Fucking Ridiculous ANYWHERE: Really? A Missile-Base in Vermont [View all]

I hate the fucking Pentagon.

This week, the Vermont news media published stories stating that the Pentagon is considering building a Ground-based Midcourse Defense base in Jericho, Vermont, a small town near Burlington and Montpelier. When people think about Vermont, Jericho is what people think of; wooded lands, dairy farms, older houses and a blend of Yankee families whose roots go back generations and newer residents looking for tranquility, beauty and a good place to raise their kids. There is no reasonable argument for a missile base in Jericho, Vermont. Indeed, there is no reasonable argument for this missile base to be built anywhere.

It was barely twenty years ago that the United States shut down most of its silos containing missiles because their reason for being no longer existed. Even if someone believes that terrorists or another country will mount a major attack on the United States, the likelihood of this type of missile defense having any use is near zero. There is one big reason for this proposed site. That reason is profit for the corporations involved. The construction of this site is nothing more than a transfer of public monies to private corporations. It is very similar to what sports team owners do when they convince a city to build a new stadium except that missile sites are obviously quite lethal and with no redeeming social or entertainment value.

If one takes a look at the components of the system the Pentagon wants to place in Vermont, they will see that, besides the grotesque nature of the language describing certain parts of the system, the companies that will profit from its construction are quite familiar. Here are the basics:

Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) — Raytheon
Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) — Orbital Sciences
Battle Management Command, Control and Communications (BMC3) — Northrop Grumman
Ground Based Radars (GBR) — Raytheon
Upgraded Early Warning Radars (UEWR) (aka PAVE PAWS) — Raytheon
Forward Based X-Band Radars (FBXB) –Raytheon

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http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/13/a-missile-base-in-vermont/

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"It's wasted money," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. "It's not going to make us any more secure whether it's in Vermont or anywhere else."

Leahy says the missiles are the wrong choice for Vermont and the country. He says the U.S. has spent more than $158 billion on the program since the Reagan administration and would rather see dollars spent on issues like veteran health care.

"In the real world, I defy you to find anybody who says this will work and say it unequivocally," Leahy said.

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http://www.wcax.com/story/23419039/pentagon-eyes-vermont-for-missile-defense-system