GekeVenn: NORTHROP GRUMMAN

Venns Highlighting the Military-Industrial Complex

In light of the pro-war propaganda buildup we're seeing intended to generate support for military action against Syria and Russia, I'm producing a series of GekeVenns showing the overlap of prominent companies in the military industrial complex and the federal government.

The survival of these corporations depends on continual U.S. engagement in weaponized conflict and the military's ongoing consumption of their products. It's often said that war is a racket, and this overlap shows the racket in action.

General Smedley Butler wrote the book on war racketeering. In it, he described the reasons why war must be continually promoted and executed: "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.” - War is a Racket, 1935

I would argue that Butler wasn't a gangster for capitalism; he was a gangster for corporatism. There's a big difference. Capitalism is a system of exchange that relies on the power of savings (capital) and the market force of competition. The type of pro-consumption policies that push for continual war and that depend on the ongoing anti-competitive collusion of big government and big business go against these basic premises of capitalism.

As a corporatist entity, Northrop Grumman and the other corporations highlighted in this series have employed lobbyists and specialists who were also hired as staff members of agencies and committees handling defense-related decisions, including the Defense Department, the departments of the Army and Navy, the House and Senate Armed Services committees, and various appropriations committees. Government staff positions like these allow former and future employees of companies like Northrop Grumman the ability to influence the direction of military funding, the awarding of contracts, even decisions on when and how often to engage in military conflict.

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All data collected is from OpenSecrets.org unless otherwise specified.

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Note:

David Drabkin's official title
at Northrop Grumman is
"Corporate Director, Contracts"
according to his LinkedIn profile,
but OpenSecrets.org lists him
as “lobbyist."