The F-35: A Weapon That Costs More Than Australia - Dominic Tierney - National. The U.S. will ultimately spend $1 trillion for these fighter planes. Where's the outrage over Washington's culture of waste? The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an impressive aircraft: a fifth generation multirole fighter plane with stealth technology. It's also a symbol of everything that's wrong with defense spending in America. In a rational world, U.S. military expenditure would focus on the likely threats that the United States faces today and in the future. But the only tea party in sight is the one overseen by the Mad Hatter, as we head down the rabbit hole into the military industrial wonderland. The F-35 is designed to be the core tactical fighter aircraft for the U.S. military, with three versions for the Air Force, Navy, and the Marine Corps.
In a decade's time, the United States plans to have 15 times as many modern fighters as China, and 20 times as many as Russia. So, how many F-35s do we need? Washington intends to buy 2,443, at a price tag of $382 billion. ComeHomeAmerica.US. Robert Greenwald: RT@MarkThompson_DC This ex... After 3 years, Boeing Dreamliner becomes reality | Reuters.com. Arms company Finmeccanica could lose two executives over Italy bribery claims | World news. Two top executives of Britain's second-biggest defence supplier have offered their resignations following the publication of Italian court documents claiming the group used bribery to win contracts.
Salvatore Metrangolo, president of a subsidiary of the FinmeccanicaFinmeccanica group, which employs almost 10,000 people in the UK, announced tonight he was stepping down. Hours earlier, a company spokesman said that Finmeccanica's commercial director, Paolo Pozzessere, had "offered to stand aside from his role until all relevant issues [were] clarified". Both men figure in court documents relating to an inquiry into the suspected blackmail of Italy's prime minister, Silvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi. No charges have been laid against either Finmeccanica or any of its executives. The company's spokesman said its commercial director "categorically denies any wrongdoing of any kind". A statement issued by the firm on Wednesday said he had acted "to safeguard Finmeccanica's reputation". Howard Steven Friedman: World's Largest Weapons Exporters. In a recent article , I discussed how according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook 2011, America spent nearly $700 billion in military expenses 2010 or about 43% of the entire global military spending.
The US military expenditure as a percent of GDP is a much higher rate than other wealthy countries, a reflection of the large military commitment the United States has outside of its borders. As of December 2010, there were 7 countries that had 10,000 or more US military personnel deployed: Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Italy, and Kuwait. It is tempting to debate the cause and effect of the major expenditures of the US military and the impact of US troop deployments on global affairs. That is, did the large military expenditure drive America's need for a major global military presence or did the need for a major presence drive the large expenditure?
The numbers and American history are clear. . # 5 United Kingdom 1 of 6. The New Arms Race - Empire. The world has entered a new arms race at a time of relative peace, totalling $1.5 trillion, that is $217 for every person on the planet. Over the last decade, Washington has doubled its military budget, fuelling massive military build-ups around the world, from the emerging powers in the South China Seas to the multi-billion-dollar arms deals in the Middle East, begging the question where and when this vicious cycle of rising military expenditures will end.
Aside from the strategic dimension, leaders and pundits have also advanced the economic case for their excessive spending, both in terms of supply and demand. Apart from the extensive profits from selling arms, the military industry creates thousands of manufacturing jobs in the shadow of the latest international economic crisis and high unemployment.
This episode of Empire can be seen from Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 1900, Thursday: 1400; Friday: 0300; Saturday: 1900; Bush Official And Bechtel VP Who Normalized Relations With Qaddafi Plotted With Dictator To Undermine Rebels. By Zaid Jilani on August 31, 2011 at 2:50 pm "Bush Official And Bechtel VP Who Normalized Relations With Qaddafi Plotted With Dictator To Undermine Rebels" Why was Bechtel VP and former Bush official David Welch helping Qaddafi? Today, Al Jazeera reports on an explosive new story that finds that the very same Bush official who spearheaded normalizing relations with Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi was secretly working with the dictator as late as this month to design a public relations campaign to undermine both the rebel forces and NATO.
Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal unearthed files in Libya’s intelligence headquarters that suggest that David Welch — the former assistant secretary of state under President George W. Watch Al Jazeera’s video report about the documents: Also included among the documents that Al Jazeera uncovered was evidence that Rep. Leahy Announces $9 M. Army Contracts For Randolph Firm. Taiwan lobbyists pressure White House to approve sale of F-16 fighter jets. Lobbyists for Taiwan have been working behind the scenes to pressure the White House into selling advanced F-16 fighter jets to the longtime U.S. ally. A lobbying team of former congressional aides and ex-lawmakers representing Taiwan spent the better part of the year gathering lawmaker signatures for two letters that were sent to President Obama arguing for the sale of the most advanced fighter jets to the country. Despite the pressure, the Obama administration opted against selling Taiwan the F-16 C/D, the most technically advanced model of the fighter jet, instead selling the country upgrade kits for its existing fleet of F-16 A/Bs.
That move has riled Capitol Hill, and both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are rallying behind legislation that would require the president to sell the advanced F-16s to Taiwan. Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Peter Lavoy defended the F-16 upgrade plan last week before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Sen. “Sen. Steve Goose Delivers Statement on Convention on Cluster Munitions during Second Meeting of States Parties. Thank you Madame Ambassador, I am very pleased to take the floor at this moment, with all the good news flooding in. Swaziland had just acceded, Italy has just informed us it will ratify in a few days, and Afghanistan ratified five days ago. We are on a roll. Indeed, the Convention on Cluster Munitions is already beginning to fulfill its great promise. It is a success story in the making, with more and more countries embracing its comprehensive ban, with tens of millions of stockpiled submunitions destroyed, with, as we have heard repeatedly today, numerous commitments to expanded and more urgent action on clearance of contaminated areas and victim assistance.
This is a convention that is working, that is gathering strength every day, and that is establishing a new international standard rejecting any use of any type of cluster munition. It is the only viable solution to the dangers of cluster munitions. Thank you. 'Missile defense deal could lead to arms race' The killing machine came to town. Underlying and always inherent in warfare throughout the ages has been the search to find better and more efficient ways for one human to kill another, for one army to wipe out another army, for one nation to conquer another nation. Each generation has hoped to be the one to build the ultimate weapon, the weapon that no human, army or nation can stand against.
So they are able to dominate and control the whole world. The arms trade is an immense industry, one of the largest industries in the world, and it has major effects on how millions of people live their lives - or more to the point, don’t live their lives in longevity and oldness. Most of the arms trade is legal and part of the world economy of general global trade in goods and services that flows from one country to another. Today in Newham and where I live, and indeed a stones throw away from where I actually live in Canning Town, well in fact in Custom House, but still part of the old docklands, the killing machine came to town.