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TRADE RESOURCE CENTER
CURRENT
UPDATES: October 19, 2005
Dear Friends,
Saddam Hussein on trial. Judith Miller out of jail. Karl Rove on the hot seat. Avian bird flu in the offing. We are not sure what it adds up to, but it can’t be good.
In this issue of the ATRC E-Update, we take a look at the Bush administration’s “Katrina Policy” as applied to Pakistan’s earthquake ravaged regions. Intern Jonathan Wingo provides another Congressional profile, this time on John Murtha. ATRC Director Bill Hartung puts Defense Secretary Rumsfeld in uncomfortable proximity to words of wisdom from Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s National Security Adviser. And, we alert you to new studies on CEO pay increases and Bechtel’s war profiteering.
In this update:
I. PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE
II. OUTLOOK FOR IRAQ: Brzezinski Versus Rumsfeld
III. MEET THE TOP 15: Rep. John P. “Jack” Murtha (D-PA)
IV. DEFENSE INDUSTRY CASHES IN
V. AND SPEAKING OF EXCESSES: Bechtel Bonanza
I. PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE UNDERSCORES DISTORTED U.S. PRIORITIES
By Bill Hartung
With the United States still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Katrina, the October 8th earthquake in Pakistan has put the U.S. – and the world’s – generosity to yet another test. The official death toll from the earthquake now stands at 41,000. UN officials on the scene fear that with the onset of winter in the next few weeks, an accelerated aid effort is urgently needed. Otherwise, there is a real danger of massive fatalities – perhaps double or more the 41,000 deaths that have already occurred as a direct result of the quake.
After stumbling out of the starting gate with an initial offer of just $500,000 in assistance, the Bush administration quickly righted itself by increasing its aid pledge to $50 million, mostly for long-term reconstruction projects. This made the United States the largest donor in absolute terms, although Canada, with a much smaller economy and population, is pledging $20 million. U.S. helicopters and military transports have also been added as “in-kind” contributions to get aid where it is most needed.
The administration’s paltry first offer was matched by surprising generosity from the American people- especially given concerns about “compassion fatigue” in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The relief organization World Vision reports that in just four days after the Pakistan quake, individual Americans gave half million dollars— the same amount initially pledged by the White House.
While the Bush administration deserves credit for its efforts so far, the $50 million aid pledge – even if it is a “first step,” as some administration officials have suggested – pales in comparison with rapidly growing U.S. military aid to the regime of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. This year’s budget proposal calls for $300 million in Foreign Military Financing (direct military aid) for Pakistan, a fourfold increase since 2002.
If this year’s proposal is approved, Pakistan will have received almost $750 million in U.S. military aid over the past four years -- fifteen times as much as it has allocated for earthquake relief. And if the Bush administration honors Pakistan’s request for 75 U.S. F-16 combat aircraft at a cost of $3 billion, the disparity between civilian relief and military aid will increase astronomically. Given Pakistan’s economic situation, the bulk of a $3 billion deal for combat aircraft would also come in the form of U.S. aid.
In the mean time, United Nations relief official Jan Egeland has suggested that reconstruction costs for affected areas in Pakistan and India could cost “billions,” and Oxfam has called for the creation of a $1 billion UN emergency relief fund to enable the world body to move rapidly to deal with disasters of all kinds, including those that don’t make the headlines.
A more robust U.S. share of investments in these initiatives would be far easier if there were a cutback in U.S. military assistance to Pakistan and other military-dominated regimes. Scuttling the potential $3 billion F-16 fighter deal between the U.S. and Pakistan would be a good place to start.
RESOURCES:
Red Cross
II. OUTLOOK FOR IRAQ: Brzezinski Versus Rumsfeld
By Bill Hartung
Without delving into the larger question of whether Iraq’s recent vote on a new constitution will reduce or fuel violence in that country, there is an interesting debate emerging among policy elites on the future of the U.S. occupation. In a recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, former Carter administration National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski suggested that the Bush administration was engaging in “suicidal statecraft” in its unfolding policy on Iraq. In a succinct summary of the policy, Brzezinski argues the following:
“[The] war, advocated by a narrow circle of decision-makers for motives
still not fully exposed, propagated publicly by rhetoric reliant on false
assertions, has turned out to be much more costly in blood and treasure
than anticipated . . . In the Middle East it has stamped the United States
as the imperialistic successor to Britain and as a partner of Israel in
the military repression of Arabs. Fair or not, that perception has become
widespread in the world of Islam.”
Brzezinski goes on to catalogue a wide range of ways in which the Iraq war has undermined the reputation and power of the United States on global issues, from trade to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. He goes on to suggest that if Bush were to reach out to the Democratic minority, “it would be easier not only to scale down the definition of success in Iraq but to actually get out – perhaps even as early as next year. And the sooner the U.S. leaves, the sooner the Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis will either reach a practical arrangement on their own or some combination of them will forcibly prevail.”
The former National Security Advisor’s bracing realism contrasts sharply with comments made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in a recent visit to El Salvador, in which he implied that elections in Iraq could be compared with the elections held in that nation during the height of its civil war in the mid-1980s: “When one looks at this country and recognizes the fierce struggle that existed here twenty years ago and the success they’ve had despite the fact that there was a war raging during the elections, it just proves that the sweep of human history is for freedom . . . We’ve seen it in this country, we’ve seen it in Afghanistan, and I believe we’ll see it in Iraq.”
Rumsfeld failed to mention that peace in Central America was facilitated in a regional process brokered by then Costa Rican President Oscar Arias -- and opposed by the Reagan administration. A comparable scenario in Iraq would involve an accord dealing with the Israeli/Palestinian issue and gradual democratization in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and other U.S. allies in the region.
It is unlikely, however, that Rumsfeld was advocating such a multilateral approach to conflict resolution in Iraq.
RESOURCES:
“American Debacle” by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 2005
"Elections and Other Deceptions in Iraq” by Dahr Jamail, ZNet, October 18, 2005
"Mr. Bush Goes to Tikrit (Sort-of)” by Jeremy Scahill, Alternet, October 14, 2005
“A Constitution of Trouble” by Andrew Arato, Foreign Policy in Focus, October 12, 2005
III. Meet the Top 15: PROFILE II
A Brief Peek at the Upper Echelon of Shameless Recipients of Contributions of Missile Defense Companies
Jonathan Wingo, Intern
This newsletter favorite is Rep. John P. “Jack” Murtha (D-PA).
WHO IS HE AND WHY DO WE CARE?
The story of John P. “Jack” Murtha’s life is a classic “soldier to car-washer to Congressman” story. After a year of his first pursuit for a degree at Washington and Jefferson College, Murtha joined the Marines to fight in the Korean War. Coming home to Johnstown, PA, he ran a car wash while working towards an economics degree at the University of Pittsburg. After completing college, Murtha re-upped in the Marines, heading to Vietnam in 1966. Returning to Pennsylvania with two Purple Hearts, Murtha was elected to the Pennsylvania House in 1969 and then became the first Vietnam veteran elected to Congress in 1974. In 1990 he retired from the Marine Corps Reserves after 37 years of service.
Johnstown, the largest city in Murtha’s 12th district, was the site of a Bethlehem Steel plant that, through its steady decline and ultimate closure in 1992, contributed to the area’s extraordinary 24% unemployment rate. Murtha founded the House Steel Caucus in attempt to bring steel companies and lawmakers together to promote growth for American steel companies.
Mr. Murtha has been credited with turning the unemployment trend around by bringing jobs and boosting the remaining businesses. His website boasts a few of his achievements; including the creation of an estimated 4,500 defense jobs. One of the new companies is Lockheed Martin.
Murtha’s patriotism runs deep. With another ATRC favorite, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA), Murtha co-sponsors an annual amendment which would ban the desecration of the United States flag, which has passed the House every year since 2001 before dying on the Senate floor.
As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and a Ranking member of the Subcommittee on Defense, Murtha is known for visiting troops and bases to inquire first-hand on the conditions and equipment. Like our previous favorite, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), he is an avid supporter of troop pay raise. However, Murtha carries more clout and should feel more compelled to speak up on obvious misspending of the budget.
Unfortunately, Murtha also sits atop our list of recipients of contributions from missile defense companies, raking in over $318,000 between 2001 and 2005! Troops’ wages, benefits, conditions and safety seem to be no match for inoperable weapons systems like missile defense. Murtha was not always such a missile defense maven. In 2000, he sided with the President Clinton in the decision to delay the missile defense system until the next administration, stating “…we shouldn’t make a decision on missile defense without all the research being done, so that our decision will be based on all the needed facts.”
Just five short years later, the same research remains incomplete. But the hundreds of thousands in missile defense contributions seem to have done the trick and Murtha has embraced missile defense with both arms.
BRINGING HOME THE BACON:
Murtha’s Defense Contributions
Usually at the Resource Center we have to extrapolate data from between the lines, or dig deep to uncover correlations between contributions and actions. However, Mr. Murtha was kind enough to categorize his press releases. His “Defense and Technology Business News” section boasts what I can only describe as a pork-barreling haven.
RAYTHEON:
His constant pursuit for jobs in his district and his lack of concern as to what the jobs are, Murtha was the one to announce a 1998 Raytheon contract award to Kuchera Defense Systems for production of the Surface Search Radar. The bond between Raytheon and Murtha grew, and $28,000 in contributions has found their way from Raytheon to Mr. Murtha’s campaign since 2001.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN:
“I’m delighted to welcome Northrop Grumman to Johnstown,” said Murtha this September on the arrival of a new NG Mission Systems office to his hometown. The release posted on his website continued with Daniel Montgomery, vice president and deputy general manager of NG, weighing in on the move: “The Mission Systems sector has strong established relationships with area companies that support our missile defense and tactical systems programs.” Ah ha! Murtha, you sly cat, if NG has strong established relationships with companies in your area, how long have you promoted missile defense? The opportunity for NG has been worth over $20,000 in contributions to Murtha since 2003.
Murtha’s Website, www.house.gov/murtha
“Open for Business,” by Tomas Kellner, Forbes, September 6, 2004
IV. DEFENSE INDUSTRY CASHES IN: Another Year of Executive Excess
From United for a Fair Economy and Institute for Policy Studies
2004 was a banner year for CEOs and a dismal year for workers, according to "Executive Excess 2005: Defense Contractors Get More Bucks for the Bang."
The report’s most startling finding? Drumroll, please. It was a HUGE surprise for us to find that……. Are you ready? Yes indeed, it is true. CEOs at the biggest defense contractors are personally profiting from the war in Iraq:
Shocked silence. Have you recovered?
Military contractor CEOs received 200% raises since 9/11. At the 34 publicly traded U.S. corporations among the 2004 top 100 defense contractors with 10 percent or more of their revenues from defense contracts, average CEO pay increased 200 % between 2001 and 2004.
By contrast, the average pay for large company CEOs as a whole rose only 7% during this period.
Defense CEOs almost doubled pay gap with generals and privates. Since September 11, the ratio between median pay for defense CEOs and pay for military generals has increased to 23-to-1, up from 12-to-1 just three years earlier. The pay ratio between defense CEOs and army privates soared to 160-to-1, up from just 89-to-1 in 2001. Generals with 20 years experience earned $168,509 and privates earned $24,278 in 2004, including housing allowances and extra combat pay.
If the minimum wage had risen as fast as CEO pay since 1990, the lowest paid workers in the U.S. would be earning $23.03 an hour today, not $5.15 an hour.
To learn more, download the full report at www.faireconomy.org
V. AND SPEAKING OF EXCESSES
Taxpayers for Common Sense writes about the BECHTEL BONANZA in their most recent newsletter:
“Last month, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Inspector General released an audit of the department’s Yucca activities which found that the DOE gave Bechtel SAIC, one of the nation’s largest contractors, $4 million in bonuses that the company flat out didn’t deserve. Despite Bechtel’s sloppy work, which included botched data, incomplete documents, and unacceptable final products, the DOE went to great lengths to make sure Bechtel got a fat paycheck.
“Maybe we’re old-fashioned, but we’re from the school of thought that says you should only get a bonus when you’ve kicked butt and gone above the call of duty for your employer.”
To read more, visit www.taxpayer.net
Taxpayers for Common Sense has a few other things which may be of interest:
1. The Costs of Katrina: Rebuilding the Gulf - TCS's resources on the cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, including a database of the largest reconstruction contracts given out thus far, as well as profiles of the contractors involved. Katrina Spending
2. Fiscal Roadmap for Reconstruction - Rebuilding the Gulf and restoring the lives of those who live there will cost the federal government $200 billion. We put together a reasonable and achievable list of budget offsets for how Congress can pay for this massive undertaking. One of our suggestions: cut $10 billion in pork from the transportation bill. Katrina Spending
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