By Norm Dixon
Whatever direction NATO's attack on former Yugoslavia takes in coming weeks — either a ground war or a deal that ends the bombing — there is one group of people who cannot lose — United States capitalists.
On May 20, the US Congress approved $12 billion — twice what President Clinton asked for — to pay for the US-directed NATO war against Belgrade and its associated costs. It has been estimated that the US has spent more than $4 billion so far, and inflicted more than $100 billion damage.
The bulk of the money will be used to replace US missiles. The cost of navy Tomahawk and air force cruise and other missiles can average $1 million each. The "precision-guided" bombs that have been destroying hospitals, buses, trains and houses in Bulgaria cost around $60,000 each.
The war has already been a bonanza for US military contractors, and the move to a ground war in Kosova, or supplying a "peacekeeping" force, will mean more big bikkies.
General Dynamics, maker of the M-1 tank, Boeing Corp, maker of the Apache helicopter, and Aerospace giants such as Lockheed Martin Corp, which makes the F-16 fighter jet, are well positioned to top up their bank accounts.
Besides the F-16, Lockheed makes the C-130, a propeller-driven transport aircraft considered a front-runner for use in either ground war or "peacekeeping" operations.
"There's been so many mergers in this business over the last decade that the vast majority of US military items are concentrated in not more than a dozen companies", Loren Thompson, a defence analyst at the Lexington Institute, a corporate-funded research group, told the May 20 New York Times.
General Dynamics' products would be most widely used if NATO expands its effort to a ground war. General Dynamics' M-1 tanks are used by the US army. The company also makes many of the surface ships that would provide missile support, such as the Aegis-class destroyers.
Boeing's Apache attack helicopters, Kiowa scout helicopters made by Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopter Unit, and Black Hawk helicopters made by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a unit of United Technologies Corporation, would also be used.
"The biggest single item for any ground war would be munitions", Thompson told the New York Times. These include "Hellfire" missiles made by Lockheed Martin, whose joint venture with Boeing — Longbow Limited Liability Company — recently won a $327.3 million US defence contract for more than 10,000 "Hellfire" Longbow missiles. Alliant Techsystems Inc. makes tank munitions for General Dynamics.
Shipping firms will also make a tidy sum out of either scenario. More than 90% of all supplies needed in a ground war or a significant US "peacekeeping" force are shipped by sea. Under US law, all US military cargo must be carried by US flag vessels.
Of course, when "peace" comes to former Yugoslavia, there will be even more loot to be made from rebuilding everything that was destroyed by NATO's "humanitarian" bombs and missiles.
E-mail subscribers to Jane's Defence Weekly were excitedly informed on May 26 about a special issue of the magazine: "The rebuilding of South-eastern Europe could start before the end of the Kosovo conflict. Billions of dollars will flow into the region over the next 10 years. The European Union estimates $3.5 billion will be needed to rebuild Kosovo alone.
"If you have equipment and or services which can be used to rebuild this region, you will find the information you need in Jane's Balkans Reconstruction Report. Written by Jane's experts, the report will cover key areas such as * explosive ordnance disposal * environmental clean-up * airports and traffic control * railways * roads and bridges * ports and maritime transport * utilities * telecommunications * plus the cost to the West and the challenges of a peacekeeping force.
"Tendering for business will be highly competitive."