The American people do not have an appetite for war and the suffering it causes. The same cannot be said about those who directly benefit when tensions rise and the likelihood of war increases. The arms industry and their associated lobby are firmly on board with the idea that adding another disastrous imperial venture to the already overloaded table of lost wars and failed rearguard actions would be a good thing.
“Experts predict as many as a million people could die if the current tensions lead to a full-blown war. Millions more would become refugees across the Middle East, while working families across the U.S. would bear the brunt of our casualties.
But there is one set of people who stand to benefit from the escalation of the conflict: CEOs of major U.S. military contractors.
This was evident in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian military official on January 2. As soon as the news reached financial markets, these companies’ share prices spiked.
Wall Street traders know that a war with Iran would mean more lucrative contracts for U.S. weapons makers. Since top executives get much of their compensation in the form of stock, they benefit personally when the value of their company’s stock goes up.
I took a look at the stock holdings of the CEOs at the top five Pentagon contractors (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman).
Using the most recent available data, I calculated that these five executives held company stock worth approximately $319 million just before the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian leader Qasem Soleimani. By the stock market’s closing bell the following day, the value of their combined shares had increased to $326 million.
War profiteering is nothing new. Back in 2006, during the height of the Iraq War, I analyzed CEO pay at the 34 corporations that were the top military contractors at that time. I found that their pay had jumped considerably after the September 11 attacks.
Between 2001 and 2005, military contractor CEO pay jumped 108 percent on average, compared to a 6 percent increase for their counterparts at other large U.S. companies.
Congress needs to take action to prevent a catastrophic war on Iran. De-escalating the current tensions is the most immediate priority.”
The negligent spreading ‘peace & democracy’ in foreign lands is a supremely profitable venture.
Funny how that works.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
2 comments
January 22, 2020 at 8:36 am
radfemspiraling
Everyone that has even just a tiny bit of awareness knows now, even if they didn’t know then, that Iraq was about only OIL.
And when the government puts on a big show about funding war, they are implying that money is needed to fund volunteer troops, individual soldiers and their families, because most of those people live in poverty. And Americans are all “of course, give money to the military because they deserve to be paid”.
But that money goes to contractors and only to contractors. The public largely doesn’t know that. And when you tell them, they side eye you, as if you are a hater of democracy and freedom.
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January 26, 2020 at 7:40 am
The Arbourist
@RFS
The American system is a nasty closed loop. The government, a voice that could put end to the vicious war-profiteering, now seems to be complicit in the furthering of the war agenda.
Perhaps a mandatory draft might jar the public into holding their representatives accountable.
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