Just Business – OpEd

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People didn’t believe that the war would break out, political experts and even intelligence officers doubted it would happen. Only they knew for sure, owners of the US military-industrial complex.Back in January, Lockheed Martin head Jim Taiclet told investors that the military conflict between the US and Russia over Ukraine would bring significant profits for the company.

Not without reason the US military-industrial complex had employed more than 2000 lobbyists since 2017.

For instance, Lockheed Martin, a co-founders of the US’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington had doggedly been encouraging the Joe Biden administration to take immediate action in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Lockheed Martin, one of the leading armament makers, was openly telling their investors that the Ukraine conflict was good for business.

The US has already sent more than 5,000 Javelin missiles to Ukraine from US stocks and nearly 500 more from allies and partners, according to the White House. Lockheed jointly produces Javelins with Raytheon Technologies.

Now Lockheed Martin is expanding its production capacity for the Javelin anti-tank missiles and other weapon systems. The company is buying more equipment, hiring more employees, and allocating more factory space.

Of course, Lockheed is just a tip of the iceberg. Each Javelin contains more than 250 microprocessors, so Lockheed increased its cooperation with chipmaker Intel and other beneficiaries of the war in Ukraine.

More than 60 year ago, Eisenhower said that the failure to regulate the country’s defence industry could lead to perpetual war worldwide. The president was right.

Neil Karpenko

Neil Karpenko, PhD, Ukraine’s history and politics researcher residing in Toronto. Contributing author to Haaretz, The Hill Times and Morning Star

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