For many, September 11 is a reminder of an horrific event, the
needless killing of thousands and the depraved depths to which humans
can sink. For others, it’s an opportunity to make a lot of money
supplying the instruments of war.
This year the Canadian Defence, Security and Aerospace Exhibition, a
military industry trade show, is being held at the Cunard Centre.
Premier Darrell Dexter welcomed the arms dealers at Wednesday night’s
opening gala. Today, Thursday, is mostly set aside for socializing,
with an “hour of good cheer,” drinks hosted by Lockheed Martin, planned
for 4pm. Friday, September 11, the show gets down to business, with the
focus on the exhibitions.
“It’s a perverse coincidence that our war show will be held on
September 11,” says Tamara Lorincz of the Halifax Peace Coalition. The
group plans to demonstrate outside the “hour of good cheer,” from
3-5pm.
Lorincz points out that Nova Scotia Business, the economic
development arm of the province, announced in April that it is
subsidizing Lockheed Martin with $1,828,420 in tax rebates.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.
Wow, that is disgusting that lockheed, a company which produces cluster bombs (Illegal by the UN) is allowed to get that type of money for free when all they do is profit off of the deaths of countless thousands of people.
September 11 brings back horrific memories, and I am all for peace; however needling the exhibition for having events on September 11 is a pretty weak story! Can we have some substance, please, both on the true nature of the exhibition, and what HPC’s position actually is? P.S. @nothing: A little research would show you that LM in fact does more than you suggest. There is a lot more to Defence & Security than weapon-making.
Hate the game, don’t hate the player.
Cluster bombs are not illegal. For an international law to be legally binding they need 30 countries to ratify an agreement, only 14 have done this for cluster bombs.
Does that mean I can go and buy some semi automatic uzis??
Dear God no, an unfortunate scheduling coincidence.
“Hate the game, don’t hate the player”
what a stupidly vacuous thing to say, yorkke
there’d be no ‘game’ in the first place – without the ‘players’
there’d be no bloody ‘wargames’ – if not for the ‘warpigs’
Lockheed Martin, et al, ARE profiteering warpigs, that is a fact
I suggest that people who feel strongly about 9-11 not attend this trade show. Unfortunate timing for sure, but last time I checked NS was far enough in debt that it wouldn’t be pragmatic to split hairs over who does business here. Misleading title too – for a second there I thought there were some bargains to be had.
Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
“what a stupidly vacuous thing to say, yorkke
there’d be no ‘game’ in the first place – without the ‘players’
there’d be no bloody ‘wargames’ – if not for the ‘warpigs’
Lockheed Martin, et al, ARE profiteering warpigs, that is a fact”
First off, congratulations on finding access to a thesaurus, the English language really is wonderful. Maybe next time you’ll find the shift key (it’s beside my z) and forms capital letters, and maybe even your period key (it is beside my comma) and used to end sentences.
You are confusing Lockheed Martin as being a player. This is like blaming Titleist because you don’t like golf. Lockheed Martin are not the player, they are the supplier for the market. The players are Iran, North Korea, China, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Russia, Myanmar, Venezuela, etc. These countries are the ones forcing Western countries to buy from Lockheed and other suppliers, all in effort to protect our sorry asses.
Yes, Lockheed profit, all successful businesses profit, but they can only run a successful business by offering something people want. War is an unfortunate fact of life, always has been, always will be. Perhaps look into a military history course at your school.
I know school is back in now, and you’ve probably just had your first lecture in your second year IDS class, but just try to think first and type second.
yorkke, if that is the ‘best’ you can do, critique my writing style (bitch about small initial caps and periods), then you really have nothing of value to say/contribute to this discussion, so please allow me…
first, some definitions:
War Profiteering
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title…
Military Industrial Complex
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title…
now, moving along to one of America’s finest ‘corporate citizens’, Lockheed Martin; here is a ‘small’ sample of articles highlighting some of Lockheed Martin’s war profiteering:
The world’s #1 military contractor, responsible for the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes, F-16, F/A-22 fighter jet, and Javelin missiles. They’ve also made millions through insider trading, falsifying accounts, and bribing officials.
This Bethesda, Maryland-based company is the world’s #1 military contractor as well as the world’s largest arms exporter. Lockheed Martin built the U-2 and the SR-71 Blackbird spy planes. Today they make F-16, F/A-22 jet fighter, Hellfire and Javelin missiles, as well as designing nuclear weapons. Its F-117 stealth attack fighters were used to “shock and awe” the population of Iraq at the start of the US invasion, while since the start of that war the Air Force has increased production of Lockheed’s PAC-3 Patriot missile – which cost $91 million per copy.
According to the Arms Trade Resource Center, Lockheed Martin gets $105 from each U.S. taxpayer and $228 from each U.S. household. In 2002 the company was effectively taxed at 7.7% compared to an average tax rate for individuals of 21-33%.
In late 2001 the company was awarded the world’s largest weapons contract ever, a $200 billion deal to build the Joint Strike Fighter, a “next-generation” combat jet that eventually will replace aircraft used by the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. In the last few years the SEC has investigated Lockheed for insider trading and falsifying their accounts.
read more here: http://www.wri-irg.org/node/549
—
Lockheed Martin remains the king among war profiteers, raking in $21.9 billion in Pentagon contracts in 2003 alone. With satellites and planes, missiles and IT systems, the company has profited from just about every phase of the war except for the reconstruction. The company’s stock has tripled since 2000 to just over $60.
Lockheed is also helping Donald Rumsfeld develop a new tech-heavy integrated global warfare system that the company promises will change transform the nature of war. In fact, the large defense conglomerate’s sophistication in areas as diverse as space systems, aeronautics and IT will allow it to play a leading role in the development of new weapons systems for decades to come, including a planned highly-secure military Internet, a spaced-based missile defense system and next-generation warplanes such as the F-22 (currently in production) and the Joint Strike Fighter F-35.
When it comes to defense policy, Lockheed’s network of influence is virtually unmatched. E.C. Aldridge Jr., the former undersecretary of defense for acquisitions and procurement, gave final approval to begin building the F-35 in 2001, a decision potentially worth $200 billion to the company. Although he soon left the Pentagon to join Lockheed’s board, Aldridge continues to straddle the public-private divide: Rumsfeld appointed him to a blue-ribbon panel to study advanced weapons systems.
Former Lockheed lobbyists and employees include the current secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, secretary of transportation Norm Mineta (a former Lockheed vice president) and Stephen J. Hadley, Bush’s proposed successor to Condoleeza Rice as his next national security advisor.
Lockheed is not only represented on various Pentagon advisory boards, but is also tied to various influential think tanks. For example, Lockheed VP Bruce Jackson (who helped draft the Republican foreign policy platform in 2000) is a key player at the neo-conservative planning bastion known as the Project for a New American Century.
read more here: http://www.corporatepolicy.org/topics/topt…
—
“There is a two-hundred-dollar annual Lockheed-Martin tax per capita in the US. Sometimes, even with all that, Lockheed-Martin goes under; when it does the government steps in, as under the Nixon administration, with a couple of hundred million dollars of guaranteed loans. It was that performance that led Senator Proxmire to coin the phrase ‘corporate welfare'” – Noam Chomsky
read more here: http://www.chomsky.info/talks/199805–.htm
—
“an executive of Lockheed-Martin, the new merged corporation, pointed out that “it’s a dangerous world out there in which sophisticated fighter planes are being sold.” So, we’re really in trouble.
Who are they being sold by? Well, mostly by us. We had about 75 percent of the international arms market at that time for the Third World, and he pointed that out. The executive went on to say, “We’ve sold the F-16,” the most advanced fighter plane — “We’ve sold the F-16 all over the world. What if a friend or ally turns against us?” So, it’s a real dangerous world out there.
And there’s an obvious solution to that. Namely, we should sell still more F-16s, but now upgraded ones. So, the public should pay Lockheed — and put money into the hands of Gingrich’s constituents — we should pay Lockheed to upgrade F-16s, so they’re even more dangerous. And then we should do what’s called selling them to the Third World, which means giving them with Export-Import Bank loans and other guarantees that are again paid for by the public.
And having created a more dangerous world out there, we then have to spend tens of billions of dollars on F-22s in order to counter the threat that’s created this way. That’s the obvious solution and that’s indeed what we’re doing. And that’s why the Pentagon budget is going up, with a sort of a small point on the side.”
read more here: http://www.cdi.org/adm/Transcripts/923/
—
From nuclear missiles to fighter planes, software code to spy satellites, the Patriot missile to Star Wars, Lockheed has come to dominate the weapons market in a way that the Standard Oil Company used to hold sway over the nation’s petroleum supplies. And it all happened with the help of the federal government, which steered lucrative no bid contracts Lockheed’s way, enacted tax breaks that encouraged Lockheed’s merger and acquisition frenzy in the 1980s and 1990s and turned a blind eye to the company’s criminal rap sheet, ripe with indiscretions ranging from bribery to contract fraud.
Now Lockheed stands almost alone. It not only serves as an agent of US foreign policy, from the Pentagon to the CIA; it also helps shape it. “We are deployed entirely in developing daunting technology,” Lockheed’s new CEO Robert J. Stevens told the New York Times report Tim Weiner. “That requires thinking through the policy dimensions of national security as well as technological dimensions.”
Lockheed Martin rapes the US treasury of *** $65 MILLION PER DAY ***
read more here: http://www.counterpunch.com/stclair0122200…
—
The Iraq war is many things to different people. It is called a strategic blunder and a monstrous injustice and sometimes even a patriotic mission, much to the chagrin of rational human beings. For many big companies, however, the war is something far different: a lucrative cash-cow. The years-long, ongoing military effort has resurrected fears of the so-called “military-industrial complex.” Media pundits are outraged at private companies scooping up huge, no-questions-asked contracts to manufacture weapons, rebuild infrastructure, or anything else the government deems necessary to win (or plant its flag in Iraq). No matter what your stance on the war, it pays to know where your tax dollars are being spent.
http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-most-…
—
Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest weapons contractor, a major player in the areas of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile defense. The company was recently awarded the world’s largest weapons contract ever, a $200 billion deal to build the Joint Strike Fighter, a “next-generation” combat jet that eventually will replace aircraft used by the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Lockheed Martin did not win the contract on force of personality alone, or fighter plane design. During the calendar year 2000, Lockheed Martin spent more than $9.8 million lobbying members of Congress and the Clinton administration, more than double the $4.2 million the company spent during 1999. Among the company’s newest lobbyists: Haley Barbour, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. During the 1999-2000 election cycle, Lockheed Martin contributed just over $2.7 million in soft money, PAC and individual contributions to federal candidates and parties. More than two-thirds of that money went to Republicans. Lockheed Martin spends more on lobbying Congress than any of its competitors, spending a whopping $9.7 million last year. Only General Electric and Philip Morris reported more lobbying expenses last year.
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1218-0…
—
Lockheed Martin is the largest arms manufacturer in the world [1], with an order book worth £70bn and a dominance in the fighter aircraft sector. $23.3bn in military sales, including fighter and transport aircraft, missiles and space systems, comprise 88% of company turnover. Lockheed spent 10 MILLION, in 2006 alone, to lobby/buy off government officials.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title…
—
Lockheed Martin remains the king among war profiteers, raking in $21.9 billion in Pentagon contracts in 2003 alone (and MUCH MUCH MORE since then).
Lockheed is helping Donald Rumsfeld’s global warfare system (called the Global Information Grid), a new integrated tech-heavy system that the company promises will change transform the nature of war. In fact, the large defense conglomerate’s sophistication in areas as diverse as space systems, aeronautics and information and technology will allow it to play a leading role in the development of new weapons systems for decades to come.
Not only are Lockheed executives commonly represented on the Pentagon various advisory boards, but the company is also tied into various security think tanks, including neoconservative networks. For example, Lockheed VP Bruce Jackson (who helped draft the Republican foreign policy platform in 2000) is a key player at the neo-conservative planning bastion known as the Project for a New American Century.
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2004/1…
—
Top 10 War Profiteers
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title…
Dal Student Coaltion Against War
http://www.shunpiking.com/ol0603/0603-AC-S…
Halifax Peace Coalition
http://www.hfxpeace.chebucto.org/
“War is an unfortunate fact of life, always has been, always will be.”
ah, same old refrain, the warpigs and profiteers are in love with that fallacy
PEACE cannot be achieved through weapons of war – ‘never has, never will’
War is about $$$ and enriching the lives of those who profit from it
so you got stock in Lockheed, Raytheon, GE, et al, yorkke?
Ah you found wikipedia, excellent work.
I never denied Lockheed make money off war, of course they do, they make loads, millions, billions, trillions, whatever it is, not my point. They feed the market. Sobeys make money off food, Irving make money off gas, Lockheed make money off weapons (which aren’t just sold during war, deterrence is also a factor).
War is not a constant presence in history? I’m pretty sure if you look at the history of the world you will find violence and war a constant presence.
“War is about $$$ and enriching the lives of those who profit from it”
Oh, so this why we had WWII, so people could get rich. This is why the Soviet Union sacrificed 25 million people, so the communist dictatorship could get rich. This is why the United Kingdom was willing to bankrupt itself until 1965, to get rich.
This is why Alexander the Great rampaged across the entire known world, to get rich.
This is why Napoleon rampaged across Europe, to get rich.
This is why Iran is currently raging a proxy war against Israel, to get rich.
This is why Saddam Hussein waged war against Iran from 1980-88, to get rich.
This is why the Soviet communist dictatorship waged war against Afghanistan for 10 years, to get rich.
Say what you want about the present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you might be able to make a reasonable argument that it has something to do with profits.
But war in general? Just about money? C’mon now.
yorkke – even ‘ideological wars’ are fought to gain power/control over tracts of land, bodies of water, mining, natural resources, labour and so on… in the end, it’s still comes down to what amounts to money.
aggressive nations, armed to the teeth, and with nuclear bombs, coerce and/or bomb the weaker ones into submission – then take whatever they want. that is the endgame, after all. also, today’s ‘modern warfare’ is an industry unto itself, and those within the ‘industry’ have a vested interest in perpetuating war, or at least the spectre of war(s)… constantly ramping up the fear – as more and more money gets allocated to the war machine/military industrial complex.
where past wars might have had at least some ideological legitimacy, those we are involved in today – do not. corporate/glorified arms dealers, like Lockheed Martin, are in the BUSINESS of War.
there’s money in war, do you not agree?
yorkke said, “Cluster bombs are not illegal. For an international law to be legally binding they need 30 countries to ratify an agreement, only 14 have done this for cluster bombs.”
oh ghee, ONLY fourteen countries signed-on??
well then, that settles it, the warpigs should be allowed to keep dropping cluster bombs on civilians.
meanwhile… “More than 100 nations have reached an agreement on a treaty which would ban cluster bombs – BUT the US, Russia and China oppose the move”
BBC – May 2008 – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7423714.…
hmm, no surprises there, eh?
You’re right about the cluster bombs, techcafe. I was also going to point out that, while cluster bombs are not explicitly forbidden by the Geneva Convention, ‘Under Article 85 of the Geneva Conventions, it is a war crime to launch “an indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population in the knowledge that such an attack will cause an excessive loss of life or injury to civilians.”
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0126-0…
The third paragraph of the above article is where I took the quote.
Peace through superior firepower, I love the smell of napalm in the morning
For Prisonbreak aficionados, Lockheed Martin = The Company