From 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM
At Online Webinar
Join the Raytheon Antiwar Campaign for a webinar exploring the political influence of weapons manufacturers on the US government. To help us probe the depths of “the swamp,” we’ll talk to former US Army Major Danny Sjursen, a witness to war and ardent advocate for peace. His recent article “How the West Point Mafia runs Washington” examines one graduating class of his alma mater to reveal how a small group of men with ties to Raytheon and the military industrial complex use their power to keep us at war. From the piece:
“Take the class of 1986. As it happens, both Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are members of that very class, as are a surprisingly wide range of influential leaders in Congress, corporate America, the Pentagon, the defense industry, lobbying firms, Big Pharma, high-end financial services, and even security-consulting firms. Still, given their striking hawkishness on the subject of American war-making, Esper and Pompeo rise above the rest. Even in a pandemic, they are as good as their class motto. When it comes to this country’s wars, neither of them ever quits.”
Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. Army Major and regular contributor to antiwar.com, Truthdig, The Nation, Tom Dispatch, The Huffington Post, and The Hill. His work has also appeared in Harper’s, The LA Times, and Buzz Feed. He served combat tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at his alma mater, West Point. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge (2015). He co-hosts the progressive veterans’ podcast “Fortress on a Hill.” Follow him on Twitter at @SkepticalVet.