07.Sep.2011
A Reminder That The Post-9/11 Decade Wasn’t Bad For Everybody

This week, I’ve written a story about a large-but-low-profile Pentagon contractor for Willamette Week, the award-winning paper in Portland, Oregon, where I’ve been working since June. Read the story there.

The contractor, FLIR Systems, has claimed more Department of Defense and Homeland Security contracts than any other in the state, which has relatively few big contracts. It makes advanced imaging technology coveted by armed forces around the world.

Since 9/11, its revenues have increased sixfold, to $1.4 billion last year. As impressive as that may be, consider FLIR’s profitability: from a $29 million loss in 2000 to a $56 million profit last year.

Chairman and CEO Earl Ray Lewis III this year signed a contract that sets his base salary at $875,000 next year, several times what he made when he joined the company before 9/11. Forbes magazine says Lewis’ compensation last year totaled $5.4 million.

Late last month, blaming uncertainty around the military budget, FLIR announced it would lay off 40 workers in Wilsonville—one-tenth of its workforce in the state. Then last week, FLIR won a three-year, $52 million U.S. Navy contract for the Star SAFIRE thermal-imaging systems it manufactures in Wilsonville.

Recently the company struck deals with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, two nominal US allies with spotted human rights records.

06.Jul.2011
Inside Look At Yet Another Religious Group With A Private Army

Some readers have been asking, where are all the new posts? Here’s the answer:

I got lured back to the States to work for a newspaper (again). Between the cross-continental move on short notice and the urgent demands of my new job (special projects reporter and web investigations czar for Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon), I simply haven’t had the time to keep the site fresh.

What does this mean for War Is Business? It means it will continue, but at a somewhat slower pace. The goal with the next round of fundraising will be to hire a part-time editor who can help with aggregation and site maintenance. Anyone who’s interested should contact me.

As it happens, my first cover story for Willamette Week revisits a subject I last covered for the Santa Fe Reporter one year ago: the unraveling of the Sikh Dharma business empire.

Sikh Dharma is a group founded by the late Yogi Bhajan, who converted thousands of white Americans to Sikhism. The group owns a number of large companies, the largest of which is Akal Security, a $500 million-a-year US government contractor that guards federal courthouses in 40 states, at least one US Embassy abroad and a number of international airports.
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18.May.2011
‘NATO Ships Go Home’—A Sign Of Greek Sentiment

I just returned from Crete, the Greek island that serves as a stop-over for NATO aircraft and warships on their way to Libya. Graffiti such as this was the most visible public sentiment regarding those controversial bombing missions.

It’s worth noting that Greece is a NATO member.
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