of dollars, will be unable to pay for attacks on Syria
from current operating funds and must seek additional money from Congress,
according to congressional aides.
More
than 150 members of Congress have signaled their opposition to airstrikes on
Syria without a congressional vote:
House members circulated two separate letters
circulated that were sent to the White House demanding a congressional role
before military action takes place.
U.S.
military officers have deep doubts about impact, wisdom of a U.S. strike on
Syria:
Marine Lt. Col. Gordon Miller, a fellow at the
Center for a New American Security, warned this week of "potentially devastating
consequences, including a fresh round of chemical weapons attacks and a military
response by Israel."
British MPs reject military intervention in
Syria:
Any possibility of British involvement in a
military campaign in Syria has been effectively ruled out after British
lawmakers voted down the prospect in parliament, costing the US the nation's
closest ally in a potential strike.
Syria: John Kerry slaps Britain in face as he
calls France 'oldest allies':
John Kerry delivers diplomatic slap in the
face to Britain, failing to mention them among list of supporters and referring
to France as "oldest allies".
Scant foreign support for US strikes on Syria:
Not since the 1983 invasion of Grenada has the
US been so alone in pursuing major lethal military action
Turkish PM says Syria intervention should aim
to end Assad rule:
"It can't be a 24 hours hit-and-run," Erdogan
told reporters at a reception in the presidential palace in Ankara. "What
matters is stopping the bloodshed in Syria and weakening the regime to the point
where it gives up," he said.
Syria: Reports of 'napalm-like' bomb attack:
Video -
Hands Off Syria: Protests Around The World Against The Planned Assault By Countercurrents.org http://www.countercurrents.org/cc020913.pdf As US president Barack Obama announced that he will seek congressional authorization for a military intervention in Syria, protesters from around the world rallied against any war against Syria. Polls in the US, UK, France and other countries show strong opposition against the possible war Take Action Against A War On Syria By David Swanson http://www.countercurrents.org/swanson020913.htm We who reject arguments for war are a majority now. We are a majority in Britain, where Parliament has already voted "No." We are a majority in Germany, which will not take part. We are a majority in France, where Parliament will be heard from soon. And we are a majority in the United States. Let Congress hear from you now! Syria: A 12 Point Case Against Military Intervention By Chandra Muzaffar http://www.countercurrents.org/muzaffar020913.htm The House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States of America should reject any form of US military intervention in Syria. Rejection would be a clear statement against war. It would be a lucid message on behalf of peace. There are at least 12 reasons why the US Congress, and the people of the world, should adopt such a stand How The U.S. Left Is Failing Over Syria By Shamus Cooke http://www.countercurrents.org/cooke020913.htm There are four pieces of information that all left groups have a duty to report about Syria, but they have either ignored or minimized: 1) Obama presented zero evidence to back up his main justification for war: that the Syrian Government used chemical weapons against civilians. 2) A top UN investigator, Carla Del Ponte , blamed a previous chemical weapons attack on the U.S.-backed rebels. 3) Any attack on Syria, no matter how “limited,” has a high risk of expanding into neighboring countries if Syria exercises its right as a sovereign nation to defend itself. 4) A war against Syria will be a violation of international law, since it is not approved by the UN, and therefore will make President Obama a war criminal The World Is Changing; The Middle East Must Too By Dr Salim Nazzal http://www.countercurrents.org/nazzal020913.htm What is clear is that the time of absurd intervention has gone .And this is a clear defeat for those who still believe in the Tomahawk policy. They need to open their eyes to realize that the world has changed. And if the world is changing, the Middle East must change too. The efforts must now be focused on stopping the civil war in Syria to reach a political solution, which allows Syria to change towards democracy. In addition, it is by the time to address seriously the root of the problems in the middle east, which is the Zionist occupation of Palestine Understanding Syrian Chaos: A Muslim Lens By Adfar Shah http://www.countercurrents.org/ashah020913.htm Assad should win the people back and connect to his public. He should not just deliver sermons in his house to his favorites but understand the mass suffering and compensate the victims properly. He should analyze the problem accurately and accept his mistakes but he is too confused at the moment. He should regulate his army and check any human rights violations further .Lastly, instead of fighting or killing the opposition (genuine groups), he should start negotiations for peace building |
No comments:
Post a Comment