Source: World Wide Web
The war between Russia and Ukraine is difficult to solve, the Ukrainian people are displaced, and Europe is anxious like ants on a hot pot. On the other side of the Atlantic, the U.S. military-industrial complex is secretly opening champagne to celebrate, only because they quickly opened up three major sales channels in this crisis and made a lot of money.
For many years, the United States has wantonly launched wars in the name of "counter-terrorism," and the military-industrial complex has taken the opportunity to make war fortunes. (Comic |.) Liu Rui)
Sales 1:
Orders for battlefield arms sales have surged
Up to now, the U.S. government has pledged nearly $3 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, mainly for the purchase of "switchblade" unmanned aerial vehicles, laser-guided rocket systems, "Javelin" anti-tank missiles, "Stinger" anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons and equipment from US military enterprises.
On May 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a nearly $40 billion aid bill for Ukraine, of which about $20 billion involved military aid. The arrogance of this large order even tested the supply capacity of military enterprises.
On May 9, 2022, Biden signed the Ukrainian Democratic Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, which will greatly simplify the process for the United States to provide military assistance to Ukraine and other necessary resources.
Recently, the US Department of Defense also convened a meeting of eight major military-industrial enterprises, asking them to increase production and propose a long-term supply plan to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict area. It seems that the United States not only wants to make more money in this war, but also wants to earn it for a long time.
Sales 2:
The home defense budget has risen sharply
Taking advantage of the heat of the Ukraine crisis, the United States has pushed the old-fashioned "freedom against tyranny" narrative, fabricating the so-called "authoritarian axis" enemy, and greatly breaking the defense budget record. The U.S. government's fiscal 2023 budget for defense spending will be as high as $813 billion, and the Pentagon claims that it will need at least $7.3 trillion in appropriations over the next 10 years. Naturally, most of this money will go into the pockets of the military-industrial complex.
In 2020, the United States ranked first in the world in defense spending, more than the 11 countries that followed it combined. (Source | Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Expenditure Database)
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, defense budget spending in 2023 will be mainly used to purchase advanced weapons such as General Dynamics' new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and Grumman's new ground-based strategic deterrent missiles, and increase support for Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin's joint development of the "Missile Defense and Defeat" program, the Space Force space-based missile early warning system and other projects.
Sales 3:
The international market is expanding rapidly
Us military enterprises regard the Ukrainian crisis as the best "window" for "displaying" advanced weapons, and cooperate with the US government to exaggerate and trick Europeans into consciously "chopping off" orders. In Germany, for example, in addition to announcing the purchase of American warplanes, an additional 100 billion euros will be allocated to a special budget to upgrade armaments.
In March 2022, according to German Defense Ministry officials, Germany will purchase 35 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters. It is the first major defense agreement signed by Germany since the German government made the landmark decision to inject 100 billion euros into its armed forces.
From 2017 to 2021, Europe saw a significant increase in U.S. weapons purchases, up 19 percent from the previous five years, making it the world's largest increase. As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, this momentum is likely to become more and more intense. Some institutions predict that the annual arms purchase scale of European countries in the future will reach 340 billion US dollars. With the consistent good sales of US arms in Europe, this money is likely to be earned by US military enterprises.
Through the Ukraine crisis, the United States has continued to stir up trouble on the Taiwan issue. In addition to taking advantage of the opportunity to find the Taiwan authorities to strike a lever, I am afraid that they also want to further create tensions and open up new sales channels in the Asia-Pacific region.
Six major routines, the U.S. government obeyed
For decades, the United States has held "washing powder" and wore a "white helmet" on its head, burning the war all over the world on all kinds of false accusations and reaping countless war profits.
However, as Zweig said: all the gifts of fate have long been secretly priced. The price the U.S. government paid for the war business was to hand over state decision-making power to the military-industrial complex. Over the years, arms dealers have developed six major routines to influence government decisions, turning the White House into a marionette at their disposal.
On January 17, 1961, then-US President Dwight Eisenhower bluntly stated in his farewell speech, "We must be wary of the undue influence of the military-industrial complex."
Routine 1:
Lobby hard
For the military enterprises with deep pockets, the "banknote capacity" is undoubtedly the strongest political capital. According to statistics, there are more than 4,000 lobby groups active in the United States of the military-industrial complex. A Brown University study found that over the past 20 years, U.S. military companies have spent as much as $2.5 billion lobbying to influence defense policy. Boeing alone has spent more than $300 million lobbying the U.S. government since 1998.
In 2013, jack Abramoff, a well-known American lobbyist, revealed in an interview how American lobbyists bypassed relevant laws and regulations and bribed members of Congress with money.
In addition to throwing money at money, lobbyists also use vote politics to get lobbyists to conform. A quarter of the nation's jobs are closely tied to the military industry, and lawmakers have to consider the jobs of voters. The military industry controls a large number of jobs, and a little means can incite the people to rush politicians to step down, and add a big chip to themselves.
Routine 2:
Politics and business "rotation"
According to statistics, from 2014 to 2019, a total of 1718 senior US Department of Defense officials or procurement officials jumped to arms dealers. The current U.S. Secretary of Defense, Austin, served as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and became a member of Raytheon's board of directors after retiring in 2016. Former Defense Secretary Mattis worked for General Dynamics, another former Defense Secretary Esper served as Raytheon's vice president of government relations, and former U.S. military commander in Afghanistan Petraeus was a member of the boards of both defense companies.
The phenomenon of "revolving doors" between the top brass of the US military-industrial complex and the political circles has become commonplace.
The personal future and interests of US politicians have long been inseparable from the military industry, even if they do not count the immediate benefits, they must also take care of the old feelings and take precautions while taking precautions to give more green lights to the former owners or potential next families.
Routine 3:
Political contributions
"Money is not a panacea, but it is impossible without money." Today's American politics interprets the essence of this sentence to the fullest. The US election is wrapped in the shell of "one person, one vote" and boasts of being a "model of democracy", but it has long been completely reduced to a game for the rich. Each candidate has his back to a giant consortium and his feet are stacked in dollars. The total cost of the 2020 U.S. election is close to $14 billion, more than double the cost of the 2016 election, making it the most expensive political election in U.S. history.
In 2020, U.S. election spending hit record highs. (Source | OpenSecrets, USA)
Behind the U.S. military enterprises are financial consortia, such as the California consortium controlling Lockheed Martin, the First Citibank consortium controlling Boeing, the Rockefeller consortium controlling Martin Marietta and Westinghouse Electric, the Morgan consortium controlling General Electric, General Dynamics and Grumman Aircraft, the Boston consortium controlling Bell Helicopters and Raytheon, and the Mellon consortium controlling Rockwell. Major enterprises and consortiums are also important "patrons" of the US presidential election and congressional elections, and providing political contributions has thus become an important means of influencing US policies.
When politicians win the election and come to power, they naturally have to return the huge political contributions they have received, and provide due returns and help to the bosses behind the scenes from the policy level. The tradition of political contributions in the United States has deeply penetrated "legal corruption" into the bones of the American system.
Routine 4:
Proculatement agents
There are many small groups in the US Congress called "domineering", such as the "Joint Strike Fighter Group" and the "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Alliance". They run for money for specific weapon systems, representing the interests of the military enterprises behind them. Congress can pass the rising defense budget year after year, and their rush is indispensable.
Today, "proxies" are beginning to climb to the higher echelons of American politics. Biden looked around and saw that almost all of the key people around him were "out of the same door": such as Secretary of State Blinken, Director of National Intelligence Haynes, Assistant Secretary of Defense Ratner, former White House spokesman Psaki and other core members of the government are from WestExec Consulting and the Us think tank New American Security Center.
A key biden administration official who previously worked for WestExec consulting. (Brackets below are for my time at WestExec Consulting.)
Behind these two institutions are not Thor, General Motors, Boeing and other US military giants, or Matsushima Capital, an important investor in military enterprises. As the positions assumed by these agents become more and more important, the closed-loop effect of the military-industrial complex of "grabbing benefits - supporting politicians - provoking war and chaos - grabbing more benefits" has also become more perfect.
Routine 5:
Bundle of interests
Federal financial records show that at least 47 members of Congress and their spouses hold a total of $6.7 million worth of military-industrial stock. U.S. politicians have become parasites for military-industrial complexes.
In addition to politicians, the military-industrial complex has also tied the U.S. economy firmly to its own chariot. The US military industry is highly tied to the local economy, and 30% of enterprises are inseparable from the military industry. In particular, michigan, Ohio and Florida, where the military industry gathers, are also election swing states, making government officials and members of Congress even more unable to offend the "ground snakes" of the military-industrial complex.
In December 2021, Hollywood director Oliver Stone pointed out in an interview with Xinhua news agency that after World War II, the US economy was overly dependent on the military industry.
Without the war, the military-industrial complex would have become a huge burden on U.S. finances. In this way, the United States was transformed by the military-industrial complex into a "war machine" that grinds teeth and sucks blood.
Routine 6:
Manipulate public opinion
Spiny, a former policy analyst who has worked in the U.S. Department of Defense for 26 years, said that in the past 30 years, the US media, think tanks, academics, intelligence officials, etc. have colluded with the military-industrial complex, fanning the fire, resulting in the government's inability to implement peace policies.
In March 2022, Spinner, a former U.S. Department of Defense official, said in a remote video interview that the military-industrial complex has a huge impact on U.S. foreign policy, and the U.S. government needs to look for enemies at this time.
With the windfall of arms trafficking, the military-industrial complex has raised a group of so-called think tank experts. This group of people specially concocted the theory of war and advocated a belligerent policy in order to influence the government and Congress and mislead the public, with the intention of achieving the "sustainable development" of war. Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, they have become a new force advocating military assistance to Ukraine, and even clamored for support for the Ukrainian army and foreign mercenaries to fight a protracted guerrilla war with Russia, completely dragging down the Russian side.
The United States has not experienced the unbearable taste of being mired in the quagmire of the war in Afghanistan for 20 years, and Europe has more than once had painful memories of being the front line of confrontation between great powers. For whom are these so-called experts and scholars speaking for and manipulating the field of public opinion? The answer is self-explanatory.
For the bloodthirsty machine of the military-industrial complex, the key to survival is "if there is no enemy, then make an enemy." The United States is posing as a "last Ukrainian" with Russia, but the eagle-eyed military-industrial complex has long set its sights on the other side of the continent in search of the next war.
Lockheed Martin CEO Tyclett has made no mistake in declaring that the Biden administration's maintenance of a hard-line policy toward China will benefit U.S. military industrial enterprises in the long term. Today, the United States and the Taiwan authorities are singing and "Ukraine Today, Taiwan Tomorrow," and it is clear at a glance what the military-industrial complex behind them is calculating.
Taking advantage of the Ukraine crisis, NATO countries led by the United States are constantly extending their tentacles to Taiwan in an attempt to disrupt the situation in the Taiwan Strait. (Comic |.) Liu Rui)
However, "if heaven desires to make him die, he will first make him crazy", and those who play with fire in the United States and Taiwan will burn themselves. As far as China is concerned, the reunification of the motherland is a historical necessity, the common will of all the Chinese people at home and abroad, and a veritable "manifest destiny." If the US military-industrial complex dares to stir up trouble on the Taiwan issue, it will surely drag the United States into an unprecedented war disaster, and the only thing that awaits them is the "last supper" before their demise.
(Source: Chaoyang Young Hero)