- Uddannelsesinstitution grundlagt 1993 i New York fror at fremme
begrænsninger i international våbenhandel; under af
World Policy Institute. Eksempel på pressemeddelelse fra:
The Arms Trade Resource Center: Report Documents Domestic "Axis
of Influence" Pushing Missile Defense : Corporate/Conservative
Network Leverages Billions in New Spending New York
- A new report from the World Policy Institute documents the role
of a well-coordinated network of cash-hungry contractors,
conservative think tanks, and military hardliners in promoting the
Bush administration's crash program to deploy a multi-tiered
missile defense system. "The missile defense lobby no longer needs
to rely on its ability to influence the federal government from the
outside," notes report co-author William D. Hartung. "Missile
defense advocates have staged a virtual friendly takeover of the
Bush administration."
While many analysts had assumed that defending against long-range
ballistic missiles might take a back seat to other more urgent
defense priorities in the wake of the low-tech, high-casualty
terror attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, the Bush
administration has moved full speed ahead with its missile defense
agenda. Missile defense spending increased by 43% in FY 2002, and
the Bush administration plans to spend at least $32.7 billion on
the program between now and 2005, an 85% increase over total
spending on missile defense for the last four years of the Clinton
administration. Total costs for the deployment and maintenance of a
multi-tiered system could easily top $200 billion over the next two
decades.
This accelerated investment in missile defense is moving forward
despite the existence of serious technical difficulties in the
missile defense program, ranging from a pattern of unrealistic
testing, to cost overruns and schedule delays for critical
components, to reliance on major system elements - like sea-based,
boost phase interceptors - that have yet to be designed, much less
tested. In response to these major problems, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld has chosen to throw a veil of secrecy over the
missile defense testing program, limiting Congressional and public
access to information on the costs, schedules, and performance of
key program elements. "The Pentagon's new approach to missile
defense testing is a contractor's dream and a taxpayer's
nightmare," notes report co-author Michelle Ciarrocca. "Pumping in
more money while reducing outside scrutiny is an invitation to
corruption and cost-overruns."
The report questions the ability of the Bush administration to make
an objective assessment of the missile defense program in the light
of its heavy reliance on former defense contractor executives and
investors to staff key policymaking positions in the White House,
the Pentagon, the National Security Council and other major
agencies. "At a time when corporate scandals are making headlines,
the Bush administration's reliance on individuals with ties to the
arms industry to fill major posts in the national security
bureaucracy deserves far greater scrutiny than it has received to
date," notes report co-author William D. Hartung. The report notes
that 32 major administration appointees are former executives,
consultants, or major shareholders of weapons contractors,
including 17 appointees with ties to major (or soon-to-be major)
missile defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and
Northrop Grumman. Other major findings include:
Contractors cashing in: The Big Four missile defense contractors -
Boeing ($3.5 billion), Lockheed Martin ($1.7 billion),TRW ($711
million), and Raytheon ($602 million) - split $6.5 billion in
missile defense contracts from 1998 to 2001, accounting for 65% of
all awards for that purpose over that time period.
Invasion of the missile defense boosters: In addition to having a
longstanding close relationship with Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld, the Center for Security Policy, a corporate-backed
conservative think tank and longstanding advocate of swiftly
deploying an ambitious missile defense system, boasts no fewer than
22 former associates in key positions in the Bush administration,
including Secretary of the Air Force James Roche, Undersecretary of
Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim,
Defense Science Board chair William Schneider, and Defense Policy
Board chair Richard Perle.
Contractors flex political muscles: The Big Four missile defense
contractors made a total of $7.5 million in PAC and soft money
donations in the 1999/2000 and 2001/2002 election cycles, while
spending $74 million on lobbying during that same time span.
Contractors favored Bush over Gore by a 5 to 1 margin, and
Republican congressional candidates over Democrats by almost 2 to 1
(65% to 35%) over the two cycles. Major Congressional beneficiaries
of contractor largesse include Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), Sen. John
Warner (R-VA), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Sen. Joseph
Lieberman (D-CT).
The empty pork barrel: Despite contractor claims of economic
benefits from missile defense spending, contracts to date have been
highly concentrated, with 91% of prime contract awards going to
just four states - AlabamA CaliforniA VirginiA and Colorado. Even
allowing for subcontracts and expansion of the program, because of
its high-tech, low volume nature, missile defense will be a
"boutique" program which is likely to benefit a relatively small
number of states and communities. The vast majority of states whose
taxpayers foot the bill for missile defense will see little or
nothing in terms of jobs and income from the program.
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