Here’s what passes for funny in a room packed full of weapons-industry executives and lobbyists: When Vice Adm. Joseph Rixey — the man in charge of the Pentagon agency that administers foreign arms sales — said “I know you don’t go after human rights violators for potential customers.”
The line produced chuckles in the room.
Rixey was the guest of honor at a reception Wednesday hosted by the Senate Aerospace Caucus, a group of more than a dozen senators who “work to ensure a strong, secure, and competitive American aerospace sector,” according to their mission statement online. The event in a sumptuous Senate reception room was cohosted by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the lobbying group for weapons contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.
Rixey is the director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the Pentagon agency charged with overseeing the Pentagon’s relations with the militaries of U.S. allies. As such, DSCA plays a key role in many foreign military sales to other countries, often acting as an intermediary and looking for a producer in the United States.
In other words, when foreign countries want to buy U.S. weapons, the DSCA finds them — either in U.S. stockpiles, but more often by signing lucrative contracts with defense contractors. According to Rixey, over the past year, the DSCA has approved upwards of $47 billion in such contracts, for weapons transfers to countries like Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
The AIA chair, Lockheed Martin CEO Marilyn Hewson, showered Rixey with praise. “As director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Adm. Rixey performs a crucial role in this effort. Thank you admiral for all that you do, to help, and thank you for being here tonight, but for all that you do in helping us to sell our products and to partner with countries around the world,” she said.
AIA President David Melcher also had warm words. “Joe Rixey’s done tabletops with industry and with his own team, he’s done the right things to try and move this thing along, and I couldn’t be more pleased to introduce somebody who really is trying to make a difference and make government work,” he said.
In his own remarks, Rixey lauded the relationship between the DSCA and industry. “We at DSCA are thankful that we have the support of our counterparts within the United States government and with defense industries as we look to find areas we can continue to collaborate, improve efficiencies, and overall effectiveness,” he said.
Rixey was joined by caucus co-chairs Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., who praised the industry for its role in overseas weapons sales on both foreign policy and economic grounds. As they spoke alongside representatives from the weapons industry, guests were treated to an open bar, and an assortment of food that included artisan cheeses, chocolate covered strawberries, and macarons.
“The aerospace industry helps keep the world safe and stable by strengthening our relationships with our allies and building our partners’ capabilities,” Murray told the arrayed lobbyists. “I want to thank all of you again for being here tonight and your interest in what I consider to be one of — if not the most — important industries in my home state of Washington, and America.” Boeing is the largest private employer in Washington state.
Moran asked AIA for its help in passing appropriations bills.
“If you can help us advocate both here in the Senate and with our colleagues in the House, beg us, insist, hold the proverbial gun to our head to make certain that we do appropriations bills when we return in December,” he said.
Officials from the group thanked the senators for their support. Murray has long been an advocate for robust spending on aerospace industry priorities, as has Moran.
“On behalf of the entire industry we thank you very much for your support,” Hewson told Moran and Murray.
The 2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act was meant to stop lobbyists from treating lawmakers and government officials to fancy dinners, or lavish parties. But the law had many loopholes — including a notorious “toothpick rule” allowing them to serve as much finger food as guests can eat.
Top photo: The CEO of Lockheed Martin and others mingle at a Capitol Hill event with the DSCA chief on Sept. 14.
Correction: September 19, 2016
An earlier version of this story misspelled Adm. Rixey’s last name.
How many of these assholes send their sons and daughters to war?
“the aerospace industry helps keep the world safe and stable”
Try telling that to the thousands that have died due to the destruction of their houses and cities.
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93industrial_complex
Just curious. What is Murray’s stand on gun control by the way?
My go-to lyrics to post on an internet forum..always seems apropos for a weapons industry article,, as these people are the War Pigs:
Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerer of death’s construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds…Oh lord yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait `till their judgement day comes, yeah!
Now in darkness, world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more war pigs have the power,
hand of god has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, god is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercy for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings…Oh lord, yeah!
Lyrics by the mighty Black Sabbath!
maybe next time they’ll hold their reception in Sana’a?
Or perhaps Aleppo? i hear Aleppo is nice this time of year.
wow. disgusting. a glimpse inside the bubble. great reporting.
Both parties, Democrat and Republican, have promised more money for foreign military equipment, at the expense of our own country.
According to CNN, (http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/11/politics/us-foreign-aid-report/ ) in 2014, the US gave over $5.9 billion for foreign military aid, including: Israel – $3.1 billion, Egypt – $1.3 billion, Iraq – $300 million, Jordan – $300 million, and Pakistan – $280 million.
Recently, the United States announced that it will be giving Israel an additional $38 billion in military aid, over ten years, “after cutting humanitarian aid to Palestinians.” (http://usuncut.com/world/us-38-billion-israel/ ).
A GAO report (http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/676503.pdf) has documented the lax controls over the $6.5 billion given to the Egyptian military over the past 5 years.
Why is the government giving billions of our hard earned cash for military aid to other countries while America cannot feed its own poor and our infrastructure is falling apart?
During a flight, the flight attendant will tell you, “in the event of a decompression, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in … if you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person”. But in America it is the other way around.
Both the Republicans and the Democrats voted for these agreements on Tuesday. September 13, 2016. We did not see any partisan fighting here.
In 2016 the gross US federal government debt is estimated to be $19.3 trillion. How can they commit tens of billions in foreign military assistance for the next ten years? The Congress will raise more tax in the future regardless how poor the taxpayers are.
I love the smell of canapes and napalm in the morning.
Those chocolate covered strawberries with real Belgian chocolate are good but you know what i like better, finger size fortune cookies with a bunch of numbers on that little paper on the inside.
In the movie ‘The Shining’ the little kid has a psychic vision of the grand interior of the hotel filling up with a rushing river of blood. The pictures above reminded me of that, for some reason.
exactly. you nailed it.
A family member worked at Ford Aerospace in Palo Alto Ca, where satellites were being built. Ford Motor isn’t exclusively a builder of automobiles. I heard people, coworkers of this family member, at a party talking about an FBI investigation of the satellite division to determine what happened and who was involved in the disappearance of a significant amount of gold. If there is the perfect element to withstand the extremely harsh conditions in space, gold is it so there is a lot in satellites.
After an extensive investigation of the facilities and personnel, their bank accounts, how many assets, etc, the FBI determined that the gold went down the drain.
Military related contracts can be very lucrative….
ah yes, the imperial establishment, which permits lobbyists and corporations to write legislation…the rent seeking wealthy have their own public relations agents, as they sway up to the the treasury trough… what a splendid visual, this weaponize, er, aerospace toothpick economics.
ah finger food – that’s the ticket. Does that include diced filet mignon and lobster?
let’s face facts, as long as that enemy naming enemy making SFB lawyerly hair splitting elected POS’s maka mula condemning humans and sending them to their destruction and deaths continues, hell rules.
and btw – that sort of process does one thing, it “generates” extremist defence.
jumbo shrimp anyone?
What other defense is there against an extreme offense .?
Geez ,, the police now have tanks, copters, machine guns, and anything else the gun runners ( aka Pentagon ) can’t sell on the open market .
Oh yeah ,,
LET’S VOTE ON IT !! ( Now there’s the scam Mona . )
can someone fetch me some caviar and dom without the please?
The U.S. is one big, corrupt corporatocracy. We taxpayers give $billions in funds targeted for military aid to these countries and then:
In the next ten years we will give Israel $3.8 billion a year. Seventy-five percent of that they will spend buying death and destruction from our “defense” manufacturers. (Because alone among the nations to whom we give military aid, Israel is allowed to spend 25% of it purchasing from its own defense industry. Keep that in mind next time some habara-ist complains about “singling out” Israel.)
What a goddam scam.
Mona , your response is right on , except it is not a scam .
A scam is when the scammer knows he/she is a liar .
These people exist in a ” Show Me the Money ” reality .
Their world is the ” Real World ” as for as they are concerned .
BTW :
If you are so smart why ain’t you rich ? GOT IT ?
Point taken. However, some of them have to see what is going on — it isn’t as if it hasn’t been pointed out. They just don’t have a problem with their corrupt and cozy scheme.
absolutely.
and the US currency system requires it…..
So we give Israel $3.8 billion a year, they buy arms from us and the gun dealers get our tax money for payment of these guns, etc. that they purchase ?! Sounds like a Big scam to me ! Ugh, crooked damn liars !
We are entering a time when all these people are obsolete. The arms manunfacturers and their salesmen, the militaries that stockpile them and use them, the war-hawks that front for them and beat their drums, the intelligence agencies who spook around pretending to be keeping a very secretive and highly-tech eye on them-for-the-other-side. They are all meaningless. Nobody wants war except these people. And they don’t really want WAR WAR, they just want pretend-war on a manageable scale: an Acceptable Level of Violence to coin a phrase from The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Smashing up the Third-Turd World is fine – Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Yemen, Bolivia, North Korea, soon-to-be Iran, and poor old Syria – fuck those shitholes! BOMB BOMB BOMB!
But War War in Germany? Or Indonesia? Or Mexico? No thanks! That’s the job of the Terrorists and the Drug Cartels. Turd-World Wars sell munitions, fear of a War War sells hardware in a continual Arms Race and helps stockpile tons of useless munitions, and Terrorists and Drug Cartels fill in the gaps and put the profit cherry on the top! They also keep the Spooks happy, which in turn allows the Police & Nanny State to trample all over the floormat that is Democracy.
Nope, we live in an age where we are now teetering on the edge of Peace and that’s no fucking good for these cunts, oh no. So beat your ploughshare into a poleaxe and join the party! But don’t expect to keep your freedom if you do, as in these Troubled Times of dangers all around to Joe Taxpayer, only professional Professionals and their hired-guns with Licenses to Kill are allowed to Protect Us from, erm, whoever it is this week who is threatening our security on behalf of these cunts’ profit margins. Because boy, it would be a TERRIBLE thing for these motherfuckers to go hungry. Build a bonfire, build a bonfire…
Can we send Murray on a Congressional fact-finding trip to Yemen to see how well that notion works out in the real world?
Death and Destruction in Yemen: Aftermath of Saudi-led Strikes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p0Hbc4ZOlY
How was all that financed and approved?
The interesting things about the Cold War are that:
1. It is OVER.
2. The countries that benefit the most from denying this are the ones currently spying on the Rest of the World pretending they are looking for grandiose schemes of world domination on the part of pissant places like North Korea and Iran and Libya, whilst conducting their own grandiose schemes and really just looking for insider information and to see what everyone else has spotted about their own sneakiness.
3. Russia SAVED Europe from Hitler and surrendered the vast majority of occupied territories after the war and the fall or the Iron Curtain without much of a fuss at all, even super-weak countries right on its borders like Estonia. China was utterly raped and destroyed by Japan (and previously by the West) and these countries have historically had minimal imperial ambitions, and never on different continents. Their interest in the arms race is 99% defensive and the current situations in the Ukraine and the South China Sea are reactions to Western actions.
4. It is us in the West that is “heating up” the Cold War and fueling all of this warmongering, scaremongering, terrorism, third-party mercenary operations, black ops, spying, hacking, drug smuggling, and we fund it all with our taxes and with our private expenditure. The US and its Western allies (namely the 5-Eyes, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Turkey and somewhat also complicit are Japan, Germany and France if for no other reason than they are not resisting with their political and economic might) are now using their economic and military strength and intelligence services to bully and spy on the rest of the world and to ramp up fear and increase security needs and maintain this arms race and almost everything else is an accompanying action or reaction to this and should not be considered in isolation. A Globalised Economy needs Globalised control and that means compliance and obedience from the governments of separate sovereign nations. The owners of this Globalised Economy are not interested in losing their businesses to competitors within these separate sovereign states, nor are they interested in free trade or equal and fair competition. The main threats to this are not the fragmenting of nations into more and more states, but the organisation of states either towards properly fair and equal competitive trade, or into stronger cooperative-socialist type organisations that represent better workers’ rights, or to a lesser extent into more liberal and affluent nations that raise conditions for their populous in that way. So it is all driven by this rather one-dimensional economic model designed to favour its elite shareholders and their militarised enforcers – be those legitimate armed forces, paramilitary groups, mercenaries, security forces, or militarised police forces – and no one else.
5. It is OVER.
Can anyone say if there is enough to go round? I think there is, but these people are the very sharp and very dangerous end of those telling you otherwise. Hate them and impoverish them, because they are parasites that feed off of you and me.
Fascism is the merging of corporate and state. From Mussolini to the USA, in only three generations.
El Duce must be smiling.
“As director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Adm. Rixey performs a crucial role in this effort. Thank you admiral for all that you do, to help, and thank you for being here tonight, and for all that you do in helping us to sell our products and to partner with countries around the world,” she said.
So just another ” Gun-Runners Pig-Out ” , right ?