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Manlio Dinucci
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Lorenzo Guerini (Democratic Party, PD), Defense Minister of the Conte II government, communicated the transition to the stage to the parliamentary committees 2 of the US Lockheed Martin F-35 purchase program. Passage prepared by the Conte I government: Deputy Prime Minister Salvini (League) he stressed last March that "any hypothesis of a slowdown or repentance of the F-35 purchase program would be detrimental to the Italian economy"; the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Di Stefano (M5S) it called for a "thorough review of the agreements" but added that, “If we have orders to pay, certainly we will not go down in history for having betrayed an agreement made with private companies: there is an entire supply chain that must be respected ". Last May the Conte I government authorized «the construction and delivery of 28 F-35 fighters by 2022 (the aircraft delivered so far are 13), whose contracts have been fully funded ", obviously with public money.
Last October, in confidential talks with the Conte II government in Rome, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked Italy to unblock the order for a further purchase. The Minister of Defense Guerini immediately assured him, in an interview withCorriere della Sera, that "Italy is a reliable and credible country with respect to international commitments: contributing to the F-35 program is a tangible sign of our reliability ". A few days later, in the press conference in Washington with President Mattarella, President Trump announced exultantly: "Italy has just bought 90 brand new F-35. The program is going very well ".
Italy therefore confirms its commitment to purchase them 90, with an expected cost of about 14 billion euros. To it is added the unquantifiable one for the continuous updating of the hunting software. Italy is not just a buyer but a manufacturer of the F-35, as a second level partner. Leonardo - the largest Italian military industry, of which the Ministry of Economy and Finance is the main shareholder with about 30% - is strongly integrated into the US military-industrial complex. It was for this reason that she was chosen to manage the Faco plant in Cameri (Piedmont), from which the fighters destined for Italy and Holland come out. Leonardo also produces complete wings for aircraft assembled in the USA, using materials produced in the Foggia factories (Puglia), How (Campania) and Venegono (Lombardy).
The occupation at Faco is about a thousand, many of which are precarious, just a sixth of that estimated. The costs for the construction of the Faco plant and the purchase of the fighters are higher than the amount of the contracts stipulated by Italian companies for the production of the F-35. From an economic point of view, contrary to what the government claims, participation in the F-35 program is bankruptcy for the public purse.
Minister Guerini has started the phase 2 of the F-35 program "without an evaluation of merit and in the absence of information, contrary to the indications of the Parliament ", the deputy of LeU Palazzotto denounces, asking the minister to explain "on what basis he autonomously took this decision". In his "explanation" the minister will never say the real reason why he took this decision, not independently but on a mandate from the Italian establishment.
Participation in the F-35 program strengthens Italy's political and strategic anchorage to the United States, integrating the Italian military industrial complex even more into the gigantic US military-industrial complex. The decision to participate in the program is therefore a political choice, done on a bipartisan basis. This is confirmed by the fact that the Lega, opponent of the Democratic Party, applauds the minister Pd: "We note with satisfaction that Minister Guerini has announced the start of phase 2 on the F-35s", the Northern League parliamentarians unanimously declare. The major political forces, in contrast to each other, come together in the wake of the United States, "The privileged ally" that he will soon deploy in Italy, together with the F-35s, the new B61-12 nuclear bombs specially designed for these fifth generation fighters.
(the poster, 30 November 2019)