"The U.S. should move forward methodically and intelligently with a robust program of research, development, and testing," IAM president Tom Buffenbarger stated in the IAM Journal. "We should do this right so all parties concerned here and around the world, have a chance to see what a National Missile Defense can actually do."

Union officials promote this government military project on the basis that it would create and maintain jobs for IAM members employed at Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Aerojet.

They also echo arguments by U.S. officials and the big-business media that the missile system is needed to counteract possible actions by "rogue nations," that is, governments in Third World countries that do not meet Washington’s approval, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, and north Korea. To reinforce this point, the IAM Journal prints a map showing the path of a missile recently fired by north Korea that traveled past the islands comprising Japan.

In his "Commentary" on the inside cover of the Journal, Buffenbarger repeats the rationalizations put forward by Democratic and Republican politicians seeking to whip up support for the missile system. He argues, "Which of our cities will they target? Anchorage? Honolulu, Seattle? Portland? San Francisco? Los Angeles? In the next 15 years, rogue states with chemical, nuclear, or biological weapons will also have missiles capable of reaching American cities. And the likelihood of terrorists acquiring such weapons increases by the day."

Under the Clinton administration tests were begun to be put in place for developing an Alaska-based Theater Missile Defense system. In early May, Bush announced much more extensive plans for developing a "Star Wars"–type system with a submarine-based and space-based platform to target missiles in the boost phase. If such a system could be developed and sucessfully deployed, and the U.S. rulers could convince governments around the world that it actually works, this would be a step toward Washington having, for the first time in decades, a first-strike nuclear capacity. It would embolden the U.S. rulers to use its vast nuclear weapons arsenal to threaten countries where capitalism has been overturned, such as China and Russia, as well as other governments that come into conflict with U.S. imperialism.

The Journal article describes the projections for the National Missile Defense (NMD) system currently being developed as much more limited and "realistic" than the $1 trillion-plus Strategic Defense Initiative, known as Star Wars, first put forward by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. IAM officials call for a "go-slow" approach in developing the complex antimissile shield, calling moves to speed up projections for its deployment based on a "political timetable" unrealistic.

The support by IAM officials to the U.S. government’s militarization campaign is consistent with the themes of other articles in the spring issue of the IAM Journal that, rather than promoting solidarity and united action with fellow workers across borders to fight the bosses’ offensive, seek to convince workers to tie their fortunes to the U.S. bosses. One article is titled "Creative Work System Builds Trust Between Workers and Managers." Another article, "NAFTA Panel Opens Door to Unsafe Mexican Trucks," peddles the chauvinist campaign against the North American Free Trade Agreement that, in the guise of concern for highway safety, pits U.S.-born workers against Mexican-born truck drivers.
 
 
Related article:
Washington presses ahead on plans for missile shield  
 
 
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