BREAKING: TEAMSTERS UNION Makes GAME CHANGING Announcement About TRUMP … REVOLUTION NOW INEVITABLE!!

[Kondor3]

At this point, I suspect it's about backing someone who can actually pass the Sanity sniff-test...

 

[initforme]

Conservatives hate unions because they might help workers. This is an anti union site because a worker making a decent wage must be challenged. So dont come out backing unions because you believe workers are not all that important.

 

[Vandalshandle]

Republicans, who are, in fact, the voice of corporate America, LOVE unions!

 

[Windship]

Unions --> Irrelevant
What unions have to say --> Irrelevant

Hey flash...THIS is why we are broke. We dumped on our workforce. When the class war starts, they will be looking for ppl just like flash and this unAmerican selfish greedy free market prick.
Dems never believe the truth??Hows THIS for truth and explaining why we are broke? And this example is 3 yrs old:

WORLD NEWS | Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:53pm EDT
Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion: study

By Daniel Trotta | NEW YORK

The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said.

The report, the work of about 30 academics and experts, was published in advance of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003.

It was also an update of a 2011 report the Watson Institute produced ahead of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that assessed the cost in dollars and lives from the resulting wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

The 2011 study said the combined cost of the wars was at least $3.7 trillion, based on actual expenditures from the U.S. Treasury and future commitments, such as the medical and disability claims of U.S. war veterans.

That estimate climbed to nearly $4 trillion in the update.

The estimated death toll from the three wars, previously at 224,000 to 258,000, increased to a range of 272,000 to 329,000 two years later.

Excluded were indirect deaths caused by the mass exodus of doctors and a devastated infrastructure, for example, while the costs left out trillions of dollars in interest the United States could pay over the next 40 years.

The interest on expenses for the Iraq war could amount to about $4 trillion during that period, the report said.

The report also examined the burden on U.S. veterans and their families, showing a deep social cost as well as an increase in spending on veterans. The 2011 study found U.S. medical and disability claims for veterans after a decade of war totaled $33 billion. Two years later, that number had risen to $134.7 billion.

FEW GAINS

The report concluded the United States gained little from the war while Iraq was traumatized by it. The war reinvigorated radical Islamist militants in the region, set back women's rights, and weakened an already precarious healthcare system, the report said. Meanwhile, the $212 billion reconstruction effort was largely a failure with most of that money spent on security or lost to waste and fraud, it said.

ALSO IN WORLD NEWS

• 
  

Former President George W. Bush's administration cited its belief that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's government held weapons of mass destruction to justify the decision to go to war. U.S. and allied forces later found that such stockpiles did not exist.

Supporters of the war argued that intelligence available at the time concluded Iraq held the banned weapons and noted that even some countries that opposed the invasion agreed with the assessment.

"Action needed to be taken," said Steven Bucci, the military assistant to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the run-up to the war and today a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think-tank.

Bucci, who was unconnected to the Watson study, agreed with its observation that the forecasts for the cost and duration of the war proved to be a tiny fraction of the real costs.

"If we had had the foresight to see how long it would last and even if it would have cost half the lives, we would not have gone in," Bucci said. "Just the time alone would have been enough to stop us. Everyone thought it would be short."

Bucci said the toppling of Saddam and the results of an unforeseen conflict between U.S.-led forces and al Qaeda militants drawn to Iraq were positive outcomes of the war.

"It was really in Iraq that 'al Qaeda central' died," Bucci said. "They got waxed."

 

[Windship]

...and how bout THIS??The 25 Most Vicious Iraq War Profiteers

 

[Windship]

And this:


Blood Money: These Companies and People Make Billions of Dollars from War
By Lily Dane
Global Research, March 25, 2015
The Daily Sheeple 24 March 2015
Theme: Militarization and WMD, US NATO War Agenda

War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. –George Orwell

The late United States Marine Corps Major GeneralSmedley D. Butler is perhaps most famous for his post-retirement speech titled “War is a Racket.” In the early 1930s, Butler presented the speech on a nationwide tour. It was so popular that he wrote a longer version as a small book that was published in 1935.

Butler points to a variety of examples, mostly from World War I, where industrialists whose operations were subsidized by public funding were able to generate substantial profits essentially from mass human suffering.

work is divided into five chapters:

1. War is a racket
2. Who makes the profits?
3. Who pays the bills?
4. How to smash this racket!
5. To hell with war!

It contains this summary:

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people.

Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

What Butler was candidly describing was later referred to as the “military-industrial complex”by Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned Americans of its existence in his farewell address in 1961:


Butler went on to say…

In the World War a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few — the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

And what is this bill?

This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.

For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out.

Butler also exposed the Business Plot, an alleged plan to overthrow the U.S. government. In 1933, Butler told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialist businessmen (including individuals from General Motors, Prescott Bush, grandfather of George Bush Jr., J.P. Morgan, and the Rockefeller dynasty) were planning a military coup to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to other Fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations, calling them a “gigantic hoax.”

A final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler’s testimony.

****

Despite warnings of its existence and imminent expansion, the military-industrial complex (or military-industrial-congressional complex) remains in operation today. It is an iron trianglethat comprises the policy and monetary relationships which exist between legislators, national armed forces, and the arms industry that supports them. These relationships include political contributions, political approval for military spending, lobbying to support bureaucracies, and oversight of the industry.

It is a major reason we are stuck in a perpetual war.

****

In their article titled Companies Profiting the Most From War, Thomas C. Frohlich and Mark Lieberman listed the 10 companies profiting the most from war. To identify them, they examined the companies with the most arms sales based on information from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Arms sales, including advisory, planes, vehicles, and weapons, were defined by sales to military customers as well as contracts to government militaries. Also considered were each company’s 2013 total sales and profits, the total number of employees at the company, as well as nation-level military spending, all provided by SIPRI.

From the article:

U.S. companies still dominate the arms market by a large margin, with six among the top 10 arms sellers. In the top 100 arms-producing companies, 39 are based in the United States, and U.S. companies accounted for more than 58% of total arms sales among the top 100. U.S. company arms sales in the top 10 alone made up 35% of total arms sales among the top 100. By contrast, Western European companies, which make up the rest of the top 10 arms producers, accounted for just 28% of the total top 100 arms sales.

Here are the top 10 war-profiteering companies and their political ties.

10. Thales Group (Paris)
Arm sales 2013: $10.4 billion, profit: $800 million

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $0
LOBBYING: $520,000 (2014), $460,000 (2013) (ranks 614 of 4,065 in 2014)

REVOLVING DOOR: 9 out of 10 Thales Group lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

For a list of bills Thales Group has lobbied, click here.

Chairman Henri Proglio’s salary is rumored to be $436,128 USD.

CEO Patrice Caine’s salary has not been published.

9. Finmeccanica S.p.A. (Italy)
Arm sales 2013: $10.6 billion, profit $100 million

Not only is this company a top war profiteer, it is a huge U.S. political campaign contributor.

From OpenSecrets.org:

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $446,850 (ranks 696 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $1,754,000 (2014), $1,965,500 (2013) (ranks 303 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $342,550 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $18,100
Contributions to parties: $86,200
Contributions to 527 committees: $0
Contributions to outside spending groups: $0

For a list of bills Finmeccanica S.p.A. has lobbied, click here.

Here’s some additional information on this company:

The total of contributions to candidates from Finmeccanica SpA PACs is 24 times larger than contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 21 out of 34 Finmeccanica SpA lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

CEO Mauro Moretti’s “wage packet” is said to be $1.2 million USD.

8. United Technologies (U.S.)
Arm sales 2013: $11.9 billion, profit $5.7 billion

United Technologies might be the lowest ranking of the U.S. companies in this list, but don’t let that fool you.OpenSecrets bestowed the company with the label “heavy hitter”, which means it is “one of the 140 biggest overall donors to federal elections since the 1990 election cycle, as compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.”

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $2,105,245 (ranks 124 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $15,738,000 (2014), $13,900,373 (2013) (ranks 13 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $1,769,400 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $199,250
Contributions to parties: $124,470
Contributions to 527 committees: $10,625
Contributions to outside spending groups: $1,500

For a list of bills United Technologies has lobbied, click here.

Here’s some additional information on this company:

The total of contributions to candidates from United Technologies PACs is 19 times larger than contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 52 out of 70 United Technologies lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

24 Congressional members own United Technologies shares (for the list, click here).

CEO Gregory J. Hayes has a reported annual salary of $949,583 and an annual bonus of $1,600,00, for a total annual compensation of $2,549,583.

7. Airbus Group (France/Netherlands)
Arm sales 2013: $15.7 billion, profit $2 billion

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $365,752 (ranks 855 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $3,288,178 (2014), $3,749,750 (2013) (ranks 156 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $259,322 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $83,500
Contributions to parties: $22,930
Contributions to 527 committees: $0
Contributions to outside spending groups: $0

For a list of bills this company has lobbied, click here.

Additional information about Airbus Group:

The total of contributions to candidates from Airbus Group PACs is 4 times largerthan contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 42 out of 57 Airbus Group lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

6. General Dynamics (U.S.)
Arm sales 2013: $18.7 billion, profit $2.4 billion

OpenSecrets labeled this company a “heavy hitter”, which means it is “one of the 140 biggest overall donors to federal elections since the 1990 election cycle, as compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.”

General Dynamics is one of the nation’s top defense contractors, assembling virtually every type of military machinery engaged in modern combat. The company builds warships, nuclear submarines, tanks and combat jets, not to mention the command and control systems that link all of these technologies together. The company has lobbied hard to encourage lawmakers to step up appropriations for the Navy, one of the company’s biggest clients.

It has fought attempts to shrink the nation’s fleet of submarines and warships, thereby helping block Defense Department attempts to shift that money to other facets of the nation’s land and air defenses.

Details:

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $1,974,599 (ranks 140 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $10,720,923 (2014), $11,066,974 (2013) (ranks 27 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $1,405,525 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $401,300
Contributions to parties: $162,974
Contributions to 527 committees: $4,350
Contributions to outside spending groups: $5,450

For a list of bills this company has lobbied, click here.

More information about General Dynamics:

The total of contributions to candidates from General Dynamics PACs is 6 times larger than contributions from individuals.

6 Congressional members own shares in this company (click here for the list).

REVOLVING DOOR: 96 out of 133 General Dynamics lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

CEO Phebe Novakovic earned nearly $19 million in total compensation in fiscal 2014.

5. Northrop Grumman (U.S.)
Arm sales 2013: $20.2 billion, profit $2 billion

We’ve got another heavy hitter here:

Northrop Grumman is the fourth largest defense contractor and the world’s largest builder of naval vessels as of 2010. As a member of the miscellaneous defense industry, Northrop Grumman specializes in aerospace systems, electronic systems, information systems, ship building and technical services.

Northrop Grumman focuses much of its efforts securing government defense contracts and earmarks. During the 2008 election cycle, people and political action committees associated with Northrop Grumman contributed more than $2 million to federal candidates and committees, favoring Democrats slightly.

Details:

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS $4,050,624 (ranks 45 of 16,793)
LOBBYING $10,216,960 (2014), $20,590,000 (2013) (ranks 28 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $2,613,112 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $1,194,560
Contributions to parties: $231,602
Contributions to 527 committees: $6,000
Contributions to outside spending groups: $5,350

For a list of bills this company has lobbied, click here.

More information about Northrop Grumman:

The total of contributions to candidates from Northrop Grumman PACs is 9 times larger than contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 32 out of 49 Northrop Grumman lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

6 Congressional members own shares in this company (for the list, click here).

CEO Wesley G. Bush’s total pay package, including the change in the value of his pension, was $18.6 million in 2013, reports The Washington Post. His salary and stock awards remained steady at about $1.5 million and $8 million, respectively.

4. Raytheon (U.S.)
Arm sales 2013: $29.9 billion, profit $2 billion

OpenSecrets has identified Raytheon as a heavy hitter:

Raytheon is a major American defense contractor that specializes in defense and homeland security technology. As the world’s largest producer of guided missiles, Raytheon specializes in manufacturing defense systems and defense electronics.

A member of the defense electronic industry, Raytheon is most active lobbying on defense, homeland security and federal budget appropriation issues. Until 2008, individuals and political action committees associated with Raytheon had favored Republicans in campaign contribution giving, but after Democrats won both chambers of Congress and the White House, the defense firm favors Democrats, giving 55 percent of campaign contributions to Democrats and 45 percent to Republicans in 2008

Considering that access is needed when securing large government defense contract, it’s of little surprise that Raytheon spends millions of dollars each year lobbying the federal government. Raytheon is the primary manufacturer of Tomahawk cruise missiles, dozens of which have been used by U.S. and British military forces in strikes against targets in Libya during 2011.

Details:

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle:
CONTRIBUTIONS: $3,588,668 (ranks 58 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $6,250,000 (2014), $7,650,000 (2013) (ranks 65 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $2,131,300 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $1,212,783
Contributions to parties: $236,498
Contributions to 527 committees: $6,037
Contributions to outside spending groups: $2,050

For a list of bills Raytheon has lobbied, click here.

More information about this company:

The total of contributions to candidates from Raytheon PACs is 11 times larger than contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 51 out of 67 Raytheon lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

8 Congressional members own shares in this company (click here for a list).

CEO Thomas A. Kennedy made $5,324,743 in total compensation for fiscal 2013.

3. BAE Systems (U.S./United Kingdom)
Arm sales 2013: $26.8 billion, profit $275 million

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $1,360,369 (ranks 210 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $3,920,000 (2014), $4,635,000 (2013) (ranks 124 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $931,389 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $301,750
Contributions to parties: $120,980
Contributions to 527 committees: $5,500
Contributions to outside spending groups: $3,250

For a list of bills BAE Systems has lobbied, click here.

More details:

The total of contributions to candidates from BAE Systems PACs is 9 times largerthan contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 27 out of 36 BAE Systems lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

CEO Ian King’s total annual compensation is $3,826,308.

2. Boeing (U.S.)
Arm sales 2013: $30.7 billion, profit $4.6 billion

Boeing has been labeled a heavy hitter by OpenSecrets:

Boeing is the world’s top manufacturer of commercial airplanes, including well-known aircraft such as the 787 and the 747. The company is also a leading military supplier, making fighter-bombers, transport planes and the Apache helicopter.

Along with rival Lockheed Martin, the company regularly lobbies Congress to win military contracts and increase defense spending. Boeing is a major supporter of free trade, especially in Asia, where it has focused on selling more planes. The company also lobbies on environmental rules and transportation regulations, among other issues.

Boeing is also a large recipient of government loan-guarantees, primarily coming from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Details:

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $3,227,934 (ranks 67 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $16,800,000 (2014), $15,230,000 (2013) (ranks 10 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $2,536,149 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $398,276
Contributions to parties: $252,685
Contributions to 527 committees: $33,749
Contributions to outside spending groups: $79,325

For a list of bills Boeing has lobbied, click here.

More information on this company:

The total of contributions to candidates from Boeing PACs is 6 times larger than contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 83 out of 115 Boeing Co lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

17 Congressional members own Boeing shares (click here for the list).

CEO W. James McNerney Jr. made $23,263,562 in total compensation in 2013. Of this total $1,930,000 was received as a salary, $12,920,972 was received as a bonus, $3,763,503 was received in stock options, $3,763,534 was awarded as stock, and $885,553 came from other types of compensation. He earned $23.5 million total in 2014.

1. Lockheed Martin (U.S.)
Arm sales 2013: $35.5 billion, profit $3 billion

As the top war profiteer on this list, it should be no surprise that Lockheed Martin is ranked as a heavy hitter by OpenSecrets:

Lockheed Martin is the nation’s top defense contractor, the brains behind such high-tech military hardware as the F-16 jet fighter and a variety of land and sea missiles. In 2001, the company landed the biggest defense contract in history when it was named the main contractor for the Joint Strike Fighter.

Considering that access is the name of the game when securing such lucrative contracts, it’s no surprise that Lockheed splits its campaign money equally between Democrats and Republicans. All told, NASA and the Defense Department account for roughly 80 percent of the company’s annual sales.

Details:

Profile for 2014 Election Cycle
CONTRIBUTIONS: $4,132,497 (ranks 44 of 16,793)
LOBBYING: $14,581,800 (2014), $14,516,226 (2013) (ranks 16 of 4,065 in 2014)
Contributions to candidates: $3,001,928 (for a list of recipients, click here)
Contributions to Leadership PACs: $897,425
Contributions to parties: $219,086
Contributions to 527 committees: $5,585
Contributions to outside spending groups: $10,373

For a list of bills Lockheed Martin has lobbied, click here.

Additional information about this company:

The total of contributions to candidates from Lockheed Martin PACs is 7 times largerthan contributions from individuals.

REVOLVING DOOR: 69 out of 109 Lockheed Martin lobbyists in 2013-2014 have previously held government jobs.

CEO Marillyn Hewson earned $25.16 million in 2014. Of this total, $1.34 million was base salary, $8.16 million was stock awards, $5.98 million was from incentive plan compensation, $9.41 million was in pension earnings, and other compensation was $238,150.

****

As you can see, many companies and individuals – including politicians – stand to profit greatly from perpetual war.

And we, the taxpayers, are footing the bill.

Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $312,500 for cost of military action against ISIS.


Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $10.17 million for cost of war in Afghanistan.

Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $365,297 for cost of war in Iraq.

Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $10.54 million for total cost of wars since 2001.

Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $8.43 million for Homeland Security Since 9/11.

Every hour, taxpayers in the United States are paying $58 million for the Department of Defense.

For a live ticker showing how much we have paid to date in each of the categories above, please visit the National Priorities Project site. You also can use the site’s trade-off tool to see what else those dollars could buy.

****

The full costs of war cannot simply be measured in dollars. It is impossible to place a monetary value on the tremendous loss of life (both military and civilian) caused by perpetual war.

Since 2003, U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan total 2,356. UK military deaths total 453, and there have been 677 coalition military deaths from other countries.

Since 2003, U.S. military deaths in Iraq total 4,489. UK military deaths total 179, and there have been 140 coalition military deaths from other countries.

There have been 136,495 – 154,378 documented civilian deaths that resulted from military intervention in Iraq since 2003.

In Iraq, 1,487 contractor employees have died. 348 journalists have been killed. 448 academics have died.

To view information on 6,840 U.S. service members who have perished in Afghanistan and Iraq, please see Faces of the Fallen.

Deaths don’t only occur in combat. An unusually high percentage of young veterans have died since returning home, many as a result of drug overdose, suicide, and vehicle crashes, reports Costs of War. The suicide rate doubled in the Army during the first decade of the wars among both the deployed and the non-deployed.

In many ways, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are worse off now than they were before U.S. military invasion. Both countries are considered more authoritarian, more corrupt, and more repressive than they were before.

****

In his piece titled A State of Perpetual War, David A. Love makes a fitting comparison:

In the George Orwell classic 1984, there is a state of perpetual war between the nations of Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The enemy in the conflict is ambiguous, and the battlefield exists in an elusive and distant land. The enemy could be Eurasia one day, and Eastasia the next, but that location is really insignificant.

The mission of perpetual war for these superpowers is to justify psychological and physical control over their populations, to keep their people busy, fearful and hateful towards the enemy. The perpetual war also serves as an excuse for a nation’s failings and shortcomings. The economy, the labor force and industry are all centered around war rather than consumer goods. People live a miserable existence with poverty and no hope of improving their standard of living.

Love points out that there are bigger problems we should be concerned about:

…there are many domestic threats that seem to pose a greater risk to national security, including the U.S. economic system itself.

He concludes with:

If we are to have a perpetual war, it must be a war against injustice and deprivation at home and abroad. We need to get our own house in order, rather than demolish and rebuild other nations that did not invite us there. And as far as the so-called terrorism problem is concerned, maybe we should stay out of other folks’ backyards and it will go away.

Indeed, the authorities would like us to believe that “fighting for our freedoms” in lands thousands of miles away is a necessary evil.

In War is a Racket, Butler suggested the following three steps to smash the war racket:

1. We must take the profit out of war.
2. We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decide whether or not there should be war.
3. We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes.

Butler concluded his speech with the following exclamation:

TO HELL WITH WAR!

That seems like an appropriate conclusion here as well.

 

[Windship]

And this:

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY EMIL LENDOF/THE DAILY BEAST

KA-CHING
The Company Getting Rich Off the ISIS War
For the Middle East, the growth of the self-proclaimed Islamic State has been a catastrophe. For one American firm, it’s been a gold mine.

KATE BRANNEN
08.02.15 6:00 PM ET


The war against ISIS isn’t going so great, with the self-appointed terror group standing up to a year of U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

But that hasn’t kept defense contractors from doing rather well amidst the fighting. Lockheed Martin has received orders for thousands of more Hellfire missiles. AM General is busy supplying Iraq with 160 American-built Humvee vehicles, while General Dynamics is selling the country millions of dollars worth of tank ammunition.

SOS International, a family-owned business whose corporate headquarters are in New York City, is one of the biggest players on the ground in Iraq, employing the most Americans in the country after the U.S. Embassy. On the company’s board of advisors: former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz—considered to be one of the architects of the invasion of Iraq—and Paul Butler, a former special assistant to Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld.


The company, which goes by “SOSi,” says on its website that the contracts it’s been awarded for work in Iraq in 2015 have a total value of more than $400 million. They include a $40 million contract to provide everything from meals to perimeter security to emergency fire and medical services at Iraq’s Besmaya Compound, one of the sites where U.S. troops are training Iraqi soldiers. The Army awarded SOSi a separate $100 million contract in late June for similar services at Camp Taji. The Pentagon expects that contract to last through June 2018.

A year after U.S. airstrikes began targeting the so-called Islamic State in Iraq, there are 3,500 U.S. troops deployed there, training and advising Iraqi troops. But a number that is not discussed is the growing number of contractors required to support these operations. According to the U.S. military, there are 6,300 contractors working in Iraq today, supporting U.S. operations. Separately, the State Department is seeking janitorial services, drivers, linguists, and security contractors to work at its Iraqi facilities.

While these numbers pale in comparison to the more than 163,000 working in Iraq at the peak of the Iraq War, they are steadily growing. And with the fight against ISIS expected to take several years, it also represents a growing opportunity for defense, security, and logistics contractors, especially as work in Afghanistan begins to dry up.

“It allows us to maintain the façade of no boots on the ground while at the same time growing our footprint,” said Laura Dickinson, a law professor at George Washington University whose recent work has focused on regulating private military contractors.

Today, Afghanistan still represents a booming business for civilian contractors. In the latest quarterly report from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, there were 30,000 civilian contractors working in Afghanistan in April. But those numbers are steadily falling. For example, in April 2014, there were more than 60,000 contractors working there.

Meanwhile, from supporting weapons sales to the Iraqi government to providing base security, contractor work in Iraq is on the rise.



SOSi is also providing a handful of high-level advisers to work with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and the Iraqi Kurdish regional government. In late June, the company won a $700,000 contract to provide a small group of security assistance mentors and advisers for one year. The contract could be extended for an additional four years for a total of $3.7 million.

The requirements for the job are posted on SOSi’s career site, and include “one year or more of experience working with Iraqi [Ministry of Defense] officials.”

One of the job’s duties is to “prepare and deliver briefings to senior military officials on the status of the Iraqi staff, systems, programs and transition progress.”

The company will provide one adviser to the Iraqi Kurdish regional government, and five to the Iraqi government in Baghdad, according to Frank Helmick, a retired lieutenant general who served three tours of duty in Iraq between 2003 and 2011 and is now vice president for Mission Solutions at SOSi.

“These positions are very important. They are not just translators,” Helmick said. “They are advising at the levels where decisions are made.”

For the most part, they are Iraqi-Americans with security clearances, he said.

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During his second tour in Iraq between 2008 and 2009, Helmick was in charge of all the manning, training, and equipping of the Iraqi security forces, so today’s mission is a familiar one.

“I’ve been going back and forth to Iraq for the last two-plus years as a businessman, which is very, very different than going as a military guy, but a lot of the same people I worked with in uniform are still there today,” he said in an interview with The Daily Beast.

He acknowledged that contractors are playing a key supportive role in Iraq.

“Contractors thicken the U.S. presence,” Helmick said. “If soldiers are sent there to advise and train, they don’t have to send people to cook their food, wash their clothes or secure themselves. Contractors can do that. We allow the U.S. or coalition military to focus on their core competency.”

SOSi is not the only company that has been on contract to provide high-level advisers to the government in Iraq. ABM, also headquartered in New York, posted a job listing for a “Security Assistance Mentor and Advisor,” who would work directly with senior Iraqi counterterrorism officials.

The position entailed providing “direct assistance to the Prime Minister’s Counter Terrorism Advisor to lead and guide the development of institutional capabilities for the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service in order to provide security and facilitate good governance,” according to the company’s job description, which has recently been taken down. A company spokesman said ABM is no longer on the contract.

But some other company will invariably fill the breach. From providing meals to strategic advice, contractors are built into today’s military operations to help defeat the Islamic State. The fact is, the U.S. can no longer go to war—or even on an advise and assist mission—without them.

“We’re resting a large part of the success of this mission on contractors,” said Sean McFate, a professor at the National Defense University and the author ofThe Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order.

But the role of civilian contractors on the battlefield remains controversial, partly because waste, fraud, and abuse became rampant in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last decade. The Commission on Wartime Contracting, a bipartisan review board created by Congress in 2008, estimated that between $31 billion and $60 billion was lost to contract waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And security contractors continue to face particular scrutiny after a series of abuses over the last several years. Particularly damaging to the industry’s reputation was the 2007 Nisour Square shooting when guards working for Blackwater fatally shot 17 civilians.

Because of these scandals, there is now increased oversight of civilian contractors at the national and international level, said Dickinson. For example, the Pentagon has made numerous internal changes to improve the way contractors are vetted and used.

Helmick said he’s watched the contractor scene in Iraq change from when he first visited in 2003 to today. For example, he says, the ratio of contractors to U.S. service members is down to less than one to one, at least for SOSi. At the peak of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors outnumbered U.S. troops. While SOSi may have lowered their ratio to remain competitive, based on the Pentagon’s own statistics, it appears contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq today.

Today’s business environment is more competitive, Helmick said. “There are a lot of companies vying for this work.”

William Beaver, the editor-in-chief of DangerZoneJobs.com, said the market’s grown more competitive because there is a large pool of experienced contractors thanks to the last 14 years of war. There is also a large number of combat veterans who have left the military, but are looking for ways to work overseas again, he said.

This has led to a considerable drop in salaries, according to Beaver.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is the lack of transparency around these contracts. There is no central public database for finding out who’s doing this work, so it’s only possible to get a scattershot view, without much context, from searches on FedBizOps.com, the Pentagon’s daily contract announcements and various job boards.

For example, it is unclear whether any contractors are supporting the 935 U.S. and coalition military personnel as they vet and train moderate Syrian rebels.

What is known is that contractors are integral to the teams that operatesurveillance drones and analyze the hours of video footage collected, providing the military with the information it needs to target Islamic State fighters on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq. While these contractors are not based overseas—and therefore not included in any official tallies—they aredirectly supporting the mission to defeat the Islamic State.

From the very beginning, U.S. military commanders have warned that the war against the Islamic State will be a long one. SOSi’s contract for services at Camp Taji may be due to expire in 2018, but it seems certain that it and companies like it will continue to find business as this fight rages on.

 

[Windship]

The rich look best when lying in a pool of blood. Not because their rich but because they get eveything they want off the backs of the working class then dump on them. I fucking hate them. Class war comin...

 

[Windship]

Hey flash...what do ya think of my posts? See any truth?

 

[Windship]

At this point, I suspect it's about backing someone who can actually pass the Sanity sniff-test...

Dont confuse sanity with not having any allegiance to any country, no morals, greed and treason for insanity. Our politicians are doing exactly what they are being paid off to do. One description of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expect different results....what party did YOU vote for? Ever heard of Jill Stein? Do you know what they do to keep 3rd parties off the podium?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Any truck diver in this country that thinks Crooked Hillary is looking out for his/her interest is a fucking idiot.

Any person in this country that thinks Crooked Hillary is looking out for his/her interest is a fucking idiot.

Never been a trucker, but they seem a pretty independent and tough bunch of guys. Hard to imagine them voting for a corrupt, open border and free trader piece of shit like mrs clinton.

Do you remember that memorial day or labor day in 2007 when bush tried to sneak Mexican truckers in on the holiday but the tricksters stopped them?

And do you remember all the protections/regulations bush removed? I remember one example bush flooded the American market with cheep Chinese tires.

You Republicans are impossible to reason with

You mean the cheap Chinese tires that were the best thing to happen to independent truckers in decades?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Hey flash...what do ya think of my posts? See any truth?

Just psychopathy...

 

[Flash]

FACT:
union shops...make better pay, have better benefits, are treated better, have safe working conditions, hell!...just look at this"
36 Reasons Why You Should Thank a Union

Weekends
All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
Paid Vacation
FMLA
Sick Leave
Social Security
Minimum Wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
8-Hour Work Day
Overtime Pay
Child Labor Laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40 Hour Work Week
Worker's Compensation (Worker's Comp)
Unemployment Insurance
Pensions
Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
Employer Health Care Insurance
Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
Wrongful Termination Laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Whistleblower Protection Laws
Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
Sexual Harassment Laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday Pay
Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
Privacy Rights
Pregnancy and Parental Leave
Military Leave
The Right to Strike
Public Education for Children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States

A lot of blood was spilled by working people to get these rights. Do some reading on the "Industrial Revolution".
Now the dems and repubs want to take everything away from the working class for profit for regional and and national corporations. Now look and see how many of these rights are gone.
If ya dont want any of these things, keep thinking nonunion and good luck.

Union! Now!

None of that shit you posted are facts.

Modernization brought better working conditions, not union thugs. It started with Henry Ford. The filthy unions try to take credit for it but that dog don't hunt when you look at the real facts.

The only thing we have got from the filthy ass greedy unions are thuggery, increased cost of goods and services, corrupt politicians and driving manufacturing jobs overseas.

Fuck the unions.

 

[320 Years of History]

Unions --> Irrelevant
What unions have to say --> Irrelevant

Hey flash...THIS is why we are broke. We dumped on our workforce. When the class war starts, they will be looking for ppl just like flash and this unAmerican selfish greedy free market prick.
...

Red:
??? I'm not sure what your comment has to do with the fact that American labor unions are less relevant now, so much less as to be existentially irrelevant, than they used to be.

• Do Americans today still need labor unions? -- "The one sector where unions remain relevant is the government. "
  
  
• SCOTUS looks at labor unions. Unions are worried. Here’s why. -- "[L]abor unions in America have fallen on very hard times indeed. At their peak in the early 1950s, American unions represented just over a third of American workers, virtually all in the private sector. By 2014 (the last year for which we have data), unions represented less than 7 percent of private sector workers."
  
  
• Join the Conversation: Are Labor Unions Still Relevant?
  
  • "Why is it, for instance, that the Occupy movement was able to do more to educate, inspire and change the public discourse around social and economic inequality, the corporate agenda, the casino economy and threats to our democracy, in the first few months of its relatively unorganized and unfunded existence, than the entire labour movement, with its wealth, army of researchers and octopus-like communications apparatus, was able to do in a generation?"
    
    
  • "The wealthy elite have been trying to destroy unions for almost forty years in an attempt to usurp the power of our government. I’m afraid they are succeeding."

That's not say that unions cannot once again become relevant, even though at the moment they are not; however, that is not an existential observation, but rather one about potential.

• "Unions went from upgrading our working conditions and educating apprentices to bullying the employer and forcing non-union employees into the unions. I still think they can find a way to be relevant by reinventing themselves as a (reasonable) line of communication between the workforce and the employers."
  
  
• "With the election of a new leadership committed to putting the "movement" back into the "labor movement," now is an important time for reflection on the role of organized labor in our society. We need to bring into open discussion questions that many in the progressive community have been asking: Do unions really matter anymore? And if they do, what should be their mission? Specifically, shall we build a movement simply to represent our own members, or does this movement have a wider role in society as a whole? And does the fate of the labor movement and workers' rights in the workplace concern more than the ranks of organized labor?"

 

[protectionist]

Big story.

Organized Labor, like any other organization, is responsible for it's own future. Currying political favor from one major party or the other won't do much to assist the organization.

That they are neutral this year "hurts" Clinton more than Trump on the surface because other unions will likely adopt the same stance. However, membership is free to vote how they wish and given the war on unions by Scott Walker and others...they will break in Clinton's favor. Overwhelmingly in Union strongholds and less so in other areas.

And Clinton's international outsourcing to overseas job stealing foreigners is not a "war on unions" ? Remember, it is Ms NAFTA, Ms Trilateral Commission, Ms Council on Foreign Relations, Ms TPP who is RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. Scott Walker isn't. And the GOP that elected Scott Walker, is not the same GOP that elected Donald Trump in the 2016 primaries.

And the Clinton's job stealing illegal aliens, protected in Sanctuary cities, don't constitute a "war on unions" ? Well, yes they do. I worked as a security guard for a few years, and I met hundreds of truck drivers making deliveries to my company. Almost all of them were illegal aliens who spoke only Spanish. All of them taking good jobs away from Americans.

Any union or working person who would vote for Hillary, has got to be pure nuts, or as dumb as a box of rocks.

 

[protectionist]

You are sooo gullible....
Teamsters endorse Clinton
8/26/16
Hillary Clinton cemented her union support Friday, picking up a major endorsement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The Teamsters unanimously voted to endorse Clinton in a blow to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has campaigned for the union vote.

“We are proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for President of the United States,” Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said in a statement. “She is the right candidate for the middle class and working men and women across the country.”

Teamsters Endorse Clinton, Slap Trump
Hillary Clinton on Friday received a pivotal endorsement as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the Democratic nominee should be the nation's next president.

The Teamsters General Executive Board says it unanimously voted to endorse the former senator and secretary of state.

A LIAR endorsing a LIAR. Sounds typical.

 

[Syriusly]

You are sooo gullible....
Teamsters endorse Clinton
8/26/16
Hillary Clinton cemented her union support Friday, picking up a major endorsement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The Teamsters unanimously voted to endorse Clinton in a blow to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has campaigned for the union vote.

“We are proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for President of the United States,” Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa said in a statement. “She is the right candidate for the middle class and working men and women across the country.”

Teamsters Endorse Clinton, Slap Trump
Hillary Clinton on Friday received a pivotal endorsement as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that the Democratic nominee should be the nation's next president.

The Teamsters General Executive Board says it unanimously voted to endorse the former senator and secretary of state.

A LIAR endorsing a LIAR. Sounds typical.

Yep the OP is a liar.

LOL- Trumpsters are soooo funny

 

[Picaro]

Hey flash...what do ya think of my posts? See any truth?

Nearly everything our government does is a reflection of the morality and principles of the American people these days. Almost all governments on the planet, past, present, and future, are almost entirely mirrors of the people and cultures they govern over, it's pretty much impossible for it to be any other way. Americans love corruption, which is why the American government is run like a private business, with 'services' and access auctioned off to the highest bidders at any given time. You'll just have to deal with that and move on.

Crying about 'dishonesty' or 'corruption' doesn't mean a thing to the average 'post modern American', left or right wing; they don't care, their only concern is 'somebody else' nipping off a piece of the pork and leaving less for themselves. This creates a political environment where an honest person will never ever make it past Dog Catcher, and even if one were honest he would be stupid and witless to let any of his associates know that.