Håfa adai,
Every 2 years, the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war exercises increase violence against Kānaka Maoli women and girls, endangered species, and sacred lands and waters, and the U.S. government and U.S. companies profit. In our latest post, we dive into the military-industrial complex, war technologies tested this year at RIMPAC (and who made them), and which multibillion-dollar corporations profit most.
Did you know?
U.S. tax dollars line the pockets of billionaire weapons manufacturers every year via the military-industrial complex. In FYTD 2024, the U.S. government has spent $644 billion on the military. In FY2023, that amount was $828.9 billion.
RTX’s products are part of 90% of all military space launches.
96% of Lockheed Martin’s revenue in 2023 came from U.S. military contracts. The company made $67.6 billion in net sales in 2023.
While most of the U.S. military’s payments to weapons companies still go towards these more traditional weapons manufacturers (like Boeing, RTX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics), the military is increasingly paying Big Tech companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Oracle, IBM) billions of dollars for AI, software, and other technologies. Some estimates claim the 2018-2022 tech contracts totaled at least $28 billion.
RIMPAC is still happening right now. RIMPAC allows militaries around the world to test U.S.-made tools of war, profiting the federal government and weapons manufacturers. Multibillion-dollar companies, like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, use the Pacific as a global stage to demonstrate and market their weapons and military systems. In 2018, the U.S. military started RIMPAC with a 4-day fair featuring nearly 2 dozen booths and demonstrations of new war technology, such as VR, drones, robotics, and data and information exchange. In 2020, Congress approved $110 billion in weapons sales to other countries, $87 billion of which went to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon. From 2015-2020, 37% of global arms exports came from the U.S. This year’s RIMPAC again displayed war technology like missiles produced by Raytheon and military aircraft made by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Every 2 years, militaries from around the world convene at RIMPAC. They contaminate the Pacific with massive warships purposely sunk to the bottom of the ocean, carcinogens, weapons debris, and sonar. They desecrate sacred lands and waters with bullets and missiles. They commit acts of sexual and gendered violence against Native Hawaiian women and girls. They repeatedly affront Native Hawaiian sovereignty, self-determination, and safety. All these unquantifiable and repeated harms. And all to the monetary profit of the U.S. government and multibillionaires.
What you can do:
Share: Share our post on Instagram or Facebook.
Share the Community Safety Toolkit During RIMPAC & Beyond: www.waterprotectorlegal.org/rimpaccommunitysafetytoolkit
Donate: Ensure that WPLC and the organizations we mention below can continue this work by supporting our work. https://www.waterprotectorlegal.org/donate Thank you for your continued support of our work! You make this work possible.
Locate and assist organizations that provide support to survivors of human trafficking and other forms of violence.
Continue to educate ourselves and our communities. Some suggested resources:
Tune in: Join the Cancel RIPMAC campaign recap, hear the highlights, celebrate the victories, and get ready to keep up the fight for the long haul against US led war! July 31, 2:30pm HT/5:30pm PT/7:30pm CT/8:30pm ET. RSVP tinyurl.com/cancelrimpac731
Watch:
CANCEL RIMPAC: Stop War Games in the Pacific!, YouTube, uploaded by CODEPINK (2020).
Cancel RIMPAC - A Collective Poem, YouTube, uploaded by Cancel RIMPAC Coalition (2020).
Read:
Roberto J. Gonzalez, How Big Tech and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Military-Industrial Complex, Costs of War (2024).
Heidi Peltier, We Get What We Pay For: The Cycle of Military Spending, Industry Power, and Economic Dependence, Costs of War (2023).
Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright, Is NATO Taking Over the Pacific?, CODEPINK (2024).
Nikki Cristobal, Holoi ā nalo Wāhine ‘Ōiwi: Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women and Girls Task Force Report (Part 1), Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women: Honolulu, HI (2022).
Ray Levy Uyeda, US military activity in Hawai'i harms the environment and erodes Native sovereignty, Prism (2022).
Chloe Amos, Real-World Damages From RIMPAC Games, Honolulu Civil Beat (2018).
Jon Letman, RIMPAC Makes Its Mark in Hawaii, The Diplomat (2018).
Follow: @cancelrimpaccampaign, @koafutures, @eapono_hawaii, @oahuwaterprotectors, @costsofwar
In Solidarity,
Kyra Blas, Esq.
WPLC Legal Fellow
Kommentare