BBQ Canceled, War Funding too!

It appears that the ball has hit the floor and tonight’s BBQ and juggling spectacular will have to be canceled.

This doesn’t mean you are free to waste your day away. Today is the monthly Iraq Moratorium, so do something to remind yourself and others that there’s a war going on and something needs to happen about it!

Yesterday, the House essentially, albeit clumsily, voted against new war funds! The bill will now be sent to the Senate, contact Senators Bond and McCaskill (202-224-3121) and let them know that they should vote against any further funding as well!!! Unsure of exactly what to do? Check out the UFPJ website for further information.

Thanks for supporting the Peace Economy Project and have a fantastic weekend!

Globalization of Military Production:
Does it lead to greater cooperation or military demise?

This article does a fantastic job of illustrating the current evolution of the Military-Congressional-Industrial complex; while US corporations, like Boeing, have been marketing arms and militarism to Congress, the industry has ballooned from its already enormous size and now, in this global economy, everyone wants in on the action.

As stated in this article, the US is both the largest producer and consumer of military goods, and when these goods are sold as a commodity, they become open to the global market. This openness should insure lower prices and other benefits of market competition, but, as also stated here, this could potentially become an issue of national security; if the US relies on other nations to support weapon manufacturing and there is a conflict with one of these nations or their allies, said nation can simply cut off the supply chain, thus stopping or significantly slowing production at home, greatly altering military strategies.

On one hand, this shows that we should consistently be examining our military-purchasing practices, but it also underlines the fact that, as globalization makes the world smaller, we should be seeking methods of global cooperation at least as ardently as we seek to bulk up our military might. Indeed, as this sale illustrates, if we are not pursuing cooperation, we may be insuring military demise.

DRS deal shows defense business is global
By Tim Logan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/14/2008

The purchase on Tuesday of DRS Technologies by the Italian firm Finmeccanica SpA highlights a growing truth about the defense industry: It's getting more global all the time.

While globalization is nothing new in manufacturing or customer service, it still can be a touchy subject in a business built around national defense, where factories are bedecked with flags and patriotic imagery abounds.

But it's a growing factor, from the win in March by a European planemaker of a $35 billion Air Force contract to the increasing reliance of Boeing Co. on foreign fighter jet sales. And now Finmeccanica, which is 34 percent owned by the Italian government, will buy New Jersey-based DRS for $5.2 billion.

For that price, Finmeccanica gets a midsize U.S. defense company that focuses on electronics and support services, about 10,000 employees, including 700 in the St. Louis area — and, perhaps most important, closer ties to the biggest weapons buyer on the globe, the Pentagon.

The U.S. "is the most desirable market in the world to be in," said Phil Finnegan, a defense analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. "If you want to be a major player, you want to be in the U.S. market."

Indeed, he said, spending on defense upgrades by the U.S. typically quadruples that of the six biggest European militaries combined.

And that, combined with a weak dollar that makes foreign capital more valuable here, is pushing more European defense firms to seek footholds in the U.S., said Paul Nisbet, a defense analyst with JSA Research in Newport, R.I.

"We have half the world's defense funding. That's the interest. No question," Nisbet said.

Finmeccanica's interest has been growing. A subsidiary teamed with Lockheed Martin Corp. to build the "Marine One" presidential helicopter, and last year it joined with Boeing and L-3 Communications to win a job building cargo planes.

Now it has signed the biggest deal yet by a continental European arms-maker to buy a U.S. company outright.

"This merger furthers Finmeccanica's tradition of investing in the U.S. and supporting the American war fighter," said Chief Executive Pier Francesco Guarguaglini.

It's following in the footsteps of British companies, which have invested in the U.S. for years. Aerospace giant BAE Systems is one of the Pentagon's biggest contractors; locally, Westar Aerospace & Defense Group in Weldon Spring and GKN Aerospace in Hazelwood are British-owned.

Of course, the deals go both ways.

Boeing's St. Louis-based defense unit is selling more planes abroad and recently beefed up its offices in India and England.

Contracts with Singapore and South Korea keep alive the F-15 production line in Hazelwood, and Boeing is hotly pursuing a $10 billion contract to build fighter jets for India, offering its F/A-18 Super Hornet.

In the next five years, Boeing defense chief Jim Albaugh hopes to double the revenue that comes from overseas.

"That's an area we're focused on," he said in November. "We see more prospects today than we've seen in a generation."

But Boeing also has been on the losing end of transoceanic sales, as it was in March, when it lost a high-profile contract for aerial refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.

That decision, which is under review by the Government Accountability Office, spurred outrage in Congress from lawmakers who accused the Air Force of "outsourcing" defense business.

Critics say deals like that risk eroding the U.S. defense industrial base, and shipping manufacturing jobs overseas — charges the Northrop/EADS team disputes.

And taken with the broader trend of foreign companies buying U.S. defense firms, the tanker deal raises serious questions about the security of U.S. military technology, said Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

"This is not an irrational fear or veiled protectionism," Hunter said at a hearing on the subject last month. "This is a real national security concern."

The DRS-Finmeccanica deal still must pass review by the Treasury Department and the Pentagon. To meet security requirements, DRS will operate as a U.S.-based subsidiary, keeping its current management, New Jersey headquarters and a board made up predominantly of U.S. citizens with security clearances. Analysts expect the deal will be approved.

"The likelihood is, this will go ahead," Finnegan said. "They're not going to announce something like this without having talked to the Pentagon first."

AFSC Video Illustrates the Cost of War

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The Peace Economy Project is a 501(c)3 non profit organization that researches military spending, educates about the hazards of an unchecked military-industrial complex and advocates for conversion from a military to a more stable peace-based economy. We focus our attention on local weapons manufacturing and its connection to global militarization. We collaborate with other organizations to raise consciousness of where our tax dollars are invested and to encourage others to reinvest in their communities.

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