Stephen Harper and the Big Business of War

In the fog of war there are some things about Stephen Harper's plan to use airstrikes to defeat the ISIS crazies that are already abundantly clear.

One, they make him look as if he's taking decisive action, even though so far they are proving notoriously ineffective. 

Two, they are REALLY expensive. 

In a crazy sort of way.

And three, so far the only clear winner is the U.S. military industrial complex, and Harper's really good friends at Lockheed Martin. 

Led by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), the biggest U.S. defense companies are trading at record prices as shareholders reap rewards from escalating military conflicts around the world.

“As we ramp up our military muscle in the Mideast, there’s a sense that demand for military equipment and weaponry will likely rise,” said Ablin, who oversees $66 billion including Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and Boeing Co. (BA) shares. “To the extent we can shift away from relying on troops and rely more heavily on equipment -- that could present an opportunity.”

Which must please him greatly because he's always had an indecent crush on that company.

For who can forget his obsession with the flying turkey known as the F-35?



Or how he gave Lockheed Martin the contract for our census. 

As a result of NAFTA, the creation of the hardware and software for the Canadian census is contracted to the Canadian subsidiary of the US armament company Lockheed Martin. (Lockheed Martin (Canada) inherits technology from the US Parent, Lockheed Martin, who first developed census software for the 2000 U.S. Census.)

Despite its notorious ties with the CIA. And it's other obligations.

As a result of the USA Patriot Act and the USA Homeland Security Act, all US companies and their subsidiaries wherever they are located are required on demand (on pain of heavy penalty for refusal), to release to the US Homeland Security all data held. No foreign law (i.e., Canadian) overrides the application of the USA statutes in the USA.

And there he was again the other day, intervening to give an almost billion dollar present to his favourite company. 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper settled a dispute between Treasury Board and the Defence Department to approve an $800-million, sole-source purchase of next-generation Sea Sparrow missiles for the Royal Canadian Navy’s aging frigates, sources familiar with the situation say.

The upshot, if the decision stands, is that the Lockheed-Martin Raytheon group, which is vying for billions in contracts in the building of systems for Canada’s soon-to-be-built new navy, will once again have the inside track in a major defence procurement, with no competitive bidding process, as occurred in the F-35 affair.

After making sure that even though there were other options...



Until roughly half a decade ago, Raytheon’s Sea Sparrow missile was the undisputed technology leader in ship-borne missile defence systems. However in recent years European-based MBDA has shot ahead and now has technology equal to Raytheon’s, sources say.

The process was FIXED.

The request for $800-million ($200-million for development and an additional $600-million to buy and integrate the missiles) is to be sent back to Treasury Board, with assertions that this purchase will have no bearing on the fire control systems and missiles in the next-generation frigates, being built under the Canadian Surface Combatant program. 

 “At the end of the day, the thing is a complete charade,” a source said. “If they actually went and did this and invested the better part of a billion dollars, are you going to move to another missile system at that point?”

And it's all a complete charade, just like Harper's War.

Which at the end of the day leaves me with only three questions.

What does the CIA know about Stephen Harper that we don't?

Whose side is he really on? Our side or Lockheed Martin's?

And of course the really big question:

When can we get rid this yankee TOOL?



And get ourselves a REALLY Canadian Prime Minister.

For the safety and sovereignty of our country.

It can't happen soon enough...

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