Peace in Ukraine too important to leave in hands of arms dealers: Truthout

NEW YORK, April 13 (Xinhua) -- This spring, Lockheed Martin is expanding operations to meet Ukraine's demand for arms. In recent months, its Camden, Arkansas, plant won nearly a half-billion U.S. dollars in contracts for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, doubling production targets and prompting Lockheed officials to consider adding a night shift, reported Truthout on Wednesday.

"Leading contractors -- including Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall -- have notorious records of promoting corruption and hawkish policies that undermine peace," said the report. "Many actively violate arms embargoes, exacerbating conflicts across the world, and previously aided the Russian war effort."

"Ultimately, Western military exports to Ukraine reveal dangerous industry trends and a resurgent history of militarism. As military budgets rise, power has increasingly concentrated in the hands of defense officials with an incentive to seek conflict," it noted.

"The end of the Cold War ushered a decline in Western military spending, initiating a painful process of industry consolidation," said the report. "Lobbyists scrambled for new arguments to maintain a war economy."

"Rather than peacemakers, industry leaders are modern warlords, instigating conflicts before turning them into sales pitches: spectacles of sublime terror. If solidarity with Ukraine is a moral imperative, the struggle for peace is too important to leave in their hands," it added.