Any Justification for Privatising Military training GONE

Article from Private Eye on Geoff 'Bull' Hoon crazy scheme

Ireland dumps Raytheon on cluster munitions!

Ireland's pension fund to exclude munitions-report Reuters UK - "I saw at first hand on my visit to Lebanon last year the havoc that cluster bombs can cause," Ahern told the paper. "These small bomblets can look like ...

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's National Pensions Reserve Fund plans to withdraw 27 million euros (21 million pounds) of investment from six firms involved in the production of cluster munitions, Irish media reported on Wednesday.
The NPRF, charged with securing funds for pension and welfare costs of an ageing population after 2025, followed the example of Norway's pension fund, known as the "oil fund", which aims to be a world leader in ethical investment.
The NPRF plans to stop investing in five U.S. companies: Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Alliant Techsystems and L-3 Communications, and France's Thales, the Irish Times quoted a spokesman as saying.
The fund's proposal follows a list of firms excluded by Norway's $387 billion (193 billion pound) fund, after pressure from Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who is campaigning for a ban on cluster munitions, the Irish Times said.
"I saw at first hand on my visit to Lebanon last year the havoc that cluster bombs can cause," Ahern told the paper.
"These small bomblets can look like decorations or toys and, as a result, children are very vulnerable to them."

And so to remind you of the death toll in Iraq...
What is the real death toll in Iraq? The Americans learned one lesson from Vietnam: don't count the civilian dead. As a result, no one knows how many Iraqis have been killed in the five years since the invasion. Estimates put the toll at between 100,000 and one million. 19 Mar 2008 The British polling firm Opinion Research Business (ORB) asked 1,720 Iraqi adults last summer if they had lost family members by violence since 2003; 16% had lost one, and 5% two. Using the 2005 census total of 4,050,597 households in Iraq, this suggests 1,220,580 deaths since the invasion.

youngsters wooed for warfare by Army

MoD denies 'war glamour' claim BBC News, UK - The government has denied claims the British armed forces are glamorising war to boost recruitment. The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust says recruits are ... The report is titled "Choice? Armed Forces and Recruitment Practices in the UK" "It omits to mention or obscures the radical change from a civilian to a military lifestyle, ethical issues involved in killing, risks to physical and mental health... and the right of conscientious objection" - rmy recruiters 'misleading young' The Press Association - The Army has been accused of subjecting potential recruits to a "misleading" picture of life in the forces by glamorising warfare, leaving out vital ... Army accused of glamorising war and recruiting youngsters Guardian Unlimited, UK - 8 hours ago Potential recruits to the armed forces are given a misleading picture of military life, including the physical risks and ethical dilemmas involved, ... Report claims Army ads 'glamorise war' Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 9 hours ago By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent The Army "glamorises" war in misleading recruiting campaigns that target children as young as seven, ... MoD accused of 'glamorising' war Independent, UK - By Kim Sengupta Young people are being recruited into the Army with misleading marketing, and the disillusionment which follows has led to a huge number of ... They don’t mention the warfare - Army adverts come under attack Times Online, UK - 9 hours ago The Army is enticing young people to enlist with the aid of advertisements and leaflets that glamorise warfare and underplay the risks involved in a ... Army accused of targeting seven-year-olds with recruitment drives ... Scotsman, United Kingdom - By LINDSAY MCINTOSH THE British Army is targeting children as young as seven with recruitment campaigns that glamorise warfare, according to a damning ... Armed forces criticised for glamorising war in ads Brand Republic (subscription), UK - 53 minutes ago by Jennifer Whitehead Brand Republic 07-Jan-08, 09:00 LONDON - The British armed forces have been criticised for their recruitment techniques in a new ... Army 'misleading' potential recruits ITN, UK - Potential recruits are being given a "misleading" picture of life in the Army as war is "glamorised", a leading charity has warned. ... Youngsters 'wooed for warfare by the Army' Daily Mail, UK - Children as young as seven are being groomed for recruitment by the Army, which gives a "glamorised" and "gamelike" view of warfare, it has been claimed. ...

Do you really know who is going to be training our soldiers? Raytheon run by neocons.

Former Ministry of Homeland Security Functionary Becomes VP of Raytheon ..

Raytheon is moving into the business of homeland security, that is to say the mega-death merchant, the fifth largest “defense” manufacturer in the world, is apparently positioning itself to shamelessly profit off the emerging craze for domestic “security” from the threat posed by illusory terrorists.....

Kurt Nimmo Truth News January 2, 2007 It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling to know Raytheon is moving into the business of homeland security, that is to say the mega-death merchant, the fifth largest “defense” manufacturer in the world, is apparently positioning itself to shamelessly profit off the emerging craze for domestic “security” from the threat posed by illusory terrorists.

From United Press International:

A top U.S. government legal expert on homeland security has become a vice president of Raytheon… John M. Mitnick has joined Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC, a subsidiary of Raytheon Company, as vice president and general counsel… Mitnick was “was formerly associate counsel to the president of the United States, responsible for homeland security matters. Before moving to the White House, Mitnick served as associate general counsel for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security and as counsel to the assistant attorney general, Antitrust Division, at the Department of Justice,” the company said… “Before serving in the Bush administration, Mitnick was a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP in Atlanta, Ga., where he specialized in international and domestic mergers and acquisitions… RTSC specializes in Mission Support, counter-proliferation and counter-terrorism, homeland security solutions, base and range operations, and customized engineering and manufacturing.”

No doubt Mr. Mitnick’s expertise in the field of “international and domestic mergers and acquisitions” will come in handy, especially now that STRATCOM is taking steps to usurp the National Guard (see Air Force, state National Guard eye closer cooperation), now that the neocons have gutted the Posse Comitatus Act, which was created to prevent the a decider-commander from maintaining a standing army for use against American citizens.

Not that any of this is new — as we know, or should know if we have paid attention, the military has snooped upon and subverted the constitutional rights of the American people for some time now.

Now we are confronted with the prospect of “Raytheon’s technology and services… based on decades of experience developing and deploying solutions that perform even under the harshest and most challenging conditions” going up against the American people, or those of us who dare challenge the government.

Of course, the Constitution itself is “the harshest and most challenging” aspect of turning a once proud republic into the next labor gulag based on the China model.

Raytheon is here to help — and make a few billion in the process.

Raytheon Video - what it does