3th FLEET 4 aircraft

‘wed carriers 67 combat a ships eA

US MILITARY BUILD-UP

1. STRATEGIC FORCES NAME NUMBER

ICBM “TITAN -2” 54

ICBM “MINUTEMAN 2” 450 . COM “MINUTEMAN 3° 550 SLBM “POLARIS” 160

SLBM “POSEIDON” and “TRIDENT” 496 HEAVY BOMBERS 573

TOTAL CARRIERS 2283 TOTAL NUCLEAR WARNEADS ANO BOMBS 9200

2. AIR FORCES “FB-1i" BOMBERS 86 TACTICAL AVIATION 2513 AIR DEFENCE FIGHTERS 346 RESERVE FIGHTERS 870 TOTAL 3816 3. NAVY A. SHIPS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS 3 CRUISERS 3% DESTROYERS 100 FRIGATES 72 SUBMARINES:

nuciesr rocket launchers 41

ATOMIC 74

devsel 6 TROOP CARRIERS 65 SUPPORT SHIPS 198 TOTAL $95 B. NAVAL AIRFORCES

nwal aircraft 1076

marine air transport t 462

naval air detense 616 TOTAL . 2154

4. US MILITARY PERSONNEL (thousands)

ARMY 7738 NEAVY 523.6 MARINE TROOPS 190,0 AIR FORCE $62.6

2050,0

TOTAL

urgent problems, it spurs inflation, creates unemployment, and encour- ages governments to adopt cutback policies in social services so bigger chunks of the money raised in taxes can go to the war budget. It aggravates the misery and poverty of the under- developed part of the world, heightens tensions between east and west- and makes nuclear war more and more likely.

PEACE — THE MAJOR CHALLENGE OF THE 1980s

ji New US miiitary beses : / {established in Kenys, Somali, Oman, Egypt o

6th FLEET 2 aircraft

carriers

| 7 4009 carriers | 12 combat = | j

Pert

5 submarines 14 support = |

NATO countries having US nuclear bombs on their territory.

peo Kingdom

tee

The International Association of Machinists did a study in 1979. which demonstrated conclusively that there were more jobs for its members in civi- lian industry than in military produc- tion. “‘As the military budget goes up and procurement contracts rise, ma- chinists’ jobs in military industry stead- ily decline’, Marion Anderson, the study’s author said.

She estimated that a Pentagon budget of $124-billion actually costs the IAM membership 118,000 civilian jobs. The IAM experiences a net job loss of 30,000 when the 88,000 jobs which this level of U.S. military spending gen-

tay OUTSIDE THE U.S. THERE ARE:

a

Ce

SOURCES:

" DIEGO-GARCIA 3.000

Department of Defense Annual Report FY ¥ 1981. United States Foreign Policy Objecuves CANADA 700 * and Overseas Military Installations. Prepared SAUD! ARABIA 400

for the Committee on Foreign Relations, United

and

The nial cost of war preparations

Continued from page 15

down the tubes every year to keep the U.S. war machinery going is dan- gerously stupid. It wastes precious re- sources which could be used to tackle

erates, is subtracted from the 118,000 civilian jobs that same budget would generate ifnot spent on war production.

A 1978 study entitled the Empty Pork —

Barrel, also conducted by Anderson, found that $78-billion invested annually in military production costs the U.S. an annual job loss of 907,000 jobs. For every additional $1-billion added to the war budget 11,600 job opportunities are lost to American workers.

‘‘The current $124-billion military budget’’, Anderson wrote, ‘‘is costing the jobs of 1,440,000 Americans.”’

Anderson estimates that the impact of $78-billion into military spending also has drastic effects on other sectors of the economy. When civilian indus-

trial and service jobs lost (or not

created) as a result of the war budget are counted, at an investment of $78-bil- lion on arms some 3,253,000 jobs are lost.

If the government transferred $1-bil- lion to civilian industry from the war budget it would create 14,000 more jobs than are created in the military sector. The same billion if applied to the government sector at local or state levels, Anderson found, would help _expand instead of cutting back on ser- “vices by creating some 30, 000 more

jobs. .

From the workers’ point of view it makes sense. You can’t spend the same

- tax dollar on arms and on the things you

need. It’s no wonder big-business pushes the lie that war production is good for

the economy and creates jobs. There /

Research Sercice. Washington, 1979. US News World Report December 31,

a e US OVERSEAS © MILITARY PERSONNEL

3 ‘EUROPE

i Ss: FRG

im, UNITED KINGDOM ATALY

SPAIN

TURKEY ‘io, GREECE ICELAND ; NETHERLANDS 2.200 BELGIUM 2.000 * PORTUGAL t 1.400 = OTHER COUNTRIES. . 6th FLEET

TOTAL “> FAR EAST AND PACIFIC JAPAN AND OKINAWA 46.200

PHILIPPINES “ GUAM : » AUSTRALIA 1.700 = MIDWAY 500 ¢ OTHER COUNTRIES 300 7th FLEET

© TOTAL

_ LATIN AMERICA

2 OTHER COUNTRIES , BERMUDA 5 1.300

US NAVY 3.500 Sth FLEET 16.000

Senate by the Congressional

are big bucks for them in convincing people its true. ;

The transnational corporations; who ~ are giants in military production, and they include such household names as General Electric, General Motors, even Kodak, earn on average 20-30% more profits than corporations who don’t have anything to do with government contracts for military production.

It’s beginning to sink in more and more that price gouging and profiteer- ing are the root causes of inflation, and the blame for it lies squarely with big business. who make all the decisions and set all the prices.

But in the realm of military produc- tion the bonanza is even greater for the corporate pigs at the great public trough. Most government contracts with the transnationals are on a cost- plus basis. That means that profits are calculated on a percentage of the cor- poration’s production costs.

The higher the costs, the higher the profits, and big business isn’t shy about pouring it to the taxpayers. A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office

’ (GAO) in 1978 showed that 55 major Pentagon projects originally estimated

to cost $125-billion by September of

_ that year actually wound up costing

$210-billion. The GAO reported that one-third of the $85-billion cost overrun

-was caused by inflation, the other $57-

billion resulted clearly from waste, mismanagement or bad planning. _ Actually it was pretty good planning from the corporate viewpoint. = — Mike Phillips

Practicing for a game of death Air Force reservists practice for chemical wartare by playing baseball in full protec-

__ tive gear. The United States armed forces have been moving ahead with plans to” expen. wie ve ee of poison gas wenpnns outgwed bs uernatonsl seme