VIGILING AT RAYTHEON

This is Arthur Brien who vigils each week outside the Raytheon plant in Andover, Massachusetts. He goes there in the rain, snow, and wind. Sometimes a few others join him. Often he stands alone.

The sign he holds refers to the "missile defense" systems (PAC-3 and SM-3) made by Raytheon that are being deployed by the Obama administration in Japan, South Korea, Romania, Poland and on-board Navy Aegis destroyers. The PAC-3 is the third generation Patriot interceptor and the SM-3 is the interceptor that is on the Aegis warships.

Because the SM-3 has had pretty good test results Obama has decided to also put these missiles on ground-based launchers (the Aegis ashore program they call it) and will use them to encircle Russia.

These PAC-3 and SM-3 missile offense systems are key elements in U.S. first-strike attack planning. Their job would be to take out Russian or Chinese nuclear missiles that would be fired in retaliation after an initial U.S. attack. Don't think for a minute that Russia or China falls for the "missile defense" rhetoric. They know these systems are for attack.

Arthur Brien belongs to the group called Merrimack Valley People for Peace, one of the key groups that will be hosting our Global Network conference on June 17-19 in Andover. We will kick the weekend confab off by holding at vigil at this very spot on Friday, June 17 from 3:00-5:00 pm. I am sure that Arthur will enjoy having a crowd with him on that day.