Labor Fightback Network calls on workers and people of conscience to join the growing voices for an end to U.S. military support for Ukraine to fight a proxy war with Russia. We demand an immediate, unconditional ceasefire, and a supervised withdrawal of all armies and mercenaries, the first and necessary step toward putting an end to this heinous war. US imperialism must be contained until we in the belly of that beast can overcome and slash the war budget to build back better!

Since the start of the war in Ukraine the Biden Administration and Congress have supplied Ukraine with $75 Billion, 61% of that in military aid in a series of military assistance packages. That military aid supplied by U.S. taxpayers has elevated the profits for the manufacturers of Javelin anti-tank missiles – Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon;  Lockheed Martin Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Raytheon again with Stinger anti-aircraft systems. Raytheon Technologies Reports Q1 2023 Results | RTX

Other military equipment includes Lockheed-Martin’s advanced HIMARS M142 light multiple rocket launcher, heavy artillery, howitzers and tactical drones, Patriot air military systems developed and built by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. Switchblade drones manufactured by AeroVironment, Inc., other weaponized and surveillance drones, helicopters, thousands of tactical, armored, and support vehicles, tanks, boats, grenade launchers, over 100 million rounds of ammunition, and all the weapons and trappings of war you can imagine. The reports never mentioned body bags.

Now, President Biden is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, with no regard for the international outrage, nor respect for weapons agreements. These bombs have been banned by 123 nations due to their deadly long-lasting impact on civilians. 

Civilians and soldiers are not a concern of the Administration and the war profiteers. We must speak up for ourselves, the working class.Workers of the world pay for the wars and die in the wars. In Ukraine and Russia, they are paying with blood; in the Global South, the food sources are interrupted or depleted; and the workers in Western Europe face rising costs for fuel and food costs and potential job loss as industry closes. Paying for war includes sacrifices that we make here in the U.S. War spending depletes every sector of our lives from education to health care, and employment to enjoyment. Poverty and climate destruction are by-products of war. The battlefield may be overseas but it hits us here with no end to the destruction in sight. 

An estimated 6 million people have been internally displaced in Ukraine with more than 8 million people having crossed borders to Poland, Hungary, Moldova and other European nations. Poland has received the greatest number of Ukrainian refugees, about 3.5 million. 

Under Capitalism, war is an essential component but is disguised as patriotism or nationalism. Profit may be the selling point to attract wealth-seekers, but war and exploitation of people, land and resources are the realities of Capitalism. Comfort allows people to look the other way as they invest in war but eventually it hits home. Let’s drive that point home sooner than later. Workers must unite for peace and prosperity, not war and poverty.