War is the patent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes, are the known instruments for bringing the many under the dominion of the few – James Madison

Iraq War 20 March 2003 – 15 December 2011

The United States’ war on Iraq remains the deadliest act of aggressive warfare in our century, and a strong candidate for the worst crime committed in the last 30 years. It was, as George W. Bush said in an unintentional slip of the tongue, “wholly unjustified and brutal.” At least 500,000 Iraqis died as a result of the U.S. war. At least 200,000 of those were violent deaths—people who were blown to pieces by coalition airstrikes, or shot at checkpoints, or killed by suicide bombers from the insurgency unleashed by the U.S. invasion and occupation. Others died as a result of the collapse of the medical system—doctors fled the country in droves, since their colleagues were being killed or abducted. Childhood mortality and infant mortality in the country rose, and so did malnutrition and starvation. Millions of people were displaced, and a “generation of orphans” was created, hundreds of thousands of children having lost parents with many being left to wander the streets homeless. The country’s infrastructure collapsed, its libraries and museums were looted, and its university system was decimated, with professors being assassinated. (Noam Chomsky)

Gaza War 8 Oct 2023 – ongoing – very little has changed

The United States’ backed war on Gaza is wholly unjustified and brutal. At least 42,354 (one third children) have lost their lives with estimates of possible lives lost as high as 186,000 – after one year. All were violent deaths—people who were blown to pieces by coalition airstrikes, or shot while out trying to source food and water. Others died as a result of the collapse of the medical system—doctors murdered in droves, their colleagues abducted. Childhood mortality and infant mortality in the country rose, and so did malnutrition and starvation – by design. Millions of people were displaced, and a generation of orphans was created, hundreds of thousands of children having lost parents with many being left to wander the streets homeless. The country’s infrastructure collapsed, its libraries, museums, churches and Mosques were bombed and its university system destroyed – professors, journalists and charity workers assassinated. Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, there was no escape for the people of the blockaded enclave when their water, food and fuel supplies were cut off.

The graphs below shows the rise in Lockheed Martin’s shares following the Russia-Ukraine War and the rise in share prices for Raytheon et al following Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Former US Sec of State for Defense Lloyd Austin sits on the board of Raytheon.

Profits from the Russia-Ukraine war 

Profits from the Israel-Palestine war

Shortly after Oct. 7, the U.S. government started transferring massive amounts of weapons to Israel. By Dec. 25, Israel received more than 10,000 tons of weapons in 244 cargo planes and 20 ships from the U.S. These transfers included more than 15,000 bombs and 50,000 artillery shells within just the first month and a half. These transfers have been deliberately shrouded in secrecy to avoid public scrutiny and prevent Congress from exercising any meaningful oversight. Between October and the beginning of March, the U.S. approved more than 100 military sales to Israel, but publicly disclosed only two sales. A list of known U.S. arms transfers is maintained by the Forum on the Arms Trade.

Much of these weapons were purchased using U.S. taxpayers’ money through the Foreign Military Sales program, while some were direct commercial sales purchased through Israel’s own budget.  An undisclosed amount of weapons was also transferred from U.S. military stockpiles already stored in Israel, known as War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel (WRSA-I). The use of WRSA-I to provide Israel with weapons serves to further obfuscate the full picture of U.S. arms transfers, as there is no public record of these stockpiles’ inventory.

The scale of destruction and war crimes in Gaza would not be possible without this continued flow of weapons from the U.S. Despite massive public protests, the Biden administration has been working to give Israel over $14 billion to buy more weapons. This is on top of the $3.8 billion the U.S. already gives to the Israeli military annually. Israel is required to use this money to buy U.S.-made weapons. This is a form of corporate welfare not only for the largest weapons manufacturers, like Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, and General Dynamics, which have seen their stock prices skyrocket, but also for companies that are not typically seen as part of the weapons industry, such as Caterpillar, Ford, and Toyota.