US arms companies scrape big win thanks to Saudi, UAE purchases after Soleimani killing

In my last column we touched upon the claims in U.S. media regarding Trump’s true motives for ordering the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

Legendary British detective novelist Agatha Christie’s rule of asking “Who had a motive? Who benefited from the murder?” also rings true for the Soleimani assassination.

Those who politically benefited from the Soleimani killing are as clear as day: Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the others.

The political beneficiaries in the U.S. are the Neocons and Evangelist Christian Zionists who want to trigger a doomsday war through regional chaos.

However, there is an economic dimension to the assassinations that could further escalate tensions or start a war.

It is no secret that mounting tensions between states is a strong motivation for armament.

Global arms companies benefit from the increasing defense budget of countries which are at loggerheads with Iran, primarily Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Global military spending in 2018 reached $1.8 trillion. The U.S. ranked first in military spending with “$649 billion”. This figure corresponds to 36 percent of global military spending.

The same year, China's defense budget stood at $250 billion, while Saudi Arabia came in third place with a budget of $67.6 billion. Russia, in its turn, ranked sixth on the list with a budget of $61.4 billion.

For 2020 however, Trump approved a $738 billion defense budget. This is the highest defense figure in the country's history.

It’s possible to say that the global armament race has reached such figures that surpasses those of the Cold War era.

Doubtless, U.S. companies take the lion’s share of global military spending profits.

There is a powerful lobby network gathered around these companies which are known as the American Industrial Military Complex.

Politicians, former soldiers, media outlets, think tanks operating in the field of defense, and academics are in this network.

Former U.S. President Barrack Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes had branded this network as “The Blob,” which was inspired by a fantasy movie of the same name. The Blob is a creature that fell from space and grew by swallowing everything in its path.

Rhodes’ Blob needs tension, conflicts and wars to grow. According to him, it represents the political elite who run the U.S.’s foreign policy.

This class is composed of Liberal Internationalists, New Conservatives (Neocons) and Realists.

In a report published in U.S. media following the assassination of Soleimani, it was pointed out that the tensions in the Middle East have created great opportunities for arms companies.

It went on to say that this situation would lead to serious dents in the stocks of weapons giants, primarily Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

Demands won’t be limited to this year alone and it won’t be possible to defend a decrease of spending budgets, the article stated.

Grading institutions forecast a rise for the defense sector. While stagnation is expected in the global economy, growth forecasts in the arms sector are shown as 7 percent for 2020 and 6 percent for 2021.

It is noteworthy to mention that shareholder stocks of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin also increased in value after the U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani.

Regarding the change in the stock market, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen are questioning who Trump first chose to inform of the said assassination.

Warren and Hollen sent a letter to the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission Jay Clayton and the Head of the Commodity Futures Commission Heath Tarbert requesting an investigation be launched into those staying at Trump's Mar-a -Lago resort prior to the assassination.

These creeping doubts only mean that the Soleimani assassination will be discussed for a long time to come.