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.” Continue reading “Rome, Italy: Incendiary attack against Italferr, militarism, and nationalism.”
For my comrade Kyriakos X.
Goodbye comrade,
”You will be ashes, old world.
You’re destined for the path of destruction
And you can’t bend us
By killing our brothers in arms…
And know this
We will come out victorious
And even though our sacrifices
Are heavy”
Nazim Hikmet
Belatedly, I would like to write a few words about my comrade and companion for the past 6 years of my life, K. Xymitiris, who passed away in an apartment on Arkadias Street.
Together we struggled and shaped our opinions on anything that troubled us. I grew up with him, on a journey of discovering my combative identity. And Kyriakos was always by my side, not in front or in the back, but next to me. Holding my hand, supporting me, with his smile and his perspicacity. Always giving the correct answers while we were all mincing our words, clearing the landscape while we were all feeling lost. With a well-developed sense of solidarity, he always stood on the side of anyone who needed it, regardless of repression, being targeted, and his own comfort. Always first in all the struggles: against repression, gentrification, the labour sweatshops, colonialism, patriarchy, prisons. Indispensable as a comrade and as a friend, wherever he stood he filled the space with his modesty and militancy.
By advocating for unity in the struggle for the revolutionary cause, for confrontation, militancy and counter-attack, always with respect for those next to him, he made space where others suffocated. So he lived, at least by my side, militant and persistent, hopeful and smiling. Ready for everything, taking risks big and small, he gave his daily life to the struggle without a second thought.
Always by our side
to me, to his friends and his comrades, to anyone who needed him for the smallest or the biggest matter.
Always by our sideto take on the most tedious, the most risky role.Always by our side to hold our hand, to accompany us, to open the way.
Always by the sideof the migrant, the abused, the worker, the prisoner.
And always by my sideto support me, to help me, to listen to me, to struggle together with me, to hug me by pushing away the fear, to encourage me by pushing away the second thoughts, to fill the days and nights with comradeship and combativeness.
COMRADE KYRIAKOSNone of the goodbyes are enough. None of the texts can describe the pain of your loss. On 31/10 I was left half, on a path where I wanted you by my side. On 31/10 I lost that smile that only you knew how to evoke. On 31/10 I lost the hopefulness that only you could transmit to me. But on 31/10 I also made a promise to you, to me, to us and to so many others, that you would not be forgotten. On 31/10 I stayed behind to speak about you, about the struggle you gave and about those you did not manage to give. On 31/10 I raised up my fist and with my bloody mouth I vowed to STRUGGLE. On 31/10 I raised my fist and in the rubble of Arcadia Street I said KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS, ALWAYS PRESENT!
”Our most beautiful days we haven’t seen yet.
And the most beautiful words I wanted to tell you
I haven’t said yet…”
Nazim Hikmet
With unconditional love
your comrade
Marianna M.
Source: athens.indymedia