Peace Economy Not War Economy

Codepink GoldenGate invites everyone to join in Codepink’s campaign opposing the $54 Billion increase in military spending by telling companies that build weapons for  the military that increased military spending is not making us safer, it runs up the debt and it only profits a few. CodePink GoldenGate  paid a visit to General Dynamics to tell them make peace, not weapons! (story below) Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, a company whose annual report boasts of being “…proud to stand with our international partners to enhance their capabilities to protect the lives of citizens and build a brighter future…”, it seems like a good time to tell Marillyn Hewson that selling weapons to the repressive Saudi regime will not protect lives of Yemeni citizens nor build a brighter future, it will only intensify, prolong the war and the suffering of women and children.

Marillyn Hewson, the highest paid female, CEO fashions herself a role model for women, but her company is selling weapons to the Saudi regime, weapons that are killing and maiming women and children day after day.

President Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia resulted in a massive $110 billion arms deal, and a big chunk of that, $28 billion, will go to Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin brags that it plays a major role in “strengthening United States and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ties to bolster global security.” The company is selling the Saudi military everything from integrated air and missile defense systems to combat ships to tactical aircraft and rotary wing technologies. All will be used to further the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen that has been aggravating both regional and international tensions. Yemen’s Houthi militia, which controls large portions of the country and is aligned with Iran, is battling Saudi Arabia and its allies for control of the country and strategic ports along the Yemeni coast.The Trump administration’s derogatory  language, along with recent new sanctions it imposed on Tehran, will not de-escalate the situation, it will only escalate the state of war. This war has lead to widespread famine of women an children in Yemen

Marillyn Hewson needs to put people over profit. She should not be facilitating the war in Yemen, where a child dies every 10 minutes from the consequences of war.  And since we know that President Trump has become a global salesman for her company, she should give him a call. Tell Trump that instead of arming dictators, he should push his Saudi buddies to announce a ceasefire and negotiate a political solution to the war that is so devastating to the people of Yemen.

Please sign the follow letter to Marillyn Hewson to be a real model for women and live up to her company’s motto about “engineering a better tomorrow” by refusing to sell weapons to the Saudi regime.

Dear Marillyn A. Hewson,

Please help us engineer a better tomorrow by immediately halting all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. U.S. supported Saudi bombings of Yemen have caused a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions. As the CEO of Lockheed Martin you have the opportunity to prevent further exacerbation of the crisis in Yemen. Please halt Lockheed Martin weapon sales to Saudi Arabia.

Sincerely,

Sign letter to Marilyn Hewson.

We told General Dynamics that we want them to transition to peacetime work. They make billions of dollars a year; their CEO makes over $20 million/year. That’s $10,000/hour! How does she sleep at night with the knowledge of the death and destruction caused by her Tomahawk missles, Abrams tanks, F-16 fighter jets, Trident nuclear submarines, depleted uranium and surveillance of citizens? We want to help her and her company transition from merchants of death to peace. They can make things people need instead of manufacturing death and destruction. We want clean air and water, clean sustainable energy, clean healthy food grown locally and without GMOs and toxic chemicals, we want our tax dollars to provide healthcare for all, education, care for our youth and elderly, repair and construction of infrastructure, respect for all people.

Thank you Mary Ann, Claire, Elana, Fumi, Susan, George, Craig, Ellen, Jimminywinks, Peter.

Our environmental and human needs are desperate and urgent. We need to transform our war economy to a peace economy and our politics, our policies and our priorities need to reflect that reality. That means reversing the flow of our tax dollars, away from war and militarism towards funding human and environmental needs, and demanding support for that reversal from all our political leaders at the local, state and national levels  so that people are put above profits.

Stay tuned for monthly Codepink Golden Gate ruckus and action, and join us! Help us plan and carry out actions calling for cuts to military spending and promoting a peace economy.

Part of Codepink’s #No54BillionforWar” Campaign is to get a resolution passed in your city or with your mayor opposing the $54 billion increase in military spending. click for more info here: http://www.codepink.org/no54billionforwar

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People before profits!
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