Audio reveals defense contractors lauding the ‘benefits’ of escalating war in the Middle East

Last week, defense contractors met with Credit Suisse in West Palm Beach for a conference, in which they discussed the “benefits” of the recent ISIS attacks in Western countries as well as the growing instability in the Middle East.

In an exclusive from The Intercept, Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Bruce Tanner mentioned the increased need for rockets and other “expendable” products, especially by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia due to the war in Yemen. This war started off as a civil war, but Saudi Arabia decided to intervene. Now, Saudi Arabia is razing entire towns in Yemen — so of course they need more rockets.

Saudi Arabia is also suspected of helping ISIS, but U.S. defense contractors are so comfortable selling to Saudi Arabia, they brag about the profits in conferences.

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Lochkheed Martin is not alone in selling to Saudi Arabia. Raytheon Chief Executive Tom Kennedy echoed Tanner’s sentiment, detailing a personal meeting with Saudi King Salman.

This isn’t surprising. U.S. defense contractors selling to our enemies and then having those same guns used against us later down the line is par for the course. What’s amazing is how frank and open their comments are.

Oshkosh president Wilson Jones discussed the benefits of a greater ISIS threat, which is resulting in more interest in armored vehicles from nearby countries.

The excitement in the U.S. defense contractors’ conference last week makes sense. After the attacks in Paris, President François Hollande immediately started looking into military solutions. With the Russian airliner (which many agree was shot down) exploding back in October and Turkey downing that Russian warplane a few weeks ago (in addition to everything else with ISIS and Saudi Arabia amping up in recent months), U.S. defense contractors stand to make a lot of money.

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No doubt we’ll see these weapons again in wartime soon.

Listen to the audio below, via firstlookmedia:

[The Intercept, IYON] Featured image via Flickr