Peace Economy Project2009 Signature Ad for Peace
Please read and sign-on [scroll down] to the following statement and make as generous a donation as is possible (none is required, although giving is highly encouraged) so that this message can be personally delivered to your Congressional delegation in Washington DC this summer. This statement will be delivered to every representative of every individual who signs on; we would love to have to visit all 535 offices of the House of Representatives and the Senate, so, upon signing, please share this with friends and family!
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Dear Congressperson,
On April 6th Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called for some essential changes to our defense procurement policies including sensible cuts to truly superfluous programs.
We, the undersigned, including individuals from your district/state, call on you to support the cuts that Gates has recommended. Furthermore, we ask that you lend support to Secretary Gates’ call to change “the way we acquire military equipment.”
Making these recommendations a reality will require significant political will and logistical coordination. That is why we need your support. The potential savings from these recommendations are immense as is the corruption that they seek to prevent.
In the spirit of the Gates’ acquisition reform proposals, we request that you look into eliminating further questionable programs as well. Gates’ recommended cuts only represent a small portion of the waste that runs rampant within the defense budget. Other unnecessary/excessive programs stand to be scrutinized, we suggest you begin here:
• DDG-1000 – The strategic need for this massive ship is questionable. At an average cost of more than $4 billion apiece we are not comfortable with such a colossal investment when it addresses no specific need and assurance of performance value has yet to be given.
• F-35 Joint Strike Fighter– This plane has yet to complete full flight-testing, the cost of the program has already increased by 20%, and the unit cost of the plane is roughly $100 million per plane. No more money should be spent on this project until thorough flight-testing has been conducted.
• Future Combat Systems Program – Popular Science. called this program “the most expensive weapons program in Army history.” “In 2008, the Government Accountability Office reported that progress so far is ‘well short of a program halfway through its development schedule and its budget’ and that ‘only two of FCS's 44 critical technologies have reached a level of maturity that . . . should have been demonstrated at program start.’” Again, we can’t keep throwing money away on questionable, unproven technologies. Gates’ recommended cut of the vehicle component of this program is a good start.
• Nuclear Weapons - According to a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, in fiscal year 2008, the United States spent $52.4 billion on nuclear weapons programs alone. This amount exceeds the entire military budgets of all but four other countries. It is past time to begin drawing down our massive arsenal of globally lethal weapons.
• Foreign Military Bases – According to the Institute for Policy Studies, “Closing just a third of the more than 1,000 overseas facilities would save taxpayers $45.9 billion.” Roughly half of these facilities are located in Germany, Japan, and South Korea. More than half a century since the conflicts in these nations ended, and nearly 20 years after the end of the cold war, we must begin to seriously reevaluate the benefit maintaining this high volume of personnel and property abroad.
• Spending for combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan – We have spent nearly one trillion dollars on these conflicts. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have died, more have been injured, and a generation of American soldiers has paid dearly with their lives, multiple tours of duty, stop-loss, and PTSD. Instead of continuing and escalating warfare, it is time to finally provide the diplomatic, infrastructural, and social funding these nations desperately need to take on the very causes of violence and terrorism at their roots.
With the disciplined elimination of these and other similarly superfluous programs, we can cut military spending by 25% or more. As savings are realized, we request that these dollars be redirected to programs such as green technologies, education, and infrastructure development in order to create jobs while simultaneously taking on some of the greatest challenges our nation currently faces.
Thank you for your time and serious consideration of these recommendations.
Please make a donation to help support PEP Coordinator, Andy Heaslet's trip to our nation's capitol where he will present your signature, with this statement, to your representatives.
Here are the 158 names, from 52 House districts across 26 states who are currently signed on: More...
100 Days In
Reflections on Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’
address given on April 6th regarding
the future of military spending and procurement policies:
It took nearly these entire 100 days for us to get any hints as to what the Obama administration has in store for military spending and procurement policies. But with Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ April 6th address, we have an initial glance into how things are going to proceed for the next four years. The policies the address outlines are far from perfect, but they appear to represent a step in the right direction. Making our job as progressive activists somewhat tricky. More...
About PEACE ECONOMY PROJECT
The Peace Economy Project is a 501(c)3 non profit organization that researches military spending, educates about the hazards of an unchecked military-industrial complex and advocates for conversion from a military to a more stable peace-based economy. We focus our attention on local weapons manufacturing and its connection to global militarization. We collaborate with other organizations to raise consciousness of where our tax dollars are invested and to encourage others to reinvest in their communities.
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Priority Projects
These are among PEP's top research interests.
More details about these projects are found on our Priorities webpage
Boeing Awareness
The St. Louis hosts the weapons divisions of this major military contractor, responsible for a variety of missiles and fighter planes. Boeing is involved in jet, space, missile, and bomb manufacture and sales. The Peace Economy Project tracks the activities and contracts of this company and seeks to show the connections between its activities and world events. While several groups track the arms trade, only the Peace Economy Project focuses on Boeing.
Instead of War
PEP is part of the St. Louis Instead Of War Coalition. Over twelve organizations participate in this collaboration, which advocates for nonviolent alternatives to war. The coalition connects the questions of war in Iraq with both domestic and local consequences through organizing rallies and nonviolent direct actions.
Other Research Topics
These are topics on which PEP has done work in the past but to which, due to limited resources, we devotes less time. These include: Analysis of Military Budget * The Arms Trade around the World * * Nuclear Weapons * Landmines * South and Central American issues * The Environment * Weapons in Space * Other St Louis Area Defense Contractors
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