Rome, November 28, 2024 – Incendiary attack against Italferr, militarism, and nationalism

We live in times of integration, where the boundaries that usually divided the various domains of control are disappearing. We are in the era of cybernetics, of biotechnologies applied to the body, of transhumanism through which the machine continues its war against the living, trying to integrate with the biological.

These are also the times of actual war, times in which the private sector increasingly supports the public sector in establishing and pursuing the strategic objectives of the State. Capital has entered a new phase of competition, the surplus is struggling to find outlets, and the balance of power between capitalist blocs and their respective areas of influence is being redefined. And war is always a good business.

On April 15, Leonardo, the most important Italian defense and technology company and one of the largest in the world by revenue, controlled by the Ministry, signed an agreement to this effect with RFI, part of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group, also controlled by the Ministry of Finance. This agreement falls within the scope of the implementation of war logistics required by the changing global geopolitical landscape. The war in Ukraine, along with a broader redefinition of the balance of power between capitalist blocs, is rapidly bringing the military sphere back to the forefront of state concerns. The arms race is already underway (+93% increase in arms imports in 2023), military production is becoming the new driver for the struggling economy, and the entire military machinery must be updated and greased in anticipation of upcoming conflicts.

The agreement aims to “ensure the movement of military resources, within and outside Europe” even “on short notice and on a large scale,” as stated in the announcement of the agreement. It operates within the framework of “Military Mobility, an EU initiative aimed at enhancing existing infrastructural and digital capabilities.” The declared purpose is to create the so-called “military Schengen,” the integration of the individual states’ infrastructure network to allow the rapid and efficient movement of military equipment within Europe. This plan, voted on in 2018 by the Commission, is the only one in the defense sector to have received the approval of all member states. It commits them to “simplify and standardize cross-border military transport procedures” and to “allow the free movement of military personnel and equipment within the EU’s borders” (from the official PESCO website, an initiative of the European Union within the framework of the Common Security and Defense Policy aimed at the structural integration of armed forces). Note that this project was proposed by the commander of the United States Army in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, highlighting Europe’s subservience to the will of U.S. imperialism. While Europe is increasingly fortifying its borders, and the “free movement of goods and people” becomes a memory, victim as it is of the whims of individual rulers ready to suspend it at the first sign of new “emergencies,” efforts are being made to facilitate the “free” movement of military units and resources through the removal of bureaucratic barriers and the improvement of infrastructure.

Specifically, in this agreement, Leonardo will provide “its expertise and support of advanced A.I. techniques on multiple fronts: census and monitoring of dual-use infrastructures, modeling of infrastructures and articulated services, simulation and optimization of complex networks,” while RFI will provide the physical infrastructure, its management and maintenance, considering that it consists of a communication network that runs alongside the tracks and traverses many vectors across the Italian peninsula. It therefore seems that the main application of this agreement is to provide the company that owns the HPC (High Performance Computing) Davinci-1, one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world in the aerospace, defense, and security sectors, “a secure and interoperable communication infrastructure with the different types of networks (TETRA, LTE, 4G/5G), to ensure high levels of service and security.””What is emerging, in simpler terms, is the transition of an infrastructure primarily designed for civilian use to one of the strongest defense industries in Italy and the world.”

Dual-use is no longer the exception, or a trend, but the norm. What is developed in the civilian sector must be easily convertible for military use. According to this logic, there is no real distinction between civilian and military; everything (the entire society, from its public institutions like universities and research centers to infrastructure, from transportation to energy networks) can and must be conceived and designed to be mobilized for military purposes. What has been produced by Capital with the false promise of serving the well-being of populations inevitably returns to serve Capital when it needs to arm itself to ensure new and more advantageous profit margins. War is indeed intrinsic to the capitalist production system, as it allows Capital to emerge from periods of stagnation, revive industry and technological innovation through production incentives, conquer new territories to exploit, and burn enormous amounts of capital, goods, and surplus labor.

For this reason, on the night of November 28 in Rome, we placed flammable material and caused a fire that, according to the media, would have destroyed a total of 16 cars and a van owned by the company Italferr, a subsidiary of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group.

Italferr is a company that deals with engineering and design services, project management and supervision, tendering, and project management activities for large infrastructure investments of the FS group. Being part of the same group, but also for technical reasons, it works closely with RFI.

As a compliant collaborator of the ongoing militaristic shift, we have identified Italferr, as part of the FS group, as a target within our antimilitarist efforts aimed at countering the new warlike drift of states.

Leonardo, for its part, is, as mentioned above, a leading company in the fields of defense, aerospace, and security. It is the fourteenth largest arms company in the world and the second largest in the European Union, a position achieved after decades of acquisitions that have allowed it to accumulate a significant amount of know-how and cutting-edge research and technological development centers. It has emerged unscathed from several scandals related to corruption investigations thanks to its strong integration with the upper echelons of politics, ensured by the continuous presence of men loyal to the State’s interests on its board of directors. (just think of Gianni de Gennaro, the diligent executioner who headed the police during the G8 in Genoa in 2001, rewarded for his faithful servility with the appointment as president of Leonardo from 2013 to 2020).

Recently, the company has come under the spotlight due to protests over its strong ties with the Israeli military sector. Just to give an example, in 2022 it facilitated the acquisition of the Israeli company RADA Electronic Industries Ltd., specialized in advanced military tactical radars. RADA Electronic Industries is one of the many Israeli arms companies that market their systems as “field-tested,” meaning tested on the Palestinian population forced to live under a regime of military occupation and apartheid. RADA boasts close collaborations with the Israeli armed forces and major Israeli defense companies such as IAI, Rafael, and Elbit Systems. But the integration of the Israeli military-industrial system with Leonardo is long-standing: In 2011, a major agreement was indeed signed, which involved the provision by Israel of a satellite system to the Italian Army in exchange for Leonardo SpA-produced trainer jets. These trainer-fighters are commonly used by the IAF (Israeli Air Force) to train their pilots, the same ones who have been dropping bombs on the Palestinian population and Gaza for over a year, committing what is increasingly shaping up to be a true ethnic cleansing aimed at driving out the Gazan population with the goal of taking control of that territory.

We also note that in recent months, Leonardo’s profits have increased from 40 to 459 million, thanks to the super sales of military systems to Ukraine, Israel, and warring regimes around the world.

If this company thinks that its blood-soaked business goes unnoticed and that it can continue unpunished with the benevolence of politics and the judiciary, it is very much mistaken.

For this action, we drew inspiration from the attacks that took place in Europe against the military industry and war, which spread following the call to action from the Balkan Anarchist Book Fair, with whose final declaration we are in agreement.

The action against what oppresses us is easy and reproducible. Let’s dismantle this system of oppression, piece by piece, gear by gear, with our ideals and our desire for freedom in our hearts.

AGAINST THE STATE AND CAPITAL

AGAINST EVERY WAR, AGAINST MILITARISM AND NATIONALISM: DIRECT ACTION! SABOTAGE!

With this action, we want to contribute to the international campaign in solidarity with the Palestinian people, against the ongoing genocide and Israeli colonialism. PALESTINE FREE FROM EVERY STATE, POWER, AND OPPRESSOR!

This fire is a fiery salute to the anarchist Kyriakos, in solidarity with Marianna, Dimitris, Dimitra, and Nikos Romanos, recently arrested by the infamous Greek anti-terrorism units who want to make him pay for his rebellious path and stance during the long imprisonment: STRENGTH TO COMRADES!

Solidarity with Alfredo, Anna, Juan, Paska, Stecco, Giulio, with all anarchist prisoners in the world and with those who are on the run to defend the beloved freedom.

FOR A WORLD WITHOUT STATES, MASTERS, GODS, OR HUSBANDS

LONG LIVE ANARCHY!

anarchicx incendiaryx

Source: La Nemesi

via: darknights