Why are we at war?

[Octafish]

I'd like to know the reason or reasons why we are still at war in Afghanistan -- and so many other places around the world.

I'd also like to know who benefits from our nation being at war?

[unhappycamper]

1. Why does a dog lick its balls?

Because it can.

Who profits? All of the firms in here --> http://www.defense.gov/contracts/

[Octafish]

6. ''Money Trumps Peace. Sometimes.'' -- George Walker Bush, Feb. 14, 2007

The statement concerned Cindy Sheehan and her supporters, including me.

Know your BFEE: Money Trumps Peace. Always.

[hobbit709]

2. The MIC and big oil, next question?

[Octafish]

8. Do you know what famous American political dynasty serves both of those?

Know your Bush Family Evil Empire: War and Oil are just two longtime Main Lines of Business

I know you knew the answer, it's just not that many Americans know.

[hobbit709]

13. Is that famous or infamous?

[zeemike]

3. Simple answer...."war is a racket"

And all the big boys are making tuns of money from it and they are too big to stop....we have created a beast that lives and consumes, and must continue to consume.

[Octafish]

12. Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, USMC, mentioned by name Brown Brothers Harriman.

Averell Harriman's partner was George Walker, whose future son-in-law Prescott Bush was to become a big gun there. Another famous associate was Allen Dulles, who'd go on to lead the CIA in overthrowing democracies in Guatemala, Iran and who-knows-where else.

Gen. Butler pegged the warmongers, saying much of his military service was used as a "protection racket" for corrupt warmongers.

Download his book here:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13906.htm

After his retirement, treasonous businessmen approached Butler to lead a coup against FDR and the New Deal:

Smedley Butler Stopped American Fascist Conspiracy to Overthrow FDR

Not news to you, zeemike. It is news to most of America, unfortunately.

[zeemike]

23. But well worth repeating here.

For those that do not know.

[leveymg]

4. The game is still played according to pieces on the map.

Strategic practice and thinking has not advanced much since the 19th Century when global power was determined by lines on maps and colored push-pins representing military garrisons and trading outposts. The way the world is viewed by business and finance has come a long way since then, but the politicians and generals still view it in static, fixed terms.

Just look at where Afghanistan is on the map, and what surrounds it. Then start adding symbols for oil fields and ink in pipelines. You'll see a remarkable proximity to all those pushpins.

In a word: Geopolitics.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leveymg]

24. Game still played by Zbigniew's rules - he didn't invent the Great Game, just updated it for the

late Cold War era. Problem with playing by Big Power rules is too much blowback and unintended consequences. The old game of bases and pushpins leads to asymmetrical warfare at unendurable political costs for the major players (the 1999 Moscow apartment building bombings and the 9/11 attacks).

What's needed is a new version that adjusts for multi-polarity and the rise of non-state actors, such as the multinationals and their privatized intelligence services and paramilitaries. That's the new Great Game, and the U.S. is losing because the longer we try to militarily occupy areas under the Old Rules the more we're targeted, which keeps us engaged on terms by which we are losing. The privatization of covert operations isn't really new - it's the way the British played for a long time, with the East India Companies and such, beating the Spaniards, the French, and the Dutch in most of the New World and Asia.

The problem is, however, that some of the privateers have been allowed to think they have grown more powerful than the Crown, and there's a sort of coup going on, the result being that the "last rogue superpower" has been subverted from above in order to weaken and shrink it into a more manageable instrument of commerce. If someone wants to stop or reverse this process of decline and subversion from above, they will have to bloody the MNCs. That would take a vision and a terrible resolve that seemingly doesn't exist here - an American Putin, or a less visible figure from within the IC or Pentagon manipulating others.

Global power politics in an era of Imperial decline is a dangerous thing. Play at your own risk.

[Octafish]

37. Sir Halford Mackinder may have inspired leaders from Hitler to Bush

Here's more on the idea of why we are There:

He is almost unknown, but the ideas of Sir Halford Mackinder dominate global thinking

He may have inspired leaders from Hitler to Bush

Tristram Hunt
From The Times (of London) September 17, 2009

“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else,” wrote John Maynard Keynes (a man who should know) in 1936. “Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.”

One such scribbler currently ruling the world is the Edwardian geographer Sir Halford Mackinder. Oxford professor, MP and imperialist, Sir Halford was the intellectual architect of modern geopolitics and the thinker who put the idea of “the Heartland” at the centre of global diplomacy.

Today, he is more relevant than ever. As Russia and Georgia continue their hot and cold war over South Ossetia, as the Kremlin attacks the European Union for its “eastern partnership” policy towards Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, and as America and Russia tussle over influence in Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, Mackinder’s realpolitik vision is at its most active for half a century. Few recall his name, but our foreign policy is now played out in his shadow.

Mackinder’s fame comes from a rather dry lecture delivered to the Royal Geographical Society in 1904, entitled The Geographical Pivot of History. In it he made two dynamite propositions. First, that the globalised world — crisscrossed by steam, telegram and train — had become a closed system. Since there was nowhere left to colonise, the world had become a unitary space with every strategic advance by one nation necessitating a rival power to retreat. In this closed geographical context, diplomacy was a zero-sum game and geopolitics meant successfully squaring political power with geographical setting.

Second, the key to world power lay in “the Heartland of the Old World”, the Eurasian land mass stretching from the mouth of the Elbe in Germany to the mouth of the Amur in Outer Manchuria. This vast land mass included the Iranian upland in the southwest and part of the Mongolian upland in the southeast, but its core was constituted by the Russian Empire. In centuries past this terrain had been the pivot of world history as the Huns, the Mongols and the Magyars swept into Europe. Ranged against this “Heartland” sat the representatives of the outer fringe, the sea powers — Great Britain, the United States and Japan. And what geopolitics came down to was an ongoing struggle between the Heartland and the sea powers. Mackinder, as a loyal servant of the British Empire, was desperately worried that an expansionist Russia would act to the detriment of British imperial interests.

CONTINUED...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6838864.ece

PS: Thank you for taking the time to explain in detail, leveymg. As I don't believe in the value of royalty, aristocracy, nationalism, eugenics, tyrants, Stalinists, Maoists or NAZIs, I am very much obliged.

[leveymg]

39. One of the "classic blunders" mentioned by Vizzini - "never get involved in a land war in Asia"

As for MacKinder, I think it was the Americans and the Germans who were the most enthusiastic adherents to Geopolitics, not the British. As for the latter, it did not work at all for them as a strategy. The former, well, we have been slow learners but up until now, lucky.

In MacKinder's place may I recommend the most famous of the "classic blunders" mentioned by Vizzini in The Princess Bride - "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - advice reputedly given by General Douglas MacArthur to President John F. Kennedy, in 1961.

Another version has it's origins: Vizzini's advice on not getting involved in a land war in Asia is derived from principles stated by Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery (Viscount Alamein) in a speech in the House of Lords on 30 May 1962: "Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war is: 'Do not march on Moscow.' ... Rule 2 is: 'Do not go fighting with your land armies in China.'"

Regardless of the true source, good advice. Note that the Brits always tried to control India and their other Asian holdings through proxies, such as the Indian Raj and American nukes in Hong Hong. When the failure of that strategy finally seemed inevitable, they generally departed on fairly good terms with those throwing them out. I do wish Obama would look at their example, but if the point of this all is stabilization and normalization of the status quo, even a bad status quo must be stabilized until it seems normal, I guess. The war must go on until it seems that it can't, anymore.

[revolution breeze]

5. No reason is good enough.

My daughter found out yesterday she had lost another friend in Afghanistan. That is two this year, plus neice's husband and a nephew in Iraq. This is so painful!

[NEOhiodemocrat]

11. So sorry

I wish the true cost of these elective wars would be more in the limelight.

[Octafish]

18. Each lost life is a universe of infinite possibility lost.

I am most sorry at the loss of your daughter's friends. We too, have been touched. I have several family members and the children of friends currently in uniform.

My high school friend's big brother, an Army medical doctor, was killed by a fellow service man at Camp Liberty.

For what? What "thing" can make worth our world losing such a person? Same for your daughter's friends -- there is nothing in this world worth more than a human life.

[revolution breeze]

45. The oldest of the three was three weeks shy of his 21st birthday

Imagine, dying for your country and never having legally bought an alcoholic beverage. The second had just watched his wife give birht to their daughter, who will never know her father except through photoes and memories. Ant the third just left town two days ago, having two weeks of well deserved R&R, only to go back and die! Two weeks with his family and now he is dead! Last year he was out TPing houses celebrating a homecoming football game! My husband was in the Navy for 22 years and we lost friends, but it was never someone so young!

[ThomWV]

7. Because the war machine supports employment

You think unemployment is bad now? Shut down the DOD budget and see what happens to the unemployment rate. We have become addicted to war, and its not just the "Rich" that need their daily dose, so do the grunts on the assembly lines where the aircraft, tanks, and bullets are made.

[madokie]

9. As it was with Vietnam

our country is greasing the wheels of capitalism with the blood of our sons and daughters.

[Octafish]

19. That's why we need a New New Deal.

If we can retool the economy to one based on peace, we could transform the nation and planet.

Personally, I'd nominate clean water, food production, health care, environmental protection, public transportation and space exploration as areas for investment.

We probably could do all that with what Wall Street pays out (with lots of taxpayer dollars) in bonuses this year. Better still, use a big chunk of what the Pentagon doles out to the warmonger class.

[H2O Man]

10. Valid question.

From Woodward's new book, the #1 reasons given are: {a} politicians are convinced the US would look pretty darned bad if they admit we've lost; and {b} military leaders want to wage war there for at least another 20 years.

[Octafish]

29. Woodward's rationales are insufficient for a democracy.

They are, however, reason enough for tyrants, kleptocrats, warmongers and traitors. Woodward must've forgotten his role in selling the war and in the silencing of its critics, including Ambassador Joe Wilson.

[H2O Man]

31. Right.

He is still ONI, and the book is promoting an agenda.

[lunatica]

14. If the war industry gets shut down in this country our economy will collapse

Imagine the number of employees that this chart represents. It isn't a coincidence that we don't hear of any of those people getting laid off.

[Winterblues]

27. I don't buy it

Clinton cut the defense Budget and yet the economy experienced the "Greatest Economic Expansion in History" He also raised taxes during a recession, which all Republicans and Conservative Democrats say can NEVER be done or disaster would be inevitable. clinton did both of those things and Republican credibility was shown to be non-existent

[Octafish]

40. Carlyle Group banks on war biz.

The private investment house banks on war.

Legal Group Blasts Papa Shrub
On Bin Laden Link

Bush Sr. Could Profit From War

by Geoffrey Gray
Village Voice

Larry Klayman likes suing the United States government. Over the last seven years as chairman and general counsel of Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm in Washington, he has filed over 150 lawsuits against the feds, including more than 80 against former president Bill Clinton himself. Called the Ralph Nader of the right, Klayman has litigation habits considered by some Beltway insiders as wildly ambitious. Others think he's just plain crazy.

But now Klayman and Judicial Watch are pawing in disbelief through President George W. Bush's past business connections with the Saudi-based Bin Laden family. The firm is demanding that GWB's father, the original President Bush, immediately resign from his post as a paid senior adviser to the Carlyle Group, a private Washington equity firm that according to The New York Times has essentially become the nation's 11th largest defense contractor.

Carlyle's investors include the Bin Laden family, which has disowned its terrorist son Osama; Bush Sr.; and former Bush inner guard members Nick Carlucci and James Baker. Judicial Watch says all involved stand to benefit from any increase in U.S. defense spending.

SNIP...

Klayman questions why Bush the Younger is not aggressively pursuing Saudi Arabia, a country known to harbor terrorists. He points to Bush the Elder's business connections there, like the Saudi-based Bin Laden family, through Carlyle. "President Bush should not ask, but demand, that his father pull out of the Carlyle Group," says Klayman.

SNIP...

In a case of "like father, like son," President Bush also had connections to the Carlyle Group, the Voice has learned. In the years before his 1994 bid for Texas governor, Bush owned stock in and sat on the board of directors of Caterair, a service company that provided airplane food and was also a component of Carlyle. For his consulting position, Bush was paid $15,000 a year, according to a Texas insider, and a bonus $1000 for every meeting he attended-roughly $75,000 in total. Reports show Carlyle was also a major contributor to his electoral fund.

CONTINUED... http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0141/gray.php

Small world -- too small for even one war for profit.

[TexasObserver]

15. Because the War Party likes War, profits from it, and uses it politically.

Only in the upside down world of the bogus patriot is sending someone to a war with no real purpose considered "supporting the troops."

The war profiteers love war, because it's how they get business.

[Octafish]

41. War Party is the term.

One company makes an excellent case study:

Halliburton Deals Recall Vietnam-Era Controversy

Cheney's Ties to Company Reminiscent of LBJ's Relationships

by John Burnett
NPR
December 24, 2003

Current criticism over Halliburton's lucrative Iraq contracts has some historians drawing parallels to a similar controversy involving the company during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration.

Nearly 40 years ago, Halliburton faced almost identical charges over its work for the U.S. government in Vietnam — allegations of overcharging, sweetheart contracts from the White House and war profiteering. Back then, the company's close ties to President Johnson became a liability. Today — as NPR's John Burnett reports in the last of a three-part series — Halliburton seems to be distancing itself from its former chief executive officer, Vice President Dick Cheney.

The story of Halliburton's ties to the White House dates back to the 1940s, when a Texas firm called Brown & Root constructed a massive dam project near Austin. The company's founders, Herman and George Brown, won the contract to build Mansfield Dam thanks to the efforts of Johnson, who was then a Texas congressman.

After Johnson took over the Oval Office, Brown & Root won contracts for huge construction projects for the federal government. By the mid-1960s, newspaper columnists and the Republican minority in Congress began to suggest that the company's good luck was tied to its sizable contributions to Johnson's political campaign.

CONTINUED...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1569483

They've done very well over the long-term, one might say.

[Uben]

16. To be more precise......

...and this is just my opinion, we are there for one strategic reason......reigning in Iran. Notice that Iraq and Afghanistan both strategically border Iran on either side. We have some 200,000 troops within a few hundred miles of Iran, and have had for many years now. Maybe you have noticed Iran's seemingly timid nature to provoke these days? It's by design.

Now, the cover for this activity has been 9/11 and Al Qaeda, which has sufficed all these years, but people are getting war-weary. They are asking the same questions you are, and that is not good for the war machine. They sold these wars on patriotism and reciprocation for 9/11, and we were all onboard after such a horrendous attack on American soil. Maybe you noticed, they have been preaching it on main stream media for eight years!

Americans are tired of supporting the military's folly, and don't kid yourself, it is a folly more than necessity. Notice how much China spends on wars? Do you think there might be some relation there since China, in essence, is financing this war for us? Hmm?

[deutsey]

20. Shut up and wave your flag.

:evilgrin:

Punchline from an old Doonesbury strip, I believe.

[VMI Dem]

21. Bush Doctrine.

[Recursion]

22. We're in Afghanistan because we invaded 9 years ago

We invaded 9 years ago because the Taliban was protecting (or at least acquiescing to) Al Qaeda, who had just launched a very deadly and dramatic attack on the US.

We're still there because it's not as easy as some people seem to think it is to just leave a country you've invaded -- politically, logistically, or from a security standpoint. We don't want to repeat Russia's method of withdrawing.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

28. If it makes you feel better to think that --

go right ahead.

[Recursion]

36. To think what?

I'm not sure how anyone would disagree with what I said. We're still in there because nobody can figure out a way to get out that doesn't risk Afghanistan collapsing again.

[Bragi]

58. Afghanistan won't collapse when the US leaves

What will happen is that the the same miscreants, drug barons, war lords and religious extremists who have been ruling this impoverished and backward country for the past 200 years will resume running the place.

Nothing will have been gained. The new Taliban government will no doubt be careful not to welcome AQ and OBL in their midst, but since AQ and OBL have moved out of Afghanistan anyway, this will matter little.

[Binka]

32. Go Enlist Dude

Get your war on.

[Recursion]

34. Was in for 7 years, dude

Got my war on and hated it.

But my answer stands: we're still in because people don't want to leave the kind of anarchy the Soviets left in their wake.

You might disagree with that (either with the premise that our leaving would leave a dangerous anarchy, or with the judgment that the risk of that is worth our staying -- I'm ambivalent about the question), but that's the reason we're still there, which was the question asked.

[spanone]

25. because we spend 600 billion dollars a year perfecting it

[Octafish]

47. Just to keep the lights on at the Pentagon -- not counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, IIRC.

[Tsiyu]

26. Good to see you round these parts Octafish

:yourock:

You already know the answers to your OP, of that I am sure. But we ALL need to be asking the questions.

Anyone who is new to this board should research your many informative, if ulcer-puffing, posts to learn about TPTB.

You are a treasure here. :fistbump:

[Octafish]

50. Thanks, Tsiyu! Have you seen this?

Former FBI Agent Says Oswald Didn't Kill Kennedy

News to me, until I saw it posted on DU. And to think FOX News outta Ohio someplace scooped the world...

PS: I infinitely appreciate that you understand why I ask and what we seek, my Friend. It means the world.

[Tsiyu]

52. No, gonna check it out

And you mean the world to this board, Baby

It makes me so happy to see you keep on keeping on...

motivates me :)

[krabigirl]

30. The mic needs money, and we need oil since we refuse to research alternatives. :(

I don't see this ending anytime soon.

[BeFree]

33. Why?

Cause we like to kill. We are the king of the world and we can kill whoever we want anytime we want.

[bobthedrummer]

35. K&R, my short answer to your question is found in another archived thread Octafish.

Daddy War Bucks, an indictment thread (started November 13, 2006)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2704232

[H2O Man]

38. best answer!

[bobthedrummer]

55. Sad, but true Patrick-I haven't altered my views on this and history has proved this sad pattern

:hi:

[Hannah Bell]

42. The truth is, no one in the general public knows the real reasons.

All we can do is speculate.

[Catherina]

43. Capitalism needs globalisation which requires militarism. The Globalization of Ownership

The Globalization of Ownership of Capital comes only at gunpoint.

[Mimosa]

44. Because their aren't jobs for the troops who'd be cashiered out into civilian life?

I always had a feeling that once so much manufacturing was outsourced a war would become necessary to employ those redundant younger workers. Plus, the only major manufacturing left in America is in the defense industry and armaments.

[NC_Nurse]

46. The MIC. It's all about the money.

[Owl]

61. Exactly. How do we as a country get out of this unsustainable mess?

All politicians cave in to the crappy MIC.

[MrScorpio]

48. Because it makes MONEY.

Pure and simple

[Panaconda]

49. It's an excellent way

of transferring wealth.

To the wealthy.

[Nostradammit]

51. Here is one day's worth of reasons:

(September 24th, 2010 to be precise)



CONTRACTS

AIR FORCE

United Launch Service, Centennial, Colo., was awarded a $461,567,412 contract modification will exercise an option to extend the evolved expendable launch vehicle contract by six months. At this time, $58,535,286 has been obligated. SMC LRSW/PK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8816-06-C-0002; PO0237).

Raytheon Technical Services Co., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded a $42,000,000 contract which will provide 65 AN/AAQ 29A forward looking infra-red production kits and 15 initial spares in support of the HH-60G helicopter. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. WR-ALC/GRUKB, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8530-08-D-0012-0005).

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Archbald, Penn., was awarded a $34,462,741 contract which will procure Paveway II laser guided bomb computer control groups (seekers) and GBU-12 air foil groups (tail kits). At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. OO-ALC-GHGKB, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-10-C-0082).

Georgia Tech Applied Research, Atlanta, Ga., was awarded a $23,809,524 contract which will provide Air National Guard sensor engineering support for operational and advanced avionic sensors. At this time, $14,881 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (HC1047-05-D-4000; Delivery Order 0160).

Georgia Tech Applied Research, Atlanta, Ga., was awarded a $23,173,525 contract which will provide Space and Naval Warfare Center Systems Command engineering and cyber sensor assessment by exploring the concept of cyber sensing by providing engineering, technical, and analytical support to the computer adaptive network defense-in-depth. At this time, $14,881 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (HC1047-05-D-4000; Delivery Order 0155).

Raytheon Co., Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $23,003,708 contract which will procure Paveway II laser guided bomb computer control groups (seekers) and GBU-12 air foil groups (tail kits). At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. OO-ALC-GHGKB, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-10-C-0082).

BAE Systems National Security Solutions, BAE Systems Advanced Information Technologies, Burlington, Mass., was awarded a $21,428,920 contract which will design a new computer system that is highly resistant to cyber-attack, is resilient in that it continues to render useful services in the face of attacks and faults, and can repair itself. At this time, $669,008 has been obligated. AFRL/PKDB, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-10-C-7090).

Marianna Armotive Corp., Cantonment, Fla., was awarded a $20,000,000 contract which will procure 18 national stock numbers of structural components (i.e., spoilers) applicable to C-5 aircraft. At this time, $786,450 has been obligated. 409 SCMS/GUMD, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8537-10-D-0001).

Alion Science and Technology Corp., Chicago, Ill., was awarded a $17,889,837 contract modification which will provide research and development on countermine detection, neutralization, and clearance to mitigate landmine and improvised explosive device threats. At this time, $811,071 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-99-D-0301; Delivery Order 0192).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Western Region, El Segundo, Calif., was awarded a $12,330,936 contract modification which will provide multi platform radar technology insertion program radar system development and demonstration for integration with the Global Hawk Block 40 program. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. ESC/HBGK, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (F19628-00-C-0100; PO0220).

Alion Science and Technology Corp., Chicago, Ill., was awarded a $9,380,531 contract which will provide research and development on countermine detection, neutralization, and clearance to mitigate landmine and improvised explosive device threats. At this time, $426,587 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-99-D-0301; Delivery Order 0196).

Scitor Corp., El Segundo, Calif., was awarded a $6,454,248 contract modification which will exercise an option to provide three months of advisory and assistance services to support the Space Based Infrared Systems Wing. At this time, $6,454,247 has been obligated. ISSS/PK, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8810-09-C-0002; PO0013).

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

The Missile Defense Agency is announcing the award of a sole-source fixed-price-incentive-fee modification to Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Woburn, Mass., under the HQ0006-03-C-0047 contract. The target price of the award is $189,789,861. Under this modification, Raytheon will fabricate AN/TPY-2 radar #8. The work will be performed in Woburn, Mass. The performance period is from September 2010 through October 2012. Fiscal 2010 procurement funds will be used to fund this effort.

ARMY

NCI Information Systems, Inc., Reston, Va., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $49,080,374 time-and-material contract for management, logistical, technical engineering support to PEO Soldier with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2011. Work is to be performed at Middle River, Md.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; Haymarket, Va.; Hopewell, Va.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Afghanistan; Iraq; and Kuwait. Bids were solicited via Web with one selected. U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-07-D-0014; Serial #2016).

BAE Systems, Phoenix, Ariz., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $34,802,255 firm-fixed-price contract for 160,000 Personal Armor X-side ballistic inserts with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2011. Work is to be performed at Phoenix, Ariz. Five bids were solicited with five received. Research Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Contracting Division, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-10-C-0311; Serial #2024).

DRS Sustainment Systems, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $26,993,498 firm-fixed-price contract for 259 multi-temperature refrigerator systems with an estimated completion date of Jan. 21, 2014. Work is to be performed at St. Louis, Mo. Bids were solicited via Web with six received. Army Research Development & Engineering Command, Natick, Mass., is the contracting activity (W911QY-04-D-0004; Serial #2021).

Lakeshore Engineering Services, Inc., Detroit, Mich., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $18,838,459 firm-fixed-price contract for runway repairs with an estimated completion date of Jan. 5, 2012. Work is to be performed at Oman. Twenty-two bids were solicited with six received. Army Corps of Engineers, Winchester, Va., is the contracting activity (W912ER-10-C-0055; Serial #2013).

Armor Works Enterprises, LLC, Chandler, Ariz., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $15,890,865 firm-fixed-price contract for 90,000 Personal Armor X-side ballistic inserts with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2011. Work is to be performed at Chandler, Ariz. Five bids were solicited with five received. Research Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Contracting Division, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-10-C-0309; Serial #2023).

General Dynamics, Scottsdale, Ariz., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $14,107,555 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for 12 months of logistics and engineering support services for existing Land Warrior systems with an estimated completion date of Sept. 24, 2012. Work is to be performed at Scottsdale, Ariz. No bids were solicited, with none received. Research Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Contracting Division, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-09-C-0110; Serial #2017).

Pacific Pile & Marine, LP, Seattle, Wash., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $12,506,500 firm-fixed-price contract for floating breakwater with an estimated completion date of Feb. 15, 2013. Work is to be performed at Unalaska, Alaska. Bids were solicited via Web with five received. Army Corps of Engineers, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, is the contracting activity (W911KB-10-C-0024; Serial #2022).

Rand Enterprises, Inc., Newport News, Va., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $10,248,960 firm-fixed-price for designing and building a consolidated communications facility, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 30, 2011. Work is to be performed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Ninety-eight bids were solicited with four received. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Penn., is the contracting activity (W912BU-10-C-0039; Serial #2014).

The Protective Group, Inc., Hialeah, Fla., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $10,037,350 firm-fixed-price contract for 40,000 Personal Armor X-side ballistic inserts with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2011. Work is to be performed at Hialeah, Fla. Five bids were solicited with five received. Research Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Aberdeen Contracting Division, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W91CRB-10-C-0312; Serial #2025).

Jorge Scientific Corp., Arlington, Va., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $7,967,948 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for change order cost overrun of operations and maintenance of Constant Hawk with an estimated completion date of Aug. 30, 2011. Work is to be performed in Iraq. One bid was solicited, with one received. Research Development & Engineering Command Contracting Center, Adelphi, Md., is the contracting facility (W911QX-08-D-0005; Serial #2027).

BAE Systems, York, Penn., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $7,729,134 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for additional line replaceable units to support the Paladin integrated management program with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31 2011. Work is to be performed at York, Penn. One bid was solicited, with one received. U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-C-0550; Serial #2006).

FED-CON-1 A, JV, was awarded on Sept. 21 a $7,290,000 firm-fixed-price contract for tactical vehicle wash station and non-potable water well with an estimated completion date of Dec. 1, 2012. Work is to be performed at Oahu, Hawaii. Bids were solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with six received. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (W912A-10-C-0010; Serial #2026).

Camelback Products, LLC, Petaluma, Calif., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $6,719,993 firm-fixed-price contract for Marine Corps flame resistant gloves with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2015. Work is to be performed at Petaluma, Calif. Bids were solicited through the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four received. Army Research Development & Engineering Command, Natick, Mass., is the contracting activity (GS-07F-0127K; Serial #2018).

The Electronic On-Ramp, Inc., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $6,410,571 firm-fixed-price contract for intelligence support with an estimated completion date of Sept. 27, 2013. Work is to be performed at Charlottesville, Va. Bids were solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three received. U.S. Army Intelligence & Security Command, Ft. Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (W911W5-10-C-0007; Serial #2028).

Chris Woods Construction, Memphis, Tenn., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $6,068,641 firm-fixed-price contract for construction and fire station renovation for Tennessee Air National Guard with an estimated completion date of Sept. 23, 2012. Work is to be performed at Memphis, Tenn. Seventeen bids were solicited with three received. NGB, USPFO, Nashville, Tenn., is the contracting activity (W91217-10-C-0017; Serial #2019).

Niche, Inc., New Bedford, Mass, was awarded on Sept. 21 a $6,064,510 firm-fixed-price contract for low velocity cargo parachutes with an estimated completion date of Jan. 30, 2011. Work is to be performed at New Bedford, Mass. Two bids were solicited with two received. Army Research Development & Engineering Command, Natick, Mass., is the contracting activity (W58P05-10-C-0004; Serial #2020).

The Davis Group, Inc., Sanford, Fla., was awarded on Sept. 21 a $5,655,354 firm-fixed-price contract for the demolition of five facilities and construction of a new facility with an estimated completion date of Oct. 13, 2011. Work is to be performed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. Six bids were solicited, with three received. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Ga., is the contracting activity (W912HN-09-D-0010; Serial #2030).

NAVY

T.B. Penick and Sons, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $45,632,200 for firm-fixed-price task order #0005 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-10-D-5412) for design and construction of a facility complex to house a co-generation plant at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. The work to be performed provides for all labor, materials, equipment, transportation, supervision, and incidental related work to provide design, construction, procurement, and installation services for a facility complex to house a co-generation plant. This single story facility includes, but is not limited to, turbines for electrical power generation, boilers for high temperature hot water production, chilled water systems including absorption chillers, centrifugal chillers and cooling towers, new control systems to manage co-gen functions and to integrate with existing co-gen control system in a master - slave mode under normal conditions including all fiber optics, cabling and connections required to integrate both co-gen plants. The task order also contains one planned modification and four unexercised options which, if issued, would increase the cumulative task order value to $47,669,471. Work will be performed in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and is expected to be completed by June 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.

Oklahoma State University, University Multispectral Laboratories, Ponca City, Okla., is being awarded $44,182,872 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development of electro-optical, radio frequency, and acoustic sensors, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles technologies. Work will be performed in Lawton, Okla. (60 percent); Ponca City, Okla. (15 percent); Stillwater, Okla. (15 percent); and Patuxent River, Md. (10 percent). Work is expected to be completed in September 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a broad agency announcement. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-10-C-0279).

BAE Systems Applied Technologies, Inc., Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $34,449,222 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-07-C-0013) to exercise an option for approximately 520,000 hours of technical services in support of communication-electronic equipment/systems and subsystems, supporting the special communications requirements division. Work will be performed at St. Inigoes, Md. (57 percent); Chesapeake, Va. (27 percent); Fayetteville, N.C. (13 percent); San Diego, Calif. (2 percent);and St. Augustine, Fla. (1 percent). Work is expected to be completed in October 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $27,968,834 firm-fixed-priced delivery order against a previously issued order basic ordering agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for the procurement of aircraft armament equipment in support of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Equipment being procured includes pylons, well and chaff dispenser covers, station control units; protector and dispenser magazines, dispenser chassis, probes, lugs, plates, and mounting bases and retainers. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in June 2013. Contract funds in the amount of $3,552,244 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $21,640,534 firm-fixed-price order against a previously awarded delivery order contract (N00383-06-D-001J) for integrated logistics support, in-service engineering, information systems, technical data, support equipment engineering, automated maintenance environment, training/software integration support, provisioning and sustaining engineering in support of F/A-18 A-D, E/F, and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (70 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (15 percent); Oklahoma City, Okla. (6 percent); Bethpage, N.Y. (5 percent); and San Diego, Calif. (4 percent). Work is expected to be completed in December 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the U.S. Navy ($18,547,179; 85.7 percent) and the governments of Australia ($2,508,755; 11.5 percent), Canada ($212,300; 1 percent), Spain ($147,700; .7 percent), Finland ($98,500; 0.5 percent), Kuwait ($61,500; 0.3 percent), Switzerland ($52,300; 0.2 percent), and Malaysia ($12,300; 0.1 percent), under the Foreign Military Sales program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

GE Aviation Systems, LLC, Santa Ana, Calif., is being awarded a $21,499,025 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 241 FPU-12/A 480 gallon external fuel tanks for the F/A-18 E/F (136) and the EA-18G (105) aircraft, including related program support . Work will be performed in Santa Ana, Calif., and is expected to be completed in February 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-10-C-0076).

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $21,098,439 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery requirements contract (N00019-04-D-0131) to provide logistics services and materials for organizational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance of 14 T39N and 6 T-39G aircraft located at the Naval Air Station (NAS), Pensacola, Fla. In addition, this modification provides for aircraft intermediate maintenance services in support of Chief of Naval Air Training aircraft and transient aircraft at NAS Pensacola, Fla., and NAS Corpus Christi, Texas. Work will be performed in Pensacola, Fla. (99 percent), and Corpus Christi, Texas (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, GMBH, Branch NICO Trittau, Trittau, Germany, is being awarded a $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for signaling colored smoke grenades in colors white, yellow, red, violet, and green. Signaling colored smoke grenades are used for air-to-ground and ground-to-air signaling and screening. The contract consists of one five-year ordering period. Work will be performed in Silberhütte/Harz, Germany, and is expected to be completed by September 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with seven proposals solicited and seven offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-10-D-1121).

Navmar Applied Sciences Corp.*, Warminster, Penn., is being awarded a $10,499,967 order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-10-G-0026) for a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research project for the Army under topics N92-170, N94-178, and AF083-006. This order provides for modeling, simulating and analyzing variations of aerostats and unmanned aerial vehicles along with various payloads and sensors. Work will be performed in Yuma, Ariz. (40 percent); Patuxent River, Md. (30 percent); and Warminster, Penn. 30 percent). Work is expected to be completed in September 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $1,500,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity.

General Atomics, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $10,171,247 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N68335-04-C-0167) to provide logistics product development for the electromagnetic aircraft launch system. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed in August 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

EFW, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $7,987,836 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-09-C-0057) to provide hardware, installations, non-recurring engineering, and installation support of the helmet display tracking system in AH-1W helicopters. Work will be performed in Haifa, Israel (57 percent); Melbourne, Fla. (35 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (8 percent). Work is expected to be completed in January 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $5,500,296 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

CAPE, Inc.*, Costa Mesa, Calif., is being awarded $7,460,610 for firm-fixed-price task order #0004 under a previously awarded environmental multiple award contract (N62473-07-D-3218) to remediate East Stuart Mesa agricultural fields at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The work to be performed provides for all labor, material, equipment, transportation, supervision, and incidental related work for remediation services. The project will remediate pesticide contaminated soil. Work will be performed in Oceanside, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 2012. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a $6,225,630 firm-fixed-price delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-09-G-0005) for non-recurring efforts required to qualify and update the point device into the cockpits for the MH-60R/S helicopters. Work will be performed in Owego, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in October 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $5,585,022 firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-07-G-0008) for the procurement of software and hardware in support of seven MV-22 simulators. Work will be performed in New River, N.C. (85 percent), and Miramar, Calif. (15 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

P & S Construction*, Lowell, Mass., is being awarded a $5,501,292 firm-fixed-price contract for the demolition of Building 176 and the consolidation with Building 45 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The proposed consolidation into Building 45 includes both electrical and mechanical renovations, which will be used to accommodate radiography “cubes” and the processing of the associated film. The consolidation at Building 45 also includes the renovation of office spaces as well as upgrading the sewer lines and adding a new manhole. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by December 2011. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with four bids received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Public Works Department Maine, Kittery, Maine, is the contracting activity (N40085-10-C-5620).

DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY

QinetiQ North America Operations, LLC, is being awarded a $31,753,632 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (HR0011-10-C-0126). This work is for the Tactical Relay Information Network program to provide a submarine laser communication system that operates in the blue spectrum for evaluation during a naval exercise in fiscal 2012. Work will be performed in Waltham, Mass. (43 percent); Ypsilanti, Mich. (7 percent); Herndon, Va. (30 percent); La Jolla, Calif. (1 percent); Anaheim, Calif. (18 percent); Redondo Beach, Calif. (1 percent); and Los Angeles, Calif. (1 percent). The work is expected to be completed November 2011. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Bell-Boeing Joint Program, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a maximum $6,424,536 firm-fixed-price, sole-source, basic ordering agreement contract for hub assembly items in support of the MV-22. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Navy. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. The date of performance completion is Dec. 31, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Penn., is the contracting activity (SPRPA1-09-G-004Y-5260).

*Small business



http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4374

[Greyhound]

53. Really good work here. Please post this as an OP.

Perhaps a regular contribution.
:thumbsup:

[G_j]

54. +1000

[treestar]

56. Supposedly because Al Qaeda was located in Afghanistan

And Al Qaeda attacked us on 911. Most people were all for it when it started - can't change their minds now.

[Bragi]

57. Because of Obama's foolish escalation of the war

Had Obama not stupidly promised for venal political reasons during the campaign to escalate the Afghan war, and then stupidly honored this promise, then this war would already be over.

Eventually it will end, and the war lords, drug barons and religious medievilists who have run that impoverished and backward country for the past 200 years will resume control.

Nothing will have been gained. Many will have died and been harmed. It's a disgrace that can't end soon enough.

[bobthedrummer]

59. anti-mole kick

[Owl]

60. No good reason at all. The MIC is a giant welfare recipient of our tax $ and subsidizes jobs.