Know Your Local War Profiteers
author: sr
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As the occupation in Iraq rolls into its 5th year, the private corporations that provide necessary logistical support for the war effort are looking forward to another year of high profits--millions of dollars subsidized by the deaths of over a million humans. Some of these criminals are in our town, and it's our responsibility to stop them.
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The occupation of Iraq is possibly the most heavily privatized war in history. Almost all of the tasks formerly completed by the government and the military have been outsourced, from laundry and food services to providing security for diplomats. War has always been for the sake of the rich, but we have reached unprecedented levels of corporate greed and profits, turning death and occupation into a corporate windfall.
One result of this outsourcing, however, is that the military is no longer able to do its job without the support of hundreds of contractors and subcontractors. Without the Blackwaters, the KBRs, the Freightliners, and so forth, the military would be unable to maintain a presence in Iraq.
Many of those corporations operate here, in Portland, right under our noses. Using our collective resources, polluting our rivers and skies, these companies are here because we let them in. It's time to take responsibility for our complicity, bring attention to these criminals, and tell them: get out of the war, or get out of Portland!
So who are they? Where do they work? Where do their bosses live? Below is a short list of some of the criminal outfits in town, along with their crimes and addresses.
FREIGHTLINER LLC
Between November 1, 2006 and the present Freightliner has been awarded $360,377,350 by the US Army,according to contracts listed on defenselink.mil
This includes trucks, equipment transports, tractors, and other vehicular support--the backbone of the US Army.
Freightliner LLC is located at 4747 N Channel Ave. Jim Fenske is the Program Manager for US Military Programs. Give him a call at: (503) 745-8855 and ask him to get out of Iraq, or visit city hall to find his home address and pay him a visit.
WELLS FARGO
Wells Fargo is one of the largest single stockholders in the GEO Group, a private prison outfit with prisons and detention centers spread across the world. Among many others, the GEO Group runs the ICE (Immigrations & Customs Enforcement) Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. This detention center can hold up to 1,000 detainees, in miserable conditions. The attack on immigrants at home is but another face of the eternal war we're waging abroad, and the war the government is waging on our civil liberties. The Geo Group also operates a Migrant Operations Center in Guantanamo Bay, on the grounds of the Naval Base, adjacent to the more infamous "Gitmo".
Ironically, Wells Fargo is also one of the largest methods of private remittances--money sent home to family abroad by working immigrants. They benefit off of the cash transfers of the migrant community on one hand, and profit off of their incarceration with the other.
Wells Fargo branches and ATMs are plastered all over town. In addition, the giant Wells Fargo skyscraper in the middle of downtown is home to their regional offices. Give them a call, pay them a visit, or close their ATMs for them. Banks, more than any other company, are utterly useless without a constant flow of money in and out. Close their ATMs and their doors, and they'll feel it.
BOEING
Everybody knows Boeing, our favorite second-largest military contractor in the world. Boeing moved its headquarters out of Seattle a few years back, but it maintains a plant and offices near our very own PDX Airport. They use our land, our airspace, and our atmosphere up in a constant drive to produce more weapons, more carbon-emitting jets, and more pollution. Tell them to get out of Iraq, or out of our city.
19000 Ne Sandy Blvd
FLIR
Manufacturer of infrared detection technology, night vision equipment, surveillance technology, and more, FLIR has its hands in every conceivable pocket of the military-prison-surveillance-security-industrial complex. They're the primary supplier of infrared technology to the US Military, as well as many other countries' militaries, and also make a killing off of private prisons, private security, and surveillance companies.
Listing their contracts with the US Military since the beginning of the Iraq war would take pages, but suffice it to say that they've been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts. Poke around at defencelink.mil if you're interested
Their world headquarters are located at 16505 SW 72nd Ave, Portland, OR
CASCADE GENERAL SHIPYARDS
Awarded a $9,052,654 contract in December 2007 to refit the USNS Alan Shepard, a dry cargo/ammunitions ship intended to be part of a carrier strike group. With an increasing buildup of Navy fleets in the Persian Gulf, and the looming threat of war with Iran, allowing the government to refit a death-ship in our own city borders on criminally negligent.
The work is scheduled to be completed by April 2008. Maybe it won't be...
Conveniently located at 5555 N Channel Ave, just down the road from Freightliner...
And do remember, all, that the war machine can't function without naive conscripts, either. There are still plenty of military recruiting offices in Portland, preying on our youth. They eat kids to get more medals and badges, and to ensure high profit margins for all of the companies profiting off of endless war. They're starting to get the hint that they're not welcome, but let's make them more aware than ever.
Of course there are always more companies, and everyone has their finger in some part of the military-industrial complex. It's impossible without radical change to dissociate ourselves completely, but while we're working on the revolution, let's take responsibility for what we CAN change. Get these criminals out of our town, or make sure they get themselves out when their profits fall steeply. Let's make it too hot for them to stay in Portland
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