[Paul Caig Roberts] US Complicit in Destruction of Lebanon

I just hope that next time -- God forbid -- there is another terrorist attack against the United States or Americans abroad, we don't hear, "why they hate us?" or "what did we do to deserve it?" What is one of the basic laws of physics, again? Oh yeah: for every action there is a reaction. All our actions are consequential, Israel's actions have proven consequential.

What Paul Craig Roberts fails to mention is that the US' steadfast support for Israeli policies predates the current administration, it's not like Arabs just woke up this morning and read about the 'expedited' shipment of American bombs to the Israelis and yelled, "Aha! NOW we know for a fact the US is complicit in Israeli aggression against Arabs," they've already reached that conclusion a looong time ago. It predated 9/11, Clinton, and even the first Bush regime. That has been a long-held belief of the majority of people in the Arab world and Muslim-majority world at large. They're not isolated from what's happening around them, it directly affects them, they see the results on their television screens...they didn't need further affirmation of what they already believed.

That's why many conservatives are starting to speak out, they understand that continuing down the same path will prove disastrous for the US and -- no doubt -- the Israelis in the long run. The CIA understands it, the Pentagon largely understands it, but their hands are tied by politicians who would rather 'score points' in an election year than look out for the long-term security and well-being of our nation.

When John Quincy Adams served as U. S. Secretary of State, he delivered this speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 4, 1821, in celebration of American Independence Day...

"America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.

She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.

She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.

She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.

Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.

But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.

She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.

The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force.

She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.

America's glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice."

 

Agreed. Real friends of America and Israel do not march in lock step to support the neocon project. Just like Iraq revealed the limits of cowboy diplomacy, Israel is revealing the limits of its militarism only approach to the Palestinians and Arabs in its crazy invasion of Lebanon.

 

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...014&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851


Profits rise at U.S. arms makers
Defence companies Northrop Grumman, Raytheon thrive on strong demand
Jul. 27, 2006. 05:48 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS


U.S. defence contractors Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) both reported strong second-quarter earnings today, joining other defence companies in profiting from strong demand for tanks, missiles, ships and other armaments.

Northrop Grumman, the world's largest shipbuilder and America's third-largest military contractor, said second-quarter earnings rose 17 per cent, as operating profit at its systems and information technology units overcame a decline at the company's ships division.

Raytheon Co., the fifth-largest defence contractor, reported second-quarter net income jumped 54 per cent, buoyed by strong military equipment sales.

Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon also said it plans to explore options for its aircraft unit, including a sale, an initial public offering or a spinoff.

Both companies raised their earnings guidance for the year.

At Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, operating margins increased in the quarter despite a slight decrease in sales.

Net income climbed to $430 million US, or $1.23 per share, from $367 million, or $1 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding a loss related to the shutdown of a discontinued business and a 13 cents per share tax benefit, earnings were $1.13 per share in the latest quarter.

Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $1.08 per share, according to Thomson Financial.

Revenue slid to $7.6 billion from $7.81 billion last year, missing analysts' average estimate of $7.8 billion.

Contract acquisitions, or orders received during the period for which funding has been contractually obligated by the customer, grew 52 per cent to $8.1 billion from $5.4 billion last year.

The company booked a $2.5 billion navy contract to build amphibious transport ships during the quarter and opened a production facility in Mississippi for its unmanned surveillance vehicles, including the Global Hawk.

Northrop said it is awaiting news on its bid to build a next-generation space exploration vehicle as well as funding for a new line of stealth ships for the navy.

Overall, despite some uncertainties about defense spending, the company said it feels confident that it will profit from expanded opportunities with Homeland Security as well as contracts with state and local government agencies.

For the latest quarter, Raytheon, maker of Tomahawk and Patriot missiles and other weapons systems, posted net income of $310 million or 69 cents per share, compared with $201 million, 44 cents per share, last year.

Sales were $5.71 billion, up 6 percent from $5.41 billion last year.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting a profit of 63 cents per share on sales of $5.77 billion.

In a conference call with analysts, William Swanson, Raytheon's chairman and CEO, said the decision to possibly sell the division came after the company took a "hard look at our product portfolio." He did not provide any more details.

The Wichita, Kan.-based unit makes planes for commercial and military markets, including the Beechcraft Bonanza — in production since 1947 — and the Hawker jets.

Selling the division makes sense long-term as the company focuses its efforts on its core defence portfolio, Myles Walton, an analyst with CIBC World Markets, said in a note to clients today.

At Northrop, chairman and chief executive Ronald Sugar said the company should experience "moderate" revenue growth through 2007 as well as increased earnings per share, although the company did not give specific guidance for 2007.

Recent events in the Middle East and North Korea also point to the importance of the U.S. missile defense program, Sugar said. Northrop supplies sensors, software and other components to the program and is the prime contractor on an interceptor missile.

Northrop, which also makes submarines and the B-2 stealth bomber, now expects 2006 earnings of $4.35 to $4.45 per share, up from a prior range of $4.25 to $4.40; but the company lowered its full-year sales forecast to $30.5 billion from a previous outlook of $31 billion.

Analysts anticipate profit of $4.39 per share on revenue of $31.13 billion.

Raytheon, which employs 80,000, now expects its full-year profit will fall in the range of $2.60 to $2.70 per share, excluding one-time items, up from previous expectations of $2.55 to $2.65 per share. The company's' sales forecast was unchanged, at $23.1 billion to $23.6 billion for the year.

Wall Street predicts earnings of $2.68 per share on revenue of $23.38 billion.

Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. this week also reported strong second-quarter profits and boosted their full-year earnings outlooks. But Boeing Co., stung by steep costs to settle a government investigation, reported its first quarterly loss in three years and lowered its full-year guidance.

Shares of Northrop Grumman fell $1.16, or 1.73 per cent to $65.77 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Raytheon fell 81 cents, or 1.76 per cent to $45.15 on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

Don't forget about oil companies...

The U.S. will now be able to sell roughly $10 billion in weapons to various Middle Eastern states...business is booming!

 

Another respected conservative speaks out...

Hagel Decries U.S. 'Crisis Diplomacy' in Mideast

July 29, 2006
The Washington Post
Michael Abramowitz

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) offered a sharp critique of U.S. Mideast policy yesterday, saying the United States must engage Syria and Iran and warning that a close alliance with Israel must not come at the expense of relations with the Arab and Muslim world.

Hagel, an iconoclastic Republican who has been considering a presidential bid in 2008, said lasting peace in the Middle East and security for Israel will come only from a regional settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a process he suggested has been neglected by the United States in recent years.

"Look at where we are in the Middle East with no process," the senator said in an address at the Brookings Institution. "Crisis diplomacy is no substitute for sustained, day-to-day engagement."

Hagel's views on the Middle East are not in keeping with those of many other members of Congress or the Bush administration, which has refused to talk directly with Iran or Syria in the current crisis and strongly backs Israel's ongoing military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

While citing Israel's "undeniable right to defend itself," Hagel warned that military action alone will not destroy Hezbollah.

"The pursuit of tactical military victories at the expense of the core strategic objective of Arab-Israeli peace is a hollow victory," he said.

Hagel, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has been critical of U.S. policy toward Iraq, also spoke soberly about the challenges ahead in that country, where he said there was "little good news."

"America is bogged down in Iraq, and this is limiting our diplomatic and military options," he said. "The longer America remains in Iraq in its current capacity, the deeper the damage to our force structure, particularly the U.S. Army."