The article contains excerpts from a new book by William D. Hartung with this title.
Lockheed-Martin is a huge defense contractor that is involved in so many nefarious activities. This corporation is one of the most, if not THE most, powerful corporations in the military-industrial complex, which in turn, is the most powerful section of the US capitalist ruling class. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, this section of the ruling class has found the "war on terrorism" to be a very lucrative substitute for the Cold War as a justification for the huge US expenditures of war-making machines and security services.
While contracts for supplying weapons for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a significant part of Lockheed Martin’s business, the new company that has taken form since the merger boom of the 1990s has a far wider reach. These activities include everything from involvement in interrogation and police training to profiting from the new post-9/11 wave of domestic surveillance activities.