On Thursday, without approval from Congress, Donald Trump authorized the firing of about 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian base. Reports show the attack may have been more politically motivated than humanitarian — and basically ineffective.
The money news group Market Watch reported those missiles will cost American taxpayers at least $70 million to replace just the missiles that were launched. So, who’s going to financially profit from the attack? Well, for a start it will be the missile-maker corporation Raytheon, Wall Street, and possibly Donald Trump.
Each Tomahawk missile, made by Raytheon Co. RTN, +1.45% costs between $1 million and $1.4 million.
The missiles used on Thursday likely cost the U.S. military around $1 million, but the latest versions of the missile that would replace those are probably more costly, said Loren Thompson, a consultant and chief operating officer of nonprofit Lexington Institute. A final cost would also depend on the size of the potential replacement order from the U.S. military, he said.
Shares of Raytheon rallied in early Friday trading, but Market Watch said the gains “moderated somewhat” as the session went on. Stock buyers/sellers swooped in and out like vultures trying to jump that profit pony. It turns out the rich and big corporations win again at the expense of the American people.
One very disturbing, but not surprising aspect in all this, is that in 2015, Business Insider reported Donald Trump owned stock in Raytheon. Unless Trump sold his Raytheon shares, he made a nice profit on Friday from his missile attack on Thursday. And given what we’ve seen from Donald Trump, it probably would surprise few if it’s discovered that Trump and/or his sons bought more Raytheon shares on Wednesday in anticipation of the missile attack on Thursday. More will be revealed.
We have a president who cannot be trusted on any level. And Donald Trump created his own dishonest image through countless lies, contradictions and acts of greed and corruption — which mostly came straight from his own mouth.
We’ve also learned via our country’s history, and more specifically from our war- mongering former Vice President Dick Cheney, that millions can be made when you help start a war while in office. Trump seems to have surpassed Cheney’s greed and corruption.
But back to these missiles. It’s unknown whether the strike will curb chemical attacks, as Syria reportedly commenced their attacks on Friday like nothing happened. They were apparently warned and had time to move their most critical and valuable weapons of destruction.
So, was Trump’s attack merely an expensive $70M, profit-bearing, chest-pounding, investigation-deflecting political ploy? Perhaps. What we do know is that somehow Trump/Republicans say they can’t justify the funds needed to feed our elderly who get assistance from Meals on Wheels. Interestingly, about 500,000 of those receiving Meals on Wheels — are veterans. And we do know, according to one report, that just the missiles used in Thursday night’s strike, could have funded the government grants for Meals on Wheels — for a full decade.
Related Stories:
h/t Palmer Report