The re-armament and re-activation of Germany as a military power

[Jan Klimkowski]

Magda - a very important series of articles. Thank you.

So, the Gestapo returns.

Wearing German uniforms. And - metaphorically - the uniforms of the Axis of Good as it fights the War on Terror.

As a caveat, I was intrigued by the following:

German companies are backing up their million dollar business deals with the Pentagon by providing special benefits to personnel of the US armed forces, according to NGOs in Germany and the USA. Employees of US military hospitals have their travel expenses to "congresses" and "trainings" paid particularly by pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. These include a prosthetics firm, but also the Bayer and Siemens Corporations, which have been business partners of the US defense department for years. The Pentagon's medical care budget for US soldiers has sharply increased with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Observers are estimating that by 2015, the annual drug budget alone could double to reach $15 billion. Even producers of sportswear, such as Adidas, are among the companies, sponsoring trips in support of their lobbying the US military. Boehringer Ingelheim is another company interested in the war business. It had already been involved in business operations with the Pentagon during the war against Vietnam, supplying the basic component for the herbicide Agent Orange. The dramatic effects of Agent Orange are being felt by hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese still today.

Multinationals will always feed the beast, and provide cover for beasties. That much we know.

However, I've made a film about the history of military trauma medicine, and there is a clear historical trend which is worth considering in this context.

The soldiers of the First World are protected by increasingly sophisticated armour and protective clothing (govt incompetence permitting). They are also supported by brave and well-resourced medics.

The consequence of this is that soldiers are increasingly surviving major trauma - such as loss of limbs - that would usually have killed them in previous wars.

These unfortunate souls who are maimed, usually for life, need considerable medical support for the physical and psychological damage inflicted upon them.

This does of course provide a guaranteed long term source of cash (govt or insurance company) for medical and pharmaceutical companies.

Oink oink oink - with their snouts in the trough again.

Or perhaps I'm just a wizened old cynic....