Other Than Mubarak and the Egyptian Military, Who Benefited from US Aid?
I’m guessing you know it’s not the Egyptian nor the American people. Israel, or at least its government? Well perhaps but let’s not go sideways here.
If you said Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, GE and the other merchants of death whose weapons Egypt buys with our aid — your tax dollars at work! — you’d be correct.
Bill Hartung, one of the best, most activist-friendly policy wonks/writers/analysts in the peace movement, has a concise article on this very subject on HuffPo today, it’s worth a read. (As is Bill’s new book, Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex).
Bill also appeared on DemocracyNow! yesterday in a segment titled “MADE
IN THE USA: Tear Gas, Tanks, Helicopters, Rifles and Fighter Planes in Egypt
Funded and Built Largely by U.S. Defense Department and American
Corporations”
Watch and Listen online at
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/31/made_in_the_usa_tear_gas
As far as keeping up on the situation in Egypt, Al-Jazeera is a good bet.
I’m so glad that you mentioned the “merchants of death.” I think the war profiteers exert a tremendous influence on our foreign policy. Coincidentally, I address this in the latest post on Peace and Justice Online, where I express support for the “Move the Money Campaign.” Here is a link. http://peaceandjusticeonline.org
For more on the military-industrial complex, and a short video of key excerpts from Eisenhower’s speech, see http://wp.me/pVgdW-4R Keep up the good work.