http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/pipermail/margins-to-centre/2005-January/000085.html

[m2c] Background Info on Lockheed Martin

(at May 2012, text below and at above link.  The original link is invalid – http://www.actagainstwar.org/article.php?id=165)

Background Info on Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin:  World’s Largest Weapons Manufacturer

Included below is information on Lockheed’s Contribution to:

• “Shock and Awe” campaign
• Arms exports and human rights violations
• Land mines and depleted uranium weapons
• Nuclear and ballistic missile defense contracts
• Violation of corporate ethics
• Health and environmental concerns
• Influence peddling: abuse of political connections

I.    Lockheed’s contribution to “Shock and Awe”

The current US war against Iraq is based on a campaign of Shock and Awe.

Lockheed Martin Corporation manufactures several of the tactical strike weapons including air to surface and cruise missiles (AGM-142 and HAVE LITE air to ground missiles, AUP and BLU-109 conventional “bunker buster” missiles and the JASSM long range conventional air to ground missiles) used in this Shock and Awe campaign.

“Shock and Awe” warfare explicitly targets civilian infrastructure such as water supplies, food processing, electricity power grids and sanitation. It emphasizes bombing in such a way as to “create fear” and cause severe, widespread “psychological and emotional effects.”i This is in explicit violation of a 1977 protocol of the Geneva Convention, Article 54 “Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population”.  For actual text go to: http://www.deoxy.org/wc/wc-proto.htm.

The “smart” weapons manufactured by Lockheed Martin have been used in the US bombing within Baghdad and throughout Iraq resulting in over 1000 confirmed civilian casualties (for the most recent numbers go to http://www.iraqbodycount.net/) so far ii. Some examples include:

• March 2nd at approximately 9:45 AM the UK and US use tactical air strike capabilities to strike target in Basra killing six civilians.iii
• March 22nd at approximately 11:30 AM Basra is bombarded using missiles and cluster munitions killing up to 77 civilians and injuring hundreds.iv
• March 22nd missiles strikes kill approximately 100 civilians in the Vicinityof Khormal, Kurdistanv
• March 23rd an air to surface missile strikes a Syrian passenger bus carrying Syrian civilians out of Iraq killing at least 5 people and injuring many more.vi
• March 26th cruise missiles hit Al-Shaab neighborhood in Baghdad killing approximately 15 civilians and injuring hundreds.
• March 29th Explosion at a Baghdad market that killed at least 62 civiliansvii
• April 1st At least 11 civilians, most of them children, were killed when U.S. bombs hit a residential district in the town of Hilla in central Iraqviii

These numbers do not reflect the overall number of casualties in Iraq. They do not show the number of Iraqi soldiers or government personal that have been killed. These figures also ignore deaths caused by factors such as bombed water treatment plants, destruction of medical facilities and supplies, toxic residues from weaponry (such as Depleted Uranium), and
malnourishment resulting from social disruption. These numbers also do not show the exact numbers of Iraqi people permanently injured from US / UK attacks. In supplying missiles for the “shock and awe” tactic that directly affects non-combatant populations and severely damages key civilian infrastructure, Lockheed Martin missiles has contributed to the violation of
international humanitarian law.

II. Arms exports and Human Rights Violations

Since 1992, the United States has exported more than $142 billion dollars worth of weaponry to states around the world.ix  The U.S. dominates this international arms market, supplying just under half of all arms exports in 2001, roughly two and a half times more than the second and third largest suppliers.x  U.S. weapons sales help outfit non-democratic regimes, soldiers who commit gross human rights abuses against their citizens and citizens of other countries, and forces in unstable regions on the verge of, in the middle of, or recovering from conflict. The United States supplied arms or military technology to more than 92% of the conflicts under way in 1999.xi

In addition to paying billions of dollars every year to support weapons exports, Americans may also feel the impact of increasing instability overseas. The United States military has had to face troops previously trained by its own military or supplied with U.S. weaponry in Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan and now in Iraq.

Lockheed Martin with a share of 24% of US arms exports  xii  is the world’s largest arms exporting company. Former company CEO Norman Augustine was a major lobbyist on behalf of the more than $7 billion per year in grants and subsidized loans that the U.S. government provides to U.S. arms exporters each year to help them hawk their products around the world.

Both Augustine and company Vice President Bruce Jackson have also been major supporters of the expansion of NATO, in hopes of selling combat aircraft and other weapons systems to new NATO members states.

Lockheed Martin’s most lucrative export item is the F-16 combat aircraft.  The company has sold over 3,000 F-16s to overseas customers since the  mid-1970s, and the client list for the plane includes Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Egypt, and Venezuela. In late 2001, the company won what has been touted as “the largest defense
contract in history,” a $19 billion development contract for the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter program. Potential customers are Germany, Turkey and Israel in addition to the US and UK Armed forces.

A report by Human Rights Watch on the decade-long conflict in Kurdistan, Turkey (in which about 2,200 Kurdish villages have been destroyed, and an estimated 19,000 people, many of them civilians, have died) said “The US is deeply implicated in the Turkish government’s counterinsurgency policy and practices through its provision of arms and political support, and is aware of the abuses being committed, but has chosen to downplay Turkish violations for strategic reasons.” Among the weapons sold to Turkey are those produced by Lockheed Martin including the F-16 fighter jet.

Israel has violated International Humanitarian Law by using Lockheed Martin’s ‘Hellfire’ missiles to attack civilian facilities in Lebanon and kill hundreds of Lebanese civilians. It has used helicopters manufactured by Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin, General Electric and Longbow LLC to carry out more than 50 extra-judicial executions of Palestinians.xiii

III. Landmines, Depleted Uranium Weapons

Some of most blatant violation of Human Rights that Lockheed Martin is actively participating in is the production of anti-personnel landmines and depleted Uranium weapons.

Anti-personnel mines are inherently indiscriminate and therefore are a violation of international human rights law. Global landmine contamination has been recognized by the international community as a pressing humanitarian crisis. In some sixty-eight nations, fields, deserts, forests, roads and waterways are littered with an estimated 110 million mines.

Antipersonnel mines claim a victim every twenty minutes–more than 26,000 each year. Almost all of the killed and maimed are civilians, often women and children, nearly always after the cessation of active hostilities. Mines have an average life span of fifty to one hundred years. Many are nearly undetectable because of their low metallic content. Some of the most popular varieties of antipersonnel mines cost as little as $3. Companies around the world have declared that they will not longer be involved in the production of anti-personal land mines. Lockheed Martin and many other companies, have refused to stop the production of anti-personnel mines.

Lockheed Martin produces AUP -3(M) Depleted Uranium missiles. The US is using depleted Uranium shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction alongside nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, napalm, and cluster bombs. The 2002 UN sub commission report ruled that the use of Depleted Uranium weapons breaches humanitarian and human rights laws including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the charter of the United Nations, the Genocide Convention, the Convention against Torture, the four Geneva conventions of 1949, the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980 and the Hague conventions. Depleted Uranium contaminates land, causes respiratory ailments, cancers and other diseases among the soldiers using the weapons, the armies they target and civilians, leading to birth defects in children. It is cited as the most likely cause of the six to ten-fold increase in cancer in Iraq after the Gulf war of 1991.xiv

IV. Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missile Defense Contracts

Lockheed Martin is a major developer of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile defense.

The company received over $2 billion for nuclear weapons design work from the Department of Energy. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Trident II Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), a multiple-warhead, long-range missile which is produced for deployment on the Trident submarine. The Trident II is the only long-range U.S. nuclear missile currently in production. The company is also involved in the design and production of nuclear warheads through its role as the prime contractor for Sandia National Laboratories, a nuclear weapons engineering and design lab funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The company also has a major subcontract at the Nevada Test Site to carry out “subcritical testing” of new nuclear weapons designs, a form of testing that attempts to exploit possible loopholes in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (which the United States has failed to ratify.)

Even as it profits from working on the next generation of nuclear weapons, Lockheed Martin is also heavily invested in ballistic missile defense. The company is the lead contractor for the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program, a system designed to intercept medium-to-long-range ballistic missiles. Even though the THAAD system has failed in 6 out of 8 tests to date, last year the company received a contract extension worth up to $4 billion for continuing work on the system. Lockheed Martin is also designing and building the payload launch vehicle which is slated to be used to launch the interceptor and “kill vehicle” for the land-based version of National Missile Defense; serving as prime contractor for the Space-Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High), a space-based early warning system for missile defense which has been plagued by cost overruns and technical problems; serving as a major contractor for the Space-Based Laser (SBL)  program, a favorite of Star Wars boosters which is currently scheduled for its first test in 2012, but may be accelerated under the Bush/Rumsfeld missile defense plan; and playing a central role in “Team ABL”, a partnership which involves Boeing, TRW, and Lockheed Martin in the design and production of the Airborne Laser (ABL), which is meant to place lasers on 747 aircraft for use in attacking medium-range ballistic missiles in their boost or ascent phases.

According to World Court Opinion (July 8, 1996) “the threat or use of  nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict.” Ballistic Missile Defense is contrary to the requirements of the U.S.-Russia Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty of 1972 which is called “the cornerstone of the contemporary process of nuclear deterrence and non proliferation” and Article VI of the 1970  Non-Proliferation Treaty. It encourages other countries to build more nuclear weapons and delivery systems to overwhelm any missile defense system.xv By developing nuclear weapons and Ballistic Missile Defence systems, Lockheed Martin Missiles is guilty of violating international law.

V. Lockheed Martin’s systematic violation of corporate ethics    xvi

Lockheed Martin has been convicted in numerous cases of violating corporate ethical principles

Contract violations – In May 2000, a $4.25 million settlement agreement was reached between the Government and Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems. Lockheed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds were improperly used while performing a FMS contract with Egypt to upgrade four sonar systems used by the Egyptian military.

Foreign Corrupt Practices – Lockheed was convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) during the sale of three cargo planes to Egypt in 1993 and was fined a total of $24.8 million. In 2000, Lockheed received the largest fine in the history of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act for illegal technology transfers to China that may have been utilized to improve Beijing’s ballistic missiles.

Conspiracy and Retaliation – In 1996, Lockheed was sued by a former employee who alleged a conspiracy to prevent him from testifying during the 1993 FCPA  trial mentioned above and then retaliated against him by firing him after he testified.

Bribery – According to Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with the New York Times, “Lockheed has a criminal history that includes paying millions of dollars in bribes.” From the late 1970s when Lockheed admitted to paying $22 million in bribes to win contracts in Europe and Japan in the infamous ‘Lockheed scandal’, Lockheed has a history of convictions for bribing government officials including those of Japan, Holland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and Egypt. It is the second largest repeat corporate offender in the US with 63 violations, having paid total fines and settlements of  over $230 million since 1990xvii. Lockheed is currently barred from bidding on contracts in New York City where officials of Mayor Dinkins were caught showing it favoritism during a contracting bid.

Racism – In 2000, workers at Lockheed’s plant in Marietta, Georgia, filed a lawsuit charging Lockheed with racial and other forms of discrimination. The workers claimed that corporate officials systematically passed over the group of mostly black workers for promotions, discriminated in pay, and fostered a hostile work environment. In one case a worker whose supervisor was a member of the Ku Klux Klan with his robes openly displayed in the office, was forced to get a pass to go to the restroom and had to be escorted there. In another case a worker found a hangman’s noose in his workplace. The parties arrived at a partial settlement.

Payoffs for Layoffs – When Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta in 1995 they used U.S. taxpayer money to fund the $1 billion cost of plant shutdowns and employee relocations and then fired 19,000 taxpaying workers. During the same merger, the two companies rewarded their top officials with $31 million in federal money, one-third of the total bonus package they gave themselves.

VI. Health and Environmental Concerns

Lockheed Martin has systematically polluted the environment surrounding its weapons manufacturing plants.

In November 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that a former Lockheed plant is the likely cause of the contamination of water wells with per chlorate (a toxic component of rocket fuel) in San Bernardino County. In 2001, the EPA began national testing of water supplies for per chlorate in preparation for setting national regulations on the chemical.  If Lockheed Martin can persuade the state and EPA not to set strict standards for per chlorate allowed in drinking water, the company will save millions of dollars in cleanup costs. The Times reported that on behalf of Lockheed Martin, Loma Linda University is conducting the first large-scale tests of per chlorate on human subjects (up to 83 time the current ‘safe’ level) by paying 100 people $1000 each to eat a six-month daily dose — a step medical researchers and environmentalists called morally unethical and scientifically invalid.

Lockheed has caused significant toxic contamination in Silicon Valley and elsewhere and has been sued by workers for exposing them to toxics in irresponsible ways. In Palo Alto, Lockheed has a toxic leach site. In 1986 the state Health Services Department sued Lockheed for illegal storage and treatment of hazardous wastes (including toxic leaks and removal of hazardous waste pipelines) at its Sunnyvale plant. Lockheed agreed to pay $1.3 million. In 1988 1,500 gallons of water containing chromium flowed into a storm drain at the plant. In the same year a Lockheed employee sued saying her stillborn baby’s defects were caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy while working at the Sunnyvale plant.xviii  As of 1989 toxic plumes were identified in both shallow and deep groundwater under the Lockheed Sunnyvale site and were spreading. (They are now believed to be contained but not eliminated.) In 1991 when selling its surplus land in Burbank, Lockheed spent an estimated $200 million to cleanse contaminated soil but recovered most of the cost from the Department of Defense at taxpayer expense xix

Press reports in l988 note that the secrecy imposed by Silicon Valley military contractors hinders toxic inspectors, requiring inspectors to give weeks or even months notice before they are given access. Firefighters have been impeded in their work by company security guards and employees’ doctors are often not told about their patients’ toxic exposures. In Burbank, California, Lockheed workers sued in l988 over toxic exposure in the plant believed to have built the Stealth fighter airplane. Over 160 workers, nearly all working in the same area of the plant became ill. Citing national security, Lockheed refused to allow inspectors without security clearances full access to the plant and workers said that they were not allowed to explain to their own doctors what they thought might be causing them to become ill.

In Paducah, Kentucky workers at the enriched uranium plant operated by Lockheed Martin from l984 until the spring of 2000 suffered extreme exposure to uranium and plutonium. Workers there worked in a fog of uranium and plutonium contaminated dust that coated the floor, their skin and even their teeth. They were told that uranium was non-hazardous and were not told that some of the material they handled was contaminated with highly dangerous plutonium. Despite the extreme negligence, the plant’s status as a nuclear production plant and as a Superfund site limits lawsuits. The National Resources Defense Council has, nonetheless, brought suit on behalf of the U.S. government. They argue that Lockheed obtained money from the government fraudulently since it disposed of radioactive waste illegally and violated federal regulations concerning worker health and safety.xx

Martin Marietta was also an illegal polluter prior to its merger with Lockheed. William Sanjour, chief of he Hazardous Waste Technology and Assessment Branch from l974 to l978, writes that DOE contractor Martin Marietta knowingly shipped radioactive waste to incinerators not permitted to accept radioactive waste, while taking pains to eradicate that fact from the shipping papers. At present, in Russia, Lockheed Martin is disposing of its used rocket engines by a process so toxic it is outlawed in the US.

VII. Influence Peddling: Lockheed Martin’s Political Connections

Lockheed Martin is the “leader of the PACs” * Political Action Committees * among U.S. weapons manufacturing firms. According to data assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics, the company made over $10.6 million in campaign contributions to candidates and party committees from 1990 to 2000, including $3.4 million in donations in the run-up to the year 2000 elections. The company’s contributions are targeted towards the politicians that are in the position to do it the most good. For example, Lockheed Martin served as one of a select group of corporate sponsors that pitched in $60,000 each to support the “Lott Hop,” a dance party fundraiser that was held in honor of then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott during the Republican convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 2000. The company has also pledged a $1 million contribution in support of the “Trent Lott Leadership Institute” at the University of Mississippi. Lockheed Martin was the top corporate contributor to members of the House Armed Services Committee during 1999/2000, and among the top ten contributors to the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The company has strong ties to both major parties. Lockheed Martin Vice-President Bruce Jackson was a top fundraiser for the Dole for President campaign in 1996, and he was the chief drafter of the foreign policy platform of the Republican party for the year 2000 elections. Meanwhile, former Lockheed Martin board member and major shareholder Bernard Schwartz, the CEO of Loral Space, was a top soft money donor to the Democratic Party during the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections, contributing $601,000 and $1.1 million to Democratic committees during those election cycles, respectively.

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i “Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance” by Harlan K. Ullman, James P. Wade et. al. NDU Press
ii Iraq Body Count Project
iii Reuters 03 Mar
iv Reuters 23 Mar
v ABC[AU] 22 Mar
vi Reuters 24 Mar
vii The Independent,UK 02 April
viii Reuters 01 April
ix Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deliveries and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) deliveries, FY1990-FY2000
x “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1993-2000.” CRS Report for Congress, R.F. Grimmet.
xi World Policy Institute.
xii SIPRI arms industry database, 1999.
xiii Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment(LAW)
xiv The Sunday Herald, UK
xv “A Maginot line in the sky – International perspectives on Ballistic Missile Defense” edited by D. Krieger & C. Ong
xvi ‘The Real Rogues’, K. Martin et. al., Z magazine, 2000
xvii Project on Government Oversight fact sheet
xviii San Jose Mercury News
xix Los Angeles Times, 1992
xx Amicus Journal of the NRDC, Winter, 2000