by Kathleen Malley-Morrison
Mass Peace Action (MAPA) has launched a new campaign, in which its Raytheon working group has joined forces with its nuclear disarmament working group, to disclose and confront the role of Raytheon Technologies in bringing the world closer to nuclear holocaust. The purpose of this campaign is to build on Raytheon’s extensive presence in Massachusetts –and the fact that Raytheon is a major contractor for nuclear weapons–to increase awareness that the growing danger of nuclear war is located not just in Washington DC and Moscow, but also right at the doorstep of Massachusetts Peace Action and millions of citizens in Massachusetts and surrounding states. We hope that awareness of Raytheon’s contribution to the growing risk of global annihilation will help mobilize residents of Massachusetts and adjacent states to use what they are learning from our campaign to help build a national and international mobilization to create a nuclear free world.
On behalf of this new campaign, MAPA offered a webinar on August 24, 2022 designed to disclose just how close to nuclear holocaust Raytheon’s single-minded pursuit of profits from the sale of nuclear weapons is taking us. In this special section of Mass Peace Action’s September newsletter, we share the four papers from that webinar. Read– and don’t just weep; resolve to take action. (We will provide some suggestions for doing so.) Watch video of the webinar.
| Raytheon’s Role in U.S. Global Military Dominance
by Jackie Cabasso The United States military encircles the globe through its operation of 11 Unified Combatant Commands. Composed of forces from two or more armed services, the Unified Commands are headed by four-star generals and admirals… |
Raytheon Makes Nuclear War More Likely
by Richard Krushnic Raytheon Technologies’ Paveway guided bomb has been the primary weapon used by the Saudis in Yemen since the expansion of the war early in 2015. |
Raytheon Technologies: A nuclear threat
By Paul Shannon Raytheon Technologies is the second largest military contractor in the world, with $64 billion in net sales. Internationally, it is one of the top three arms suppliers, selling its weapons to numerous countries, and employing 174,000 men … |
Climate & Militarism Meet Nuclear & Raytheon—and Some Student Protests
By Nick Rabb The climate crisis is an intimate partner of the U.S. empire’s military apparatus. For one, the Pentagon is the largest institutional polluter on the planet. Their war games also pollute land across the world, destroy ecosystems, and force people out of their homes… |
What the papers in the webinar demonstrate is that Raytheon is not just a nuclear weapons profiteer; it is also a dangerous component of an extremely dangerous nuclear-armed military industrial complex (NAMIC). That NAMIC invests billions of dollars every year to ensure that
- cooperative millionaire power houses and their shills get elected to important political offices at every level of government;
- well-rewarded elected officials vote in favor of endless wars, directly and indirectly, to ensure continuing large incomes to weapons manufacturers, who return the favor by making the huge donations to those government officials;
- well-paid promoters of nuclear and other weapons have positions in think tanks and advisory groups to which presidents and other influential politicians listen;
*Individuals leaving political positions of influence find well-paid work in the organizations that devise policies for promoting major political decisions on behalf of building nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction;
*Corporate media work together to ensure that the general public is saturated with stories justifying military spending and downplaying the importance of health, education, welfare, human rights, social justice, and truth; and
*Raytheon and other nuclear weapons manufacturers get access to universities where many students necessarily focus on getting an adequately-paying job after graduation.
Once you have read these articles and added to your understanding of the extent to which Raytheon’s nuclear-profiteering activities contribute directly and broadly to the existential threat inherent in nuclear weapons, please gird your loins and take action. Mass Peace Action and other organizations devoted to nuclear disarmament provide many opportunities for ending the rush to annihilation. Such activities include: engaging in rallies at Raytheon headquarters; engaging in rallies at the offices of Congress members who vote as Raytheon wishes; lobbying Congress to fund healthcare not warfare; providing public education outreach directly or indirectly by supporting relevant organizations; picketing the investment companies that control most of Raytheon’s stock; creating and signing petitions promoting divestment campaigns; and developing counter recruiting campaigns on college campuses. Join us in these activities. Share ideas of your own. Recruit friends and neighbors in the campaign to prioritize quality of life for all over profits for a few and an ever-increasing risk of death to life on earth.
