Re: [blind-democracy] Russian Threat Is Good for Business, U.S. Defense Contractors Tell Investors

So we're all supposed to join in supporting Hillary Clinton, in order
to keep that "monster" Donald Trump out of office. At what point in
time will the Ruling Class fess up to the fact that we've been taken
over by a bloodless coup by the Military/Industrial Complex?
We are tied to the worship of wealth. The Golden Calf is our Idol.
Sure, we lie to ourselves. We go trouping off to our little churches
and synagogues, and temples, hopeful that there really is something
waiting for us, but deep down inside we never live it. The madness of
our American Empire will only increase, just as long as we allow it to
grow. But we can't keep on trying to be accepted into the Empire's
Golden Fold, while still permitting ourselves to be used by the
Empire.

Carl Jarvis




On 8/20/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>
> Truthdig
>
> Russian Threat Is Good for Business, U.S. Defense Contractors Tell
> Investors
>
> http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/us_defense_contractors_tell_inve
> stors_russian_threat_is_good_for_20160819/
>
>
>
>
> AddThis Sharing Buttons
> Share to FacebookShare to TwitterMore AddThis Share optionsShare to Email
> Posted on Aug 19, 2016
>
>
>
>
>
> Ian Burt(https://www.flickr.com/photos/oddsock/) /
> (CC-BY-2.0)(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
>
> As the media and politicians work to cast Russia as a great threat to
> Americans, the arms industry is pressuring NATO member states to spend at
> least 2 percent of their gross domestic products on weapons and defense
> systems.
>
> Lee Fang
> reports(https://theintercept.com/2016/08/19/nato-weapons-industry/)
> at The Intercept:
>
>
> Retired Army Gen. Richard Cody, a vice president at L-3 Communications, the
> seventh largest U.S. defense contractor, explained to shareholders in
> December that the industry was faced with a historic opportunity. Following
> the end of the Cold War, Cody said, peace had "pretty much broken out all
> over the world," with Russia in decline and NATO nations celebrating. "The
> Wall came down," he said, and "all defense budgets went south."
>
> Now, Cody argued, Russia "is resurgent" around the world, putting pressure
> on U.S. allies. "Nations that belong to NATO are supposed to spend 2
> percent
> of their GDP on defense," he said, according to a transcript of his
> remarks.
> "We know that uptick is coming and so we postured ourselves for it."
>
> Speaking to investors at a conference hosted by Credit Suisse in June,
> Stuart Bradie, the chief executive of KBR, a military contractor, discussed
> "opportunities in Europe," highlighting the increase in defense spending by
> NATO countries in response to "what's happening with Russia and the
> Ukraine."
>
> The National Defense Industrial Association, a lobby group for the
> industry,
> has called on Congress to make it easier for U.S. contractors to sell arms
> abroad to allies in response to the threat from Russia. Recent articles in
> National Defense, NDIA's magazine, discuss the need for NATO allies to
> boost
> maritime military spending, spending on Arctic systems, and missile
> defense,
> to counter Russia.
>
> Many experts are unconvinced that Russia poses a direct military threat.
> The
> Soviet Union's military once stood at over 4 million soldiers, but today
> Russia has less than 1 million. NATO's combined military budget vastly
> outranks Russia's - with the U.S. alone outspending Russia on its military
> by $609 billion to less than $85 billion.
>
> And yet, the Aerospace Industries Association, a lobby group for Lockheed
> Martin, Textron, Raytheon, and other defense contractors, argued in
> February
> that the Pentagon is not spending enough to counter "Russian aggression on
> NATO's doorstep."
>
>
>
>