Airborne Combat Engineer

Wars prove boon for defense industry and US economy

After years of holding second rank to expensive, futuristic programs -- from $300 million fighter jets to robots -- the essentials have been pushed to the forefront by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that has proved good news for the stocks of companies that replenish the weapons, trucks and helicopters that see frontline action. They are among the best performers this year, analysts say.

The Iraq war may be politically unpopular, but it has been a boon for the defense industry. Last year, the sector soared 27.7 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 13.6 percent. So far this year, the industry has gained 26.7 percent, compared with the S&P's 9.5 percent increase. Since 2001, defense stocks that make up the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index have climbed 181.7 percent; the broader [overall] market is up 17.6 percent.

See how the rate of increase of the Dow is increasing at Chart of the Day.

In the long term, the defense companies' fate could depend on the ballot box and the war. "I am positive on defense stocks still, but there is cautionary note in background. There could be potential cuts to the budget, particularly if we get a Democratic president and Democratic Congress," said Richard Tortoriello, equity analyst for aerospace and defense at Standard and Poor's.

RM / WaPo

According to a Gallop poll in mid-July, 77% of Americans think the economy is bad or headed in the wrong direction, contrary to the factual evidence (the stock market recently hit an all-time high and unemployment is a low 4.5% - 132K new jobs added in June).  Only 37% approve of Bush's stewardship of the economy [AP]. It shows the power of a left-leaning media which is against the current President.

Optional A-C-E comments in the continuation

Cindy protests outside Fort Benning

Emotions ran high as anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan made a stop at the gates of Fort Benning. [She wasn't given a permit to protest on base.] It's part of her month-long nationwide tour, which asks for President Bush to be impeached.

While Sheehan and her group protested, calling for the war to end, they were countered by those that say Al Qaeda must be defeated.   “They want to wipe us off the face of the earth. They don't want any America, even Cindy Sheehan and her group. Even though I'm sure they appreciate her bad publicity for the US, they would kill every last American,” said Matt Krause, who is with the group, Gathering of Eagles.

There was a brief moment of tension during the protest, when the two groups came within inches of each other.

WRBL TV (Columbus, GA)

Read a first-hand report in the continuation

Freedom Call Foundation needs donations

As this AJC article notes, the Freedom Call Foundation has run out of funds to pay for free calls between soldiers in theatre and their families back stateside.

"We do about 2,000 of these a month," said John Harlow, executive director and founder of Freedom Calls. The calls can get very expensive, Harlow said. "We have to maintain these satellite links which costs tens of thousands of dollars a month."

Harlow said the organization is looking for donations and is planning some fund-raisers to help find money for its $1,000 a day budget. The organization uses e-mail, phone calls, and video tele-conferencing to connect soldiers with their families. "If we don't find the funds we are going to have to stop operation," Harlow said.

For more information on Freedom Calls Foundation, visit www.freedomcalls.org or call 973-290-7886.

Please help if you can.

Peachtree road race in the 'Stan

See more photos at Strategy Page.

Pentagon reprogramming request

The Pentagon recently sent Congress a $1.7 billion reprogramming request. These are areas where the services take fiscal 2007 money away from some programs that can afford to be delayed, canceled or restructured and transfer those dollars to help boost other programs that can be sped up or more robustly fielded.

Hightlights are in the continuaton. Christian Lowe @ Defense Tech

It's interesting that the Marines cut $24 Million from the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) when Congress is pressing for a redesign and is expressing dismay over the delays. Guess there were more pressing short-term needs.

Blackwater "expose" -- concern or sensationalism?

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Jeremy Scahill

"The rise of Blackwater and the increasing use of mercenaries by the U.S. raises many important questions. In a period of political crises could such a private army be part of a military coup? Is deploying mercenary   troops around the world a means by which a U.S. empire could manage a global war for empire and domination without instituting a draft? Would such an army feel even less compulsion to respect international rules against torture and attacking civilians, and would the use of such forces insulate the U.S. government from accusations that it is carrying out  war crimes? Readers interested in finding out more should check out this important book."

Revcom

This book is getting mixed reviews. See another opinion in the continuation. (Senastionalism sells books in book stores and grocery stores.) Have you read it? If so, what's your opinion?

ACE is waiting for a friend to finish reading his copy before borrowing it. The friend says it's "scarry."

12JUL2007 UPDATE: "Patrick Henry" e-mailed the link to Chapter 5 of White Rabbit, which tells some more abouth Jeremy Scahill.

More ammo, please

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics , has been awarded a $44 million modification to an existing contract for production of small-caliber ammunition by the U.S. Army Field Support Command, Rock Island, Ill.

This award is the third delivery order executed under this systems contract for a cumulative total of $500 million. This delivery order is for the production of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and .50 caliber small-arms cartridges to replenish stockpiles used in training and expended during combat operations. General Dynamics serves as the systems integrator coordinating supply-chain management of a consortium of small- caliber ammunition producers whose purpose is to respond to the U.S. Defense Department's needs for small-caliber ammunition.

CNN Money

Missing American Soldiers

The military continues to piece together the last moments of 88,000 troops, many of them prisoners of war or missing in action from World War II on, whose remains have never been recovered.

In June the Department of Defense released a database with the names, though not the hometowns, of the nearly 78,000 of them who fought in World War II. For families it offers a starting point for the truth.

Frederick [MD] News-Post (nice work)

If you live in the US, check this map to see how many POWs/MIAs in Korea and Vietnam are from your state. If you know any of them, check the pdf databases.

The hobbled hegemon

America is the richest country and the most sophisticated high-tech military power in the world, and is spending more on defence in real terms than at any time since the end of the second world war. Yet it is being exhausted by insurgents armed with AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised bombs. With strong pressure on President George Bush to withdraw from Iraq, jihadist militants scent a victory as momentous as the eviction of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989—a defeat that helped to dissolve the Soviet empire.

“A superpower can lose a war—in Vietnam or in Iraq—without ceasing to be a superpower,” says Mr Kagan, “so long as the American public continues to support American predominance, and so long as potential challengers inspire more fear than sympathy among their neighbours.”

The Economist

Interesting reading

An unpleasant subject: Desertion

The number of Army deserters in 2006 amounted to less than 1 percent of the active-duty force. That compares with 3.4 percent at the height of the Vietnam War in 1971.

An Associated Press examination of Pentagon figures shows that 174 troops were court-martialed by the Army last year for desertion — a figure that amounts to just 5 percent of the 3,301 soldiers who deserted in fiscal year 2006.

The Pentagon does little more than enter deserters’ names into an FBI national criminal database.

Deserters who are discharged on less-than-honorable terms through an administrative, or non-criminal, proceeding lose the medical and educational benefits and other privileges available to veterans.

ET/AP