THE SMEDLEY BUTLER SOCIETY
May 1, 2008
Defense companies report first-quarter earnings
Major U.S. defense companies reported first-quarter earnings this week, and announced strong results and continuing share repurchases made with extra cash.
Northrop Grumman's first-quarter revenue rose 5.6 percent to $7.72 billion from $7.31 billion for the first quarter a year ago, but earnings fell to $264 million from $387 million a year earlier, mainly on a charge in its shipbuilding sector.
General Dynamics' first-quarter sales rose about 11 percent to $7 billion from $6.3 billion in the first quarter of 2007, and net earnings rose to $572 million from $434 million a year ago. Total backlog grew to almost $50 billion. The company's combat systems segment accounted for about $2 billion of total sales.
Lockheed Martin's sales rose 7.6 percent to $9.98 billion from $9.28 billion, and earnings rose to $730 million from $690 million for the first quarter of 2007.
Boeing's revenue rose about 4 percent to $15.99 billion from $15.37 billion in 2007's first quarter. The company had first-quarter earnings of $1.21 billion, compared with $877 million last year.
Raytheon had first-quarter sales of $5.35 billion, more than 11 percent above its sales a year earlier of $4.8 billion. Raytheon's net income rose to $398 million from $346 million in the same quarter last year.
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Investigators: Millions in Iraq contracts never finished
WASHINGTON -- Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the US government as complete, federal investigators say.
The audit released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, provides the latest snapshot of an uneven reconstruction effort that has cost US taxpayers more than $100 billion. It also comes as several lawmakers have said they want the Iraqis to pick up more of the cost of reconstruction.
An Iraqi Army soldier uses a flashlight to signal cars to turn off their headlights as a sandstorm envelops central Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, April 27, 2008. [Agencies]
The special IG's review of 47,321 reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars found that at least 855 contracts were terminated by US officials before their completion, primarily because of unforeseen factors such as violence and excessive costs. About 112 of those agreements were ended specifically because of the contractors' actual or anticipated poor performance.
In addition, the audit said many reconstruction projects were being described as complete or otherwise successful when they were not. In one case, the US Agency for International Development contracted with Bechtel Corp. in 2004 to construct a $50 million children's hospital in Basra, only to "essentially terminate" the project in 2006 because of monthslong delays.
But rather than terminate the project, US officials modified the contract to change the scope of the work. As a result, a US database of Iraq reconstruction contracts shows the project as complete "when in fact the hospital was only 35 percent complete when work was stopped," said investigators in describing the practice of "descoping" as frequent.
For some insight on how the rest of the world views the current imperialism that Smedley Butler warned against, see our latest webpage subtly entitled: F*** the GWOT.
In the meantime, without a structural change, there's work to be done to end this war. Please get Smedley's message out, particularly to the young people exposed to military recruiting and those already in the military. Take action to counter the military invasion of schools. Send a letter to your congressional representative in support of ending the war.
Send a message to Bush: Boycott Altria (Phillip Morris, Kraft Foods), ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Pepsico, CocaCola and McDonald's, and Buy Citgo gasoline. Companies that import Middle Eastern oil: Shell, Chevron/Texaco, Exxon/Mobil, Marathon/Speedway, Amoco. Companies that do not: Citgo (Venezuelan), Sunoco, Conoco, Sinclair, BP/Phillips, Hess, ARCO.
Thank you for taking the time to visit and come again. Visit the links page for more information on war racketeers. If you have time to read only one thing, look at "Uncle Bucky Makes a Killing". If that doesn't frost you, nothing will. Also look at the real current news (truthout, commondreams, antiwar, etc.), 'cause that corporate media will rot your brain for sure. For general information take a look at the articles and essays, and for really solid anti-war (anti-national-terrorism) philosophy stop at your local bookstore or library and pick up anything by Howard Zinn and/or Noam Chomsky.
Best Regards, Don Bacon and friends at The Smedley Butler Society and Freedom From War, Inc.