Global

Day of Action on Military Spending GDAMS 2.0 Organizers Packet

 Read This First.

Welcome to GDAMS 2.0, our second Global Day of Action on Military Spending on April 17, 2012. Were very excited that you joining people all over the world to protest the mind-boggling amount of money that were wasting on military spending. In 2010, the world spent over $1.6 trillion on preparing for and fighting wars, and were expecting that figure to rise in 2011 as well. Thats why were calling on people everywhere to Occupy the Military-Industrial Complex on April 17. Thanks to you, were beginning finally to see change. Some countries have actually reduced their military budgets, and theres now bipartisan support in the United States, the worlds leading spender, to cut back on the military. We have to make sure that this trend continues so that we can see real, serious reductions. If they dont hear from us and hear from A LOT of us government leaders will go back to increasing military spending when the economy improves or they think were no longer paying attention. This organizers packet will take you step-by-step through the process of organizing an event for our Global Day. We ask you to do two things on April 17: 1) Highlight last years figure for global military spending, which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute will release on April 17. Well be able to share this figure with you one week before the release. 2) Do something public and visible and eyecatching. We want to maximize media coverage of our events worldwide. Beyond that, the focus of your action is up to you. You can build your event around the amount of money your government is spending or the relationship between the huge amount spent on the military and the pennies devoted to development. You can focus on military bases or arms exports. You can protest existing wars or conflicts that threaten to break out. We want this day to be an opportunity for you to raise awareness about the issues that matter to you. In the organizers packet, youll find: 1) A letter to send out to your networks to expand your action 2) Fact Sheets on: a. International Military Expenditure b. U.S. Budget Control vs. Military Spending c. The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act d. Tax-Dodging War Profiteers 3) Examples from GDAMS 2011 to help you plan your action for GDAMS 2.0 On April 17, you will be joining with thousands and thousands of people around the world who are saying NO to the military-industrial complex and YES to a peaceful and prosperous planet.

Letter for your Networks

[Location, Date] Dear ____________, In 2010, global military spending surged to an all-time high of US $1.63 trillion. The United State was responsible for nearly half that amount, spending $698 billion. Given the numerous crises facing the planet -- economic, environmental, health, diplomatic -- it is imperative that we create a global movement to shift this money to human needs. We know that there are thousands of organizations and millions of individuals who support this point of view. We need now to begin a serious mobilizing effort to make it visible. As part of this campaign, we are organizing an event as part of the Global Day of Action on Military Spending for April 17. We will gather in [place, time], where we will [describe action]. On this day, people all over the world will join together in joint actions to focus public, political, and media attention on the costs of military spending and the need for new priorities. Such events will help us to build the international network around this issue. Please join us on April 17 so that we can make our voices heard, here in [country] and globally. Sincerely, Local organizer for the Global Day of Action on Military Spending

International Military Expenditure 2010

In 2010, global military expenditure rose to $1,630 billion, a 1.3% increase from last years figure and a 50% increase since 2001. The total expenditure translated to 2.6% of the world GDP. The United States remained the leader in military spending accounting for $19.6 billion of the $20.6 billion global increase in 2010. U.S. spending was responsible for 43% of the world total followed by: China 7.3%; UK 3.7%; France and Russia 3.6%. The list of top military spenders in 2010 is as follows (figures in billions of dollars): 1. 2. 3. 4. Between 2001 and 2009, Chinese military spending has increased 189%, but remains a small fraction of U.S. spending. 2010 also saw some annual decreases: UK - 0.8%; France - 8.4%; Russia - 1.4%; Germany - 1.3%; India - 2.8%. Regional spending figures, according to the 2010 SIPRI report are as follows: Africa measures the lowest at $30.1 billion, followed by the Middle East at $104 billion, Asia and Oceania - $314 billion, Europe - $382 billion, and the Americas at a combined $791 billion. Sub-regionally, Eastern Europe had the most rapid growth in military expenditure, increasing 88% from 2001-2010. In 2010 alone, South America and Africa experienced 5.8% (to $63.3 bn) and 5.2% (to $30.1 bn) increases respectively, the largest regional growths of the year. Total arms deliveries from the U.S. to developing nations in 2010 were over $21.9 billion, the highest total since 2006. The U.S. and Russia continue to dominate the arms market in the developing world accounting for 60.8% of all arms transfers from 2007-2010. In 2010 alone, the U.S. ranked first in both arms sales worldwide and to developing nations making up 52.7% ($21.3 billion) and 39.2% ($8.6 billion) respectively of the global total. Also, U.S. based companies held four of the top five and eight of the top ten spots in the SIPRI list of top 100 arms producing companies. U.S. - $698 China - $119 UK - $59.6 France - $59.3 5. 6. 7. 8. Russia - $58.7 Japan - $54.5 Saudi Arabia - $45.2 Germany - $45.2 9. India - $41.3 10. Italy - $37

Budget Cuts vs. the Military Industrial Complex

Obamas speeches touting decreases in military spending do not reflect any real cuts. At least not now. The Budget Control Act In his speech at the Pentagon on January 5th, Obama cited the Budget Control Act, which requires a decrease in federal spending. He allayed the militarys fears that cutting the budget would require cuts to military spending: [over] the past 10 yearsour defense budget grew at an extraordinary pace. Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow.In fact, the defense budget will still be larger than it was toward the end of the Bush administration. Americas military spending will not be cut to any degree of real significance, but will simply grow at a slower pace. Funding for the Defense Department will be decreased only in specific areas such as: 14% drawdown in troops from the armed forces, which result from Americas de-escalation in military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. In response to the troop deductions, in August 2011 the Wartime Contracting Commission released a report stating that despite the decrease in troops, there are now more than 260,000 private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. So as the military replaces soldiers with private contractors and the White House claims its extending budget cuts to the bloated Military-Industrial Complex, once again the truth is that working people who pay their taxes are stuck with the bill for the biggest military on earth, with a budget slarger than the next seventeen countries combined. According to the Fiscal Times, If defense cuts are limited to $489 billion.the administration will have to impose major new cuts in domestic programs, to avert the much larger cuts in the Pentagon budget.

Source: http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/02/14/the-proposed-2013- defense-budget-shaving-the-balloon/

The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act: What Spending Cuts?

President Obama signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at the end of 2011. While Civil Rights groups are outraged at the Acts legalization of indefinite detention without trial of citizens and non-citizens alike, the defense industry is up in arms because Obama claimed the Act would reduce the military budget. In fact, his claim was not entirely true: military spending is set to increase over the next decade. Table: Pentagon Base Budget Spending Plans Compared 2012 Budget Versus 2013, in $billions Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 FY-2012 Request 553.0 570.7 586.4 598.2 610.6 621.6 632.8 644.1 655.7 667.5 FY-2013 Request 527.6 525.4 533.6 545.9 555.9 567.3 579.3 592.4 605.4 617.9 634.2 The 2013 Pentagon base budget request was $525.4 billion, which is about 1% less than the base budget for 2012. The Overseas Contingency request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan decreased from $115.1 billion to $88.5 billion for a combined military budget of $613.9 billion. This total doesnt reflect the Department of Energys (DOE) nuclear weapons programs or other defense programs. The DOE requested $17.7 billion for nuclear weapons activities and $7.2 billion for additional defense related activities. This brings the total up to $639 billion. The amount is $30.7 billion less than the previous year, but higher than spending at the height of the Cold War. After the Korean War ended, the defense budget dropped twenty percent. After both the War in Vietnam and the Cold War it plummeted by thirty percent. After the Iraq war has supposedly ended, the US defense budget continues at historic highs! On January 12th, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta claimed 7,000 troops would be removed from Europe, and conventional weapons programs would also face cuts. As Panetta complained about dwindling ship and plane stocks, he failed to mention that the trend toward increased technological capabilities has reduced the need for less efficient ships and planes and that these numbers have been declining for several years. Washington wants to sell the idea that the Pentagon faces the same fiscal austerity as social programs, which is just plain false. On April 17th, weve got to send the message to the government and their friends in the Military Industrial Complex that we dont buy their propaganda. We know military spending cuts when we see them. What need to change are the governments priorities: the U.S. is not broke, but that doesnt mean we dont need to fix it.

Global Day of Action on Military Spending MILITARY CONTRACTOR RAP SHEET

Four military contractors who take your tax money but dodge their own obligations.

Raking in well over $50 billion in U.S. government contracts in 2010-2011, the Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin remains a giant in military contracting. But deep pockets dont come cheap. In 2011, the year of our first Global Day of Action on Military Spending, Lockheed and its subsidiaries shelled out over $15 million on lobbyists. So far in 2012, the companys employee PAC has dished at nearly $1 million directly to the campaigns of members of Congress, with over 60 percent going to congressional Republicans. The Project on Government Oversight estimates that Lockheed has had to pay over $590 million in various penalties for fraud, misconduct, and worker abuse over the years. The company has apparently also cooperated with lobbyists for the repressive Gulf monarchy of Bahrain, where Lockheed has done hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business over the years. One of the most notorious tax dodgers in the world, General Electric has been making lemonade out of lemons for decades. Its contract to construct the controversial (and unnecessary) second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was cancelled in 2011 shortly after GDAMS, but not before $3 billion was sunk on it. However, in return, GE received another long-term contract to research alternatives for the second engine, already widely considered unnecessary. In 2010, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt took home $15 million, but the company paid an astounding negative 64.1 percent corporate tax rate, receiving over $3 billion from the IRS. Astoundingly, Immelt was tapped in 2011 to head President Obamas advisory council on jobs, even as GE relocated thousands of U.S. jobs to China that year.

Although currently implementing a five- year, $75-million contract with the U.S. Army among other lucrative deals Honeywell hasnt let its considerable earnings (over $33 billion in 2010) drive up its tax bill. Thanks to its five subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, the New Jersey-based contractor actually received $471 million back from the IRS in 2010.

Boeing, the worlds leading aircraft manufacturer, is also a contracting giant. After the company secured billions of dollars worth of new government contracts in 2010-2011, Boeings vice president appeared before Congress in 2011 to lobby against future defense cuts. And even though the company pulled in nearly $10 billion in profits from 2008-2010, Boeing nonetheless took $178 million back from the IRS during that same period.

INSULT TO INJURY

Its bad enough that billions of dollars are funneled away from social priorities at home to U.S. military contractors. But worse still, according to a U.S. government report, U.S. taxpayers lost more than $1 trillion to contractor fraud in the first decade of the 2000s. Its time to redirect our tax dollars away from fraudsters, tax dodgers, and war contractorsand back to nation building at home.

GDAMS 2011: The World Says NO To Excessive Military

Rallies, Displays and Demonstrations

Spending

Athens, Greece In the iconic Syntagma Square in front of the Greek Parliament, protestors set up a visual display showing world military spending, and comparing those figures with the estimated costs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Fairfield, California At Travis Air Force Base, activists from Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, the San Francisco AFSC and Military Families Speak Out delivered their message directly to members of the U.S. Air Force as they commuted to work. They displayed banners outside the bases entrance and handed out leaflets with information on military waste, and on alternatives to military spending. Augusta, Maine 400 activists from Veterans for Peace, the Union of Maine Visual Artists and Raging Grannies filled the statehouse where a local mayor spoke out against forced local budget cuts on account of the soaring costs of war that leave cities and towns underfunded. Another theme was unity: Its time we showed the links between all the issues and put out an alternative sustainable vision for the future. Seoul, South Korea Peace activists set up a display and held a rally featuring pro- peace parliamentarians outside the Parliament building. They called for an end to militarization, and a more peace-oriented foreign policy towards other countries in the region. Seminars, Conferences and Film Screenings London, UK The Movement for the Abolition of War brought dozens of people together for a 2 hour public meeting entitled Welfare of Warfare with presenters from groups such as Scientists for Global Responsibility, War on Want and Uniting for Peace. Dadabari Kota, India The Rural Development and Youth Training Institute invited budget specialists to discuss advocacy issues and development needs with rural villagers. Virtual Advocacy Religions for Peace incorporated GDAMS into their campaign to petition the UN Security Council seeking a 10% reduction in military spending among member states. Britains Campaign Against the Arms Trade launched a Twitter Campaign, asking followers to tweet alternatives to military spending to the Treasury Department.

Dont Have the Time/Resources to Mount a Big Action? Dont Worry! Check out these Easy Actions!
1) Find a high-traffic spot in your city, gather a couple of people and hand out informative tax-day flyers: This one comes from the War Resisters League, and it shows where your tax dollars really go: 2) Create a graphic representation and set it up somewhere where many people will see it. Use the pie chart from the War-Resisters League, or use this chart based on a recent study from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It shows that we dont need the military to provide jobs, wed be much better off using that money on green jobs, healthcare and education! 3) Get your mayor to sign on to Code Pinks Conference of Mayors Anti- War Resolution, available at: http://codepink.org/article.php?id= 5774 4) Occupy the Military Industrial Complex in your area! Pay a visit to defense contractors, military bases, or lobbyists with offices in your area. Ask them why they deserve to profit off our tax dollars and catch them on tape!

5) Ask Us! Email GDAMS organizer Noah Gimbel at the Institute for Policy Studies:

ngimbel@ips-dc.org