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US policy:
The US government appears to be running amok. It has invaded Iraq under its new doctrine of pre-emption; is threatening other countries including Syria and Iran; is supporting military operations around the world that have suddenly become counter-terrorist; is flouting the human rights of many it chooses to detain in its 'war on terrorism'; has undermined or pulled out of multilateral agreements that constrained US interests; is aggressively pursuing Ballistic Missile Defense regardless of the missile proliferation and instability it might cause; is planning a new range of 'mini-nukes'; and, underpinning much of this, is rapidly increasing its already massive military expenditure.
The US is unashamedly asserting that it is, and will continue to be, the world's number one; and it is very happy to use force to achieve this. It explicitly seeks 'Full Spectrum Dominance', i.e. 'the ability of US forces, operating alone or with allies, to defeat any adversary and control any situation across the range of military operations.1 This, crucially, includes control of space.
Arms company influence:
It might be assumed that the US administration is being influenced by the arms industry, but the relationship is much more intimate than that. As the US Arms Trade Resource Center has stated, 'more than any administration in history, the Bush team has relied on the expertise of former weapons contractors to outline US Defense needs. Thirty two Bush appointees are former executives, consultants, or major shareholders of top weapons contractors, including appointees with ties to major missile defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.' 2
The Project for the New American Century:
The other dominant, but not unrelated, component of US policymaking comes from the conservative think thanks, the most worrying of these being The Project for the New American Century. Set up in 1997, founders include Donald Rumsfeld (US Defense Secretary), Dick Cheney (Vice-President), Paul Wolfowitz (Deputy Defense Secretary) and Jeb Bush. As John Pilger reports, 'it recommended an increase in arms-spending by $48bn so that Washington could "fight and win multiple, simultaneous major theatre wars". This has happened. It said the United States should develop "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons and make "star wars" a national priority. This is happening. It said that, in the event of Bush taking power, Iraq should be a target. And so it is.'3
Increasingly the US, with the UK in tow, is responding to problems with military 'solutions'. The arms companies are a vital part of this approach, supplying the military's needs and assisting with the administration's foreign policy. They dominate the international arms market and, as such, will be a key part of DSEi. Over 100 US companies will be there, including four of the six largest arms producing companies in the world.
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