“The Industry of Death: the Military Industrial Complex”

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Blog Post | By Khalil Hakim

“War is waged in order to defend money. That is why some people don’t want peace. They make more money from war”. ”It’s the industry of death, the greed that harms us all, the desire to have more money.” Pope Francis addressed at a conference in 2016.

In the political spectrum, there are certain things that happen that should have all Americans’ perpetual red-flag — popping up quickly.

The red-flag of “oh shit, both political parties agree on this”.

And when there is a bipartisan public agreement of both Democrats and Republicans, in the words of Keith Sweat”something just ain’t right”.

When 45 [President Donald Trump] announced that he would effectively pull the US troops out of Syria and that ISIS has been defeated.

Please understand that he is only playing to his base and checking off one his many campaign promises.

Exhibit A: “We’re gonna build that wall and Mexico is gonna…”

‘Well y’all gonna pay for it’.

In the midst of 45’s tomfoolery and shenanigans, most people missed-out on this anomaly.

The public support from both Democrats and Republicans to keep the troops in Syria.

Both ideas are heavily weighted to the industry of death, known as the Military Industrial Complex: a network of individuals and institutions involved in the production of weapons and military technologies.

Well, let’s start at the obvious reason for this bipartisan love fest — M-O-N-E-Y.

Defense Contractors in 2016 gave a total of $30,308,306 of campaign contributions (wink, wink) to both parties with Republicans receiving 55 percent and Democrats receiving 45 percent.

That’s why you see Republican and Democratic leadership locking arms around their disagreements with 45 about troop pullout from Syria.

In a new report from the peace group Code Pink, they detail how the military industrial complex profit from death a destruction. Their analysis is spot on in describing how they sell arms to repressive regimes for profit.

America’s military industrial complex is notoriously known for the sell of weapons to repressive regimes like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Lockheed Martin the top dog boasts profits of $35 billion per year, with a large majority of those profits coming from Saudi Arabia. The bomb dropped on a school bus in Yemen was released by the Saudis but made by Lockheed Martin.

The selling of arms to theses countries are contracts that are entered into the US but our laws say that we can’t sell arms to countries that contribute to war against humanity.

When the industry of death has strong Washington ties to both parties, this ushers in the building and maintaining of the military industrial complex.

When most congressional districts have a piece of a weapon of death being manufactured in its district, these companies wield unchecked power in Congress.

While the Democrats are famous for lowering defense spending and offseting that increased foreign weapon sales are common place. The weapons sales that 45 boasted about were actually contracts that were negotiated under the Obama administration.

You would think that selling weapons to one of the most repressive regimes in the world was something that Obama wouldn’t want to herald, but he did.

The lukewarm slap on the wrist response from the bipartisan bill that was signed by Congress in protest of the Saudi Crown Prince’s involvement in the death of Jamal Kashogee is not more than smoke and mirrors to take our eyes off the fact that the weapon sales will continue.

Hence, if makes dollars, it makes sense.

But, what can I say?

THIS IS AMERICA!

Khalil Hakim is a Tulsa transplant from New Jersey. He graduated from Trenton Central High School and joined the United States Air Force, where he served our country for 11 years. Khalil is a spoken word poet and is the host of INSIGHT2INCITE podcast on Podbean. He earned a Bachelors in Telecommunications at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he also pastored a church. Khalil is the founder of 4k Publishing and a staff writer at the Black Wall Street Times. However, what he’s most proud of is fathering his three precious girls: Tiara, Khalia and Kyndall, and grandfathering two handsome boys: Romario and Izaiah.