New arms factory: Germany creates equity in Western Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of NATO summit, Vilnius, Lithuania, July 12, 2023

BY M. K. BHADRAKUMAR*

The hypothesis that the Anglo-Saxon axis is pivotal to the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is only partly true. Germany is actually Ukraine’s second largest arms supplier, after the United States. Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a new arms package worth 700 million euros, including additional tanks, munitions and Patriot air defence systems at the Nato summit in Vilnius, putting Berlin, as he said, at the very forefront of military support for Ukraine.

German arms factory in Ukraine

The head of the German Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, announced an agreement to set up an arms factory in western Ukraine within the next 12 weeks. He did not disclose the location, but the plant is being built in Transcarpathia near Chornotysiv, the signs of which are shown in this map from the Rybar think tank. Rheinmetall supplied arms to the Hitlerites. In 1925, the German Reich acquired a controlling stake in Rheinmetall through Vereinigte Industrieanlagen AG. During WWII, Rheinmetall-Borsig was staffed in part by enslaved people from Nazi concentration camps. Polish, French, Soviet and Jewish enslaved people were forced to work on the very weapons being used to defend the Reich and prevent their own liberation. It has an arms plant in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

Rheinmetall specialises in weaponized vehicles such as Leopard tanks, also manufacturing the guns, missiles and bombs to go with them. The armored-howitzer 2000 weapons system, produced by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall, known for its devastating destruction, was last used in Afghanistan. Rheinmetall is a joint stock company whose majority is however controlled by the Röchling family. 

In retrospect, Germany’s — in particular, then foreign minister and current president Steinmeier’s — diabolical role to align Germany with the neo-Nazi elements during the regime change in Kiev in 2014 and the subsequent German perfidy in the implementation of the Minsk Agreement (“Steinmeier formula”), as admitted recently in February by former Chancellor Angela Merkel should not be forgotten.

The year of the armaments industry

The German armaments group Rheinmetall expects orders in the tens of billions and calls 2023 its “best year ever”. NATO is trying to get purchase guarantees for armaments companies. | german-foreign-policy.com

Merchants of death celebrate Israel’s ‘dream’ at Paris Air Show

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

Britain again first to further escalate war in Ukraine (II)

Eluding “Vassalization”

Following a possible change of government in London, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the British Labour Party plan enhanced German-British military cooperation, including the sending of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Pacific.

LONDON/BERLIN (May 23) – The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the British Labour Party are launching an initiative to enhance German-British military and armament cooperation including the joint deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Pacific. Last week, the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) have presented a report outlining relevant recommendations. Not only should the two countries’ armed forces and arms industries significantly increase their cooperation, the foreign and defense ministers in Berlin and London should also intensively coordinate their policies. Foreign policy experts in Berlin are promoting such steps to elude the military and arms industry’s dependence on the USA, which had significantly increased since the beginning of the Ukraine war. John Healey, Shadow Defense Secretary of the Labour Party, which has good chances of winning next year’s elections, announced a UK-German military agreement within the first six months of a Labour Government. Nils Schmid, Spokesperson on Foreign Policy for the SPD Parliamentary Group agrees with the proposals.

No to NATO! No to War! Britain again first to further escalate war in Ukraine

On May 11, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed that the government is supplying long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine in what he claimed was a “calibrated and proportionate response” by London to the situation in Ukraine.

Once again Britain is the first to supply such longer-range missiles to Ukraine in the proxy war Britain is waging against Russia in Ukraine alongside the US, Germany and other NATO countries.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also announced on May 15 the supply of hundreds more missiles and long-range attack drones when he met with President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelenskyy at Chequers who was on a “whistle stop” tour of Paris, Berlin and Rome. It was only at the end of March that the British government chose the day of 20th anniversary of their illegal war against Iraq to announce that it was the first country to supply the depleted uranium (DU) shells to Ukraine. [1]

Interventions of Charles III to promote Britain’s warmongering role in the world

The coronation of Charles III continued the tradition of a military procession with 6,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators escorting the King and Queen and hundreds of military from 35 Commonwealth countries, including a contingent from Canada.[1] British warships and army bases across the country fired their guns in salute to the King, and later military aircraft performed a flypast over Buckingham Palace. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in a government press release announced that “we can be enormously proud of the professionalism and precision of our Armed Forces as they honour His Majesty, their new Commander-in-Chief.” Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, said the military side of the coronation “reflects centuries of tradition, but is indicative of the integral role the armed forces play in modern Britain.”

CANSEC: Increased military spending and overall militarization in the name of “protecting Canadians from threats at home and abroad”

Unfettered Increase in Arms Trade

By Pierre Soublière

Demonstration against 2016 CANSEC arms show in Ottawa

CANSEC, Canada’s “largest global defence and security trade show,” will be holding its annual gathering of arms and merchants of death on June 1 and 2 at the EY Centre in Ottawa. The event is organized by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), which is “the voice of more than 800 Canadian Defence and security companies,” including Boeing, General Dynamics and SAAB.

Do not let warmongers speak in our name! Oppose CANSEC weapons fair and all it represents!

By Pierre Soublière

Canada’s Global Defence and Security Trade Show (CANSEC), organized by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) is the biggest weapons fair held annually in all of North America. It is being held this year on June 1 in Ottawa in an already warmongering atmosphere verging on full-blown war hysteria. The principled foreign policy espoused by Canadians has always opposed the use of force to settle conflicts between countries. Such a foreign policy is not being followed by the Canadian government whose membership in the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) means that billions are being spent on weapons and the only option considered to end the war in Ukraine is the military defeat of Russia.

Sponsors of Halifax War Conference, 2018

Part of a series providing background information on the Halifax International Security Forum which will be held November 19-21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Interview of Tony Seed by TML Weekly, November 7. 2018

TML Weekly: Tony, as an independent journalist and researcher who amongst other things specializes in NATO and war exercises and preparations around the world, you have done investigation into the sponsors and partners of the Halifax International Security Forum (HISF). Can you tell us about that?

Former US generals enriched off Afghan war

Then U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford prepare to testify before the House Armed Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill April 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By PRATAP CHATTERJEE*

(August 26) – Many of the military generals who directed the war in Afghanistan over the last two decades have taken up lucrative jobs as members of the boards of directors of major military contractors that take in billions of dollars in contracts from the Pentagon every year.

British government gives arms industry extra tens of millions of pounds during Covid-19 pandemic

Joshua Stein in Byline Times reveals how arms monopolies are booming while the rest of the British economy suffers from the impact of the Coronavirus crisis

The fourth Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Audacious, outside its indoor ship building complex at BAE Systems in 2017 | Owen Humphreys/PA Archive/PA Images

The Ministry of Defence has forked out hundreds of millions of pounds to its favoured clients in 2020, in the face of the economic ruin caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US of A(rms)

The United States dominates the global arms trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the Middle East | WILLIAM D. HARTUNG

Infrastructure of US bases in the Middle East | David Vine

The United States has the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading arms dealer. It dominates the global trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the endlessly war-torn Middle East. There, believe it or not, the U.S. controls nearly half the arms market. From Yemen to Libya to Egypt, sales by this country and its allies are playing a significant role in fuelling some of the world’s most devastating conflicts. But Donald Trump, even before he was felled by Covid-19 and sent to Walter Reed Medical Center, could not have cared less, as long as he thought such trafficking in the tools of death and destruction would help his political prospects.

Day of Action: ‘Strike for Climate Peace, No New Fighter Jets’

On July 24, there were 18 demonstrations held in 13 cities across Canada for the National Day of Action, “Strike for Climate Peace, No New Fighter Jets” organized by Voice of Women for Peace, World Beyond War and other anti-war activists demanding that the Canadian government abandon its plan to buy 88 fighter jets.

Oppose spending another $19 billion to support US aggression

The Justin Trudeau Liberal government plans to spend $19 billion buying 88 fighter jets from a not-yet-chosen foreign war contractor to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 fighter fleet. This works out to about $216 million per aircraft. The war contractors had until the end of July 2020 to submit their bids, a deadline first extended from May 2019 to March 2020, then to June 2020. So far Boeing (U.S.), Lockheed Martin (U.S.), and Saab (Sweden) have entered the competition. The Trudeau government is expected to announce the chosen contractor by 2022, with the first aircraft delivered by 2025. On July 24 vigorous protests against the purchase plan were held at 18 MPs’ offices across Canada.

Spending $19 billion on fighter jets won’t fight COVID-19 or climate change

By TAMARA LORINCZ

Last July, the federal government launched a $19-billion competition for 88 new fighter jets — the second-most expensive government procurement program in Canadian history.

In the running are Boeing’s Super Hornet, SAAB’s Gripen and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter. Bids are due in July, the winner will be selected in 2022 and the first combat aircraft will be delivered by 2025.

US media ‘experts’ on Iran with undisclosed ties to the defence industry

Since US president Donald Trump ordered the drone attack that assassinated Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and Abud Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leading member of the Iraqi armed forces and eight other officials, US and Canadian television news has been filled with commentary on the strike and its implications. An investigation by the Popular Information website reveals that numerous “experts” appearing on cable TV to opine on Iran have undisclosed financial ties to the biggest arms monopolies. They are deliberately paraded as neutral, independent, non-partisan and “third party experts” to confuse the people and put them out of action. Some are also featured by CBC. | JUDD LEGUM

This is significant because arms monopolies and other entities that do business with the Pentagon profit from war, the most profitable business of all. They sell the products that make war possible. If there is more fighting, they will sell more weapons. That’s why weapons manufacturers saw their stock prices spike after Gen. Soleimani was killed.

Profiteering from US aggression against Iran

By SARAH ANDERSON

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

CEOs of major U.S. military contractors stand to reap huge windfalls from the escalation of conflict with Iran. This was evident in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian military official . As soon as the news reached financial markets, these companies’ share prices spiked, inflating the value of their executives’ stock-based pay.

I took a look at how the CEOs at the top five Pentagon contractors were affected by this surge, using the most recent SEC information on their stock holdings.

Canada’s integration into the US imperialist war economy

By K.C. ADAMS

Canada’s integration into the U.S. imperialist war economy is a serious matter of concern for Canadians. The U.S. war economy has tentacles into every U.S. state as well as Canada and countless other places abroad. The war economy encompasses production and sales of military goods and services to military customers domestically and internationally and all the fixed and circulating value it requires to operate such as buildings and fuel. The war economy includes thousands of military bases, airports, colleges, research centres, intelligence agencies, testing facilities and a vast army of active duty and reservist military personnel and services to veterans.

The global arms trade

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

Worldwide total military spending amounts to some $1.69 trillion per year. Of this, about $375 billion goes to buying arms.

The volume of international transfers of major arms in the period 2014-18 was 7.8 per cent higher than in 2009-13 and 23 per cent higher than in 2004-2008, according to data on arms transfers published in March by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

War profiteers not welcome in Canada! Opposition organized to Ottawa weapons fair

By NICK LIN

The annual CANSEC weapons fair is being held in Ottawa May 29 and 30. Anti-war activists are holding a protest during the opening speech by Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan on May 29. Two other federal ministers – Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement – and Lieutenant-General Paul Wynnyk, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff will also deliver keyote addresses. The “weapons fair” is organized by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), involving some 900 corporations. It  has been hosted annually in Ottawa since 1998 and just as often opposed by the people of that city.

Picket Arms Manufacturers’ Trade Show — May 29

Make Canada a Zone for Peace!

Ottawa
No Weapons for Saudi Arabia! No New Nuclear Arms Race!
Yes to Peace!
Wednesday, May 29 – 7:00 am
EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive, Ottawa
Facebook

The largest war profiteer/arms manufacturer trade show in Canada (Cansec) is happening in Ottawa on May 29-30. Multinational corporations making billions in profit off nuclear weapons manufacturing and violence overseas — including Canada’s weapons sales to Saudi Arabia — will be there. The U.S. military is the single largest contributor to global warming, while Canadian Forces overseas operations are exempt from Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan will speak on the morning of May 29 at the EY Centre.

The defence secretary from Boeing

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

Boeing vice-president Patrick Shanahan, who formerly led the company’s missile defence subsidiary, became Deputy Defense Secretary – the second highest position in the Pentagon – and now replaces Gen. James Mattis as Acting US Defense Secretary in the Trump administration, effective January 1st. [1]

Gaza ‘laboratory’ boosts profits of Israel’s war industry

Gaza functions as a live testing area for Israeli weapons manufacturers | GABRIEL SCHIVONE*

Mohammed Zaanoun. ActiveStills

(October 5) – After exploring the vast surveillance regime along the US-Mexico border and finding Israeli systems installed at every turn, the author Todd Miller and I were drawn to investigate Israel as the largest homeland security industry in the world. Israel’s arms industry is twice the size of its US counterpart in exports per capita and employs a percentage of the national workforce double that of the US or France, two of the top global arms exporters.

Bombardier’s attempt to enter US market: Boeing uses US state to crush its competitor

Since this article was published a week ago, the US Commerce Dept. has levied additional tariffs on Bombardier at the behest of Boeing, now amounting to some 300 per cent on a sale of the C Series of aircraft to Delta Air Lines Inc. Yesterday, Bombardier announced that Airbus SE, a European Union monopoly and the main rival to Boeing, has assumed 50.1 majority ownership of the C Series airliner, without putting up a dime, in a deal that lasts only seven years. Jetliners ordered for the US market will be assembled in Mobile, Alabama to circumvent the tariffs. The C Series was originally intended to end the duopoly in the narrow-body jet market between Airbus’s A320 family and Boeing’s 737.

Selling the Canada-Ukraine-Saudi arms deal

By TONY SEED

Demonstration against 2016 CANSEC arms show in Ottawa

(Aug. 2) – On August 1, the state broadcaster invited the Ukrainian ambassador  to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, to grace its Power & Politics program and celebrate the coming into force of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Five minutes of bashing Russia as the justification for military intervention – Canadian Forces training of Ukrainian troops, now at some 4,200 – followed. Finally, CBC host Terry Milewski asked this diplomat* to explain how the free trade agreement will “affect the lives of our viewers.” 

Demolition of anti-fascist memorials in Poland: Falsifications about country’s liberation from Nazi rule

Monument in Rzeszow celebrating the liberation of the city from the Nazis. In 2016 the city rejected calls from Poland’s historical legacy institute to remove such memorials.

By DOUGAL MACDONALD

On June 22, 2017, the Polish government’s lower house voted to amend the “decommunization laws” to demolish all monuments and memorials honouring the Soviet Union’s liberation of Poland from the Nazis. The fact that the amendments were passed on the 76th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union would appear to be no accident.

No to Canada’s warmongering defence policy!

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) calls on everyone to condemn the “new defence policy” announced by the Trudeau Liberals on June 7. The policy does not respond to Canada’s defence needs but to the demands of the U.S. imperialists through NATO and the biggest defence monopolies and other private interests to increase military spending and step up war preparations. The announcement included a 70 per cent increase to Canada’s military budget over the next 10 years, increasing the size of the armed forces, the adoption of drone and cyber-warfare, further militarization of the arctic and purchasing additional warplanes and ships.

‘Interoperability’ – Euphemism for integration and annexation of Canadian Forces in the service of empire-building

By TONY SEED

The “new” defence policy of the Trudeau Liberals espouses the goal of greater “interoperability” with U.S. and NATO military operations. This word is repeated no less than 23 times in the policy document.

Canada-Ukraine Defence Agreement – An arms agreement for war

By TONY SEED

(May 20, 2017) – On April 3 Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak announced the signing of the Canada-Ukraine Defence Cooperation Arrangement. The agreement reportedly increases mutual co-operation in the areas of military policy, education, military research and development, as well as arms production.