Clowns of War

The Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex lives up to its name

The House of Representatives moved last weekend to pass a series of measures that would provide Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine with over $95 billion in foreign aid and military arms. They did this even though most Americans, whom these so-called “representatives” are supposed to be representing, have repeatedly voiced their disapproval of the U.S. Funding of both wars.

The fact that the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of the aid is glaring proof that these individuals do not work for the American people, but are instead doing the bidding of the Military-Industrial Complex, which could more accurately be referred to as the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex.

It has long been a fact of life in Washington DC that military contractors give members of Congress millions of dollars each campaign cycle in hopes of boosting the defense budget. In 2022, the industry poured more than 10 million dollars into campaigns and PACs directed at members of key committees, an investment that contractors saw a 450,000% return on.

Last week another major spending bill passed, and the country watched as these congressional clowns waved tiny foreign flags, cheering as they fleeced the citizens of their own country.

Regardless of how the greater public may feel on the matter, it’s a good time to be part of the arms industry.

On Wall Street, the elation over the enormous increase in weapons transfers was palpable. Coincidentally with the quarterly earnings reports of Lockheed Martin and RTX Corp, formerly Raytheon, the supplemental funding package was unveiled.

Lee Feng reports:

Christopher Calio, the president of RTX, noted during the investor call that out of the $60 billion in the legislation for Ukraine, his company is prepared to provide "about two-thirds of that" with "RTX products." 

"Think GEM-T, NASAMS, Patriot, AMRAAM, AIM-9X,” said Calio, rattling off a variety of missiles manufactured by RTX. 

James Taiclet, chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin, told investors that the supplemental and defense budget will “provide a strong underpinning for future growth over the next several years for our company.” His colleagues added that the new funding would boost the company's expected revenues next year.

L3Harris's chief executive officer, Chris Kubasik, shared the same elation regarding the legislative decisions.

“It’s been a great five weeks for the defense industry…We have $900 billion, which wasn’t there five weeks ago,” he noted, referring to the defense budget and the supplemental spending package.

“It’s a huge tailwind and a huge opportunity for L3Harris and for the industry in total,”

He observed. Kubasik stated that the organization anticipated "margin growth" and robust demand, which would naturally translate to increased profits from government contracts.

These representatives of the MIC can mobilize colossal lobbying resources, especially when working in tandem with the immensely powerful Israel Lobby.

One salient and perhaps most evident facet of this situation is that, similar to the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the absence of diplomatic endeavors, even the smallest one, to resolve these conflicts peacefully has fostered lucrative business prospects.

Peace was never on the table.

The MIC’s hope that the Ukraine conflict will be fought with sophisticated (and more expensive) weaponry systems appears to be manifesting. The Ukrainian military, which has been increasingly employing drones to target infrastructure and other targets deep within Russian territory, began utilizing ATACMS long-range missile systems manufactured in the United States for the first time last week.

Additionally, the United States and other NATO members are making arrangements to furnish Ukraine with the initial advanced combat aircraft manufactured in the United States. According to reports, F-16 fighter aircraft are nearing deployment and could potentially touch down on the battlefield as soon as June.

It is yet unclear if these advanced armaments will amount to a turning of the tide in this conflict. The doctrine of endless war to which the U.S. security state adheres demands that a conflict be drawn out as long as possible, prioritizing profit over the prolonged suffering of those whose lives are affected by the realities of war.