The war-lobby corporate criminals tried to sell a direct war with Iran to the banking mafia

globinfo freexchange

The private-business faction of the US deep state is a fundamental factor that pushes for war with Iran and other countries, due to enormous profit perspectives. Last May, the war-lobby "usual suspects", like Kratos Defense, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, tried to sell a war with Iran to the banking mafia.

As The Intercept reported:

Defense executives from around the country crowded into Goldman Sachs’ glimmering tower in downtown Manhattan in mid-May, eager to present before a conference of bankers and financial analysts. While much of the world was on edge over simmering tension in the Middle East, as the U.S. and its allies have stoked tensions with Iran, the businessmen at the conference talked of opportunity. Eric DeMarco, the president of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, addressed the conference, arguing that his company is “very well-aligned” for the shift in the military budget away from asymmetrical fighting toward nation-state warfare. The rising threat of war with Iran, Russia, and China, DeMarco continued, could threaten U.S. naval power, which could require ballistic missile threat upgrades, the type of systems Kratos Defense specializes in. Large arms manufacturers from across the industry have similarly told investors that escalating conflict with Iran could be good for business. Thomas Kennedy, the CEO of Raytheon, was asked in January about the “demand signals” that could shape the defense budget going forward. Kennedy, according to a transcript of the call, said the “major concern there is Iran.” The company, Kennedy added, had recently won approval to provide missile defense systems to Saudi Arabia, as the country has ramped up defense systems in preparation for potential war. The following month, Kennedy presented at the Cowen Aerospace conference for investors, again focusing on how conflict with Iran will boost revenue. [...] Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson also discussed the rising threat from Iran during her company’s investor call in January. The Defense Department’s National Defense Strategy, a blueprint released earlier this year for military planning, said Hewson, focused on “great power competition with China and Russia, and also the other players like Iran and North Korea.” The strategy, along with “bipartisan support for defense spending,” favored her company moving forward, Hewson said. [...] The defense industry is far from an idle observer of the conflict. Major firms spend big sums on lobbying to influence the Pentagon’s budget — money that came primarily from Congress in the first place. The last National Defense Authorization Act includes several provisions on Iran, including a directive that U.S. allies “build an interoperable ballistic missile defense architecture … to defend against the Islamic Republic of Iran missile threat” and that the secretary of defense develop a plan to counter the “destabilizing activities of Iran.”

While progressives are pushing for ending wars to cut military spending - in order to direct the money towards social programs that will benefit the vast majority of the Americans - the war lobby is pushing towards the opposite direction because of ... money.

And not only that. All these statements by the war-lobby CEO's show that the lobby is pushing its political puppets to alter the US strategy in the middle east towards the pre-Iraq war strategy. That is, direct invasion and occupation. It seems that the Obama proxy-wars strategy is not profitable enough.

It would be interesting to see an example of how the modern US banking-military-industrial complex operates.

Regarding Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, The Motley Fool reported on early June that "company's May 8 release of first-quarter 2019 results [...] pleased investors. Both top and bottom lines exceeded Wall Street estimates and, befitting a company based in San Diego, management forecast sunny skies ahead for the second quarter. Shares popped 11.2% on the day following the earnings release and continued to cruise upward throughout the remainder of the month, helped by a May 24 vote of confidence from JPMorgan. The Wall Street firm upgraded the stock to overweight, with a $24 price target, citing enthusiasm about Kratos' Valkyrie 'loyal wingman' military drone, which the analyst says 'has gained the attention of Air Force brass,'"

On June, 20, Military.com reported:

          The company working with the U.S. Air Force to create what may be the service's first artificial intelligence drone is gearing up for the final few demo tests, according to an industry official. Kratos Defense completed its second test flight of the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned aerial vehicle -- which in the near future could accommodate AI [...] Parallel to Kratos' work, the Air Force Research Lab is working on the "Skyborg" program, aimed at pairing AI with a human in the cockpit. "The Air Force Research Lab has been nothing short of an incredible partner. It's their brainpower, it's their facilities, their capability. They're A-plus," DeMarco said. The goal is to incorporate the Skyborg network into Valkyrie alongside manned fighters, so the machine can learn how to fly and even train with its pilot. The drones will then be sent out alongside F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or other fighters to scout enemy territory ahead of a strike, or to gather intel for the pilot in the formation.

It is obvious that war is the "fuel" of the complex machine. Yet, it will be paid with endless human suffering, chaos and destruction.