Defense

Venezuela’s Civilian Militia Reaches 3.3 Million Members

December 15, 2019 Paul Dobson, Venezuelanalysis. Educate! Defense, US Imperialism, Venezuela

Mérida – Venezuela’s Bolivarian Militia has grown to 3.3 million men and women, surpassing the target for 2019. The announcement was made during activities held over the weekend for the Day of Loyalty, which commemorates the last public speech given by late President Hugo Chavez in 2012 before he passed away from cancer in 2013. Speaking from La Guaira State on Sunday, with 30,000 militia members in attendance, President Nicolas Maduro told the country that 2020’s goal has been established at four million enlisted members. “Today is a day of victory, the Day of Loyalty and love towards Chavez,” Maduro said in a televised address, adding that the 3.3 million members had expressed their pride and patriotism by joining the militia.

China Signs Defence Agreement With South Korea As US Angers Seoul With Demand For $5bn Troop Payment

November 21, 2019 By Julian Ryall, Telegraph.co.uk Educate! China, Defense, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, South Korea, Treaty

November 19, 2019 "Information Clearing House" - The defence ministers of South Korea and China have agreed to develop their security ties to ensure stability in north-east Asia, the latest indication that Washington’s long-standing alliances in the region are fraying. On the sidelines of regional security talks in Bangkok on Sunday, Jeong Kyeong-doo, the South Korean minister of defence, and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, agreed to set up more military hotlines and to push ahead with a visit by Mr Jeong to China next year to “foster bilateral exchanges and cooperation in defence”, South Korea’s defence ministry said.

Glasgow City Council Ditch Defence Industry In New Ethical Events Policy

June 1, 2019 Ben Wray, Commonspace.scot Resist! Defense, Electoral Politics, Policy

The UDT conference, organised by Clarion Events, in June 2018 was initially agreed to by the previous Labour administration, but the SNP-led Council rejected calls from peace activists to cancel the arms fair, despite participants in the event being linked to the construction of the new generation of Trident nuclear missiles and Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza. The Council removed the People Make Glasgow logo from the event before it took place and said it would be designing a new “ethical” policy on the hosting of future conferences, the details of which were contained in an email seen by CommonSpace from Council deputy leader David McDonald on 7 May to the Sink the Glasgow Arms Fair coalition, which had been enquiring about the progress of the new policy.

$717 Billion Defense Bill That Just Breezed Through The Senate Should Be A National Scandal

August 6, 2018 Lindsay Koshgarian, Inthesetimes.com Educate! Budget, Defense, militarism

With little debate or public attention, the Senate just followed the House in approving $717 billion for the nation’s military, meaning the bill is headed for the president’s signature. The passage is no surprise. The National Defense Authorization Act is one of the few pieces of federal budget legislation that sails through every year, without fail, on a bipartisan basis. Yet, the bill deserves fierce debate—and dissent. At $717 billion, the package provides a historically high military budget. By my calculations based on numbers from the Office of Management and Budget, in 1997, after Cold War spending was ratcheted down from its Reagan-era peak, military spending was $386 billion after adjusting for inflation. By the height of spending during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it had more than doubled to $799 billion.

U.S. House Passes Defense Bill Restricting Drawdown Of Troops In S. Korea

July 27, 2018 Staff, M.yna.co.kr Educate! Congress, Defense, Legislation, South Korea, US military

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense authorization bill that restricts any drawdown of American troops in South Korea. The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, which approves US$716 billion for defense in fiscal year 2019, passed the House by a vote of 359-54. Upon Senate approval, it will be sent to U.S. President Donald Trump to sign into law. The bill notes that about 28,500 American troops are currently stationed in South Korea as a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to the bilateral alliance. Their "significant removal" is "a non-negotiable item as it relates to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, the bill says under a section describing the Sense of Senate on U.S. military forces on the Korean Peninsula.

CIA Teams Up With Defense Industry To Undermine Korea Negotiations

July 9, 2018 By William Craddick, Disobedientmedia.com Educate! CIA, Defense, North Korea

In a new development that will shock no one, factions within the CIA attempted for the second time in just over a month to undermine President Donald Trump’s peace overtures towards North Korea by leaking information calculated to decrease confidence in Kim Jong Un’s willingness to earnestly negotiate. On June 29, 2018, NBC News released a report quoting anonymous CIA officials who claimed that North Korea was increasing nuclear production at “secret sites” without providing any actual evidence for such claims. The report’s credibility is further weakened by the fact that it also cited reports from a think tank which has strong connections to the defense industry and other private special interests. In disseminating their report, the CIA used NBC reporter Ken Dilanian as an outlet for leaks. As Disobedient Media previously reported, Dilanian was outed by the Intercept in 2014 as a CIA asset.

Untold Story Of Clinton Foundation’s Ties With Defense Contractors

February 27, 2017 Ekaterina Blinova, www.sputniknews.com Educate! Bill Clinton, Defense, Hillary Clinton

By Ekaterina Blinova for Sputnik News - That was confirmed by House of Representatives Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, who told journalists on January 26 that the investigation continues. "There are still a lot of unanswered questions. We don't have literally tens of thousands of documents that we still need," Chaffetz told Fox News. However, it appears that not all of the documents related to the Clinton email investigation will find their way out. Politico.com reported on February 21 that conservative watchdog Judicial Watch's request to release some of State Department records about Clinton's use of a private server during her tenure as Secretary of State was denied by a federal judge. The Clinton email scandal erupted back in 2015 when it became publicly known that Hillary Clinton had used her private email server for official communications during her tenure as Secretary of State.

Protecting People And Planet Against Trump and Trumpism

January 14, 2017 Jeremy Brecher, www.labor4sustainability.org Strategize! Defense, Donald Trump

By Jeremy Brecher for Labor Network for Sustainability - Donald Trump and a powerful collection of anti-social forces have taken control of the U.S. government. They seek permanent domination in service of their individual and class wealth and power. Trump’s presidency threatens immigrants, African Americans, Muslims, workers, women, children, the elderly, the disabled, LGBTQ people, and many others. Indeed, it threatens all that holds us together as a society. We the people – society — need to defend ourselves against this threat and bring it to an end. We need what resisters to repressive regimes elsewhere have called “Social Self-Defense.”

Main Opposition Party Demands Delay Of THAAD Deployment

December 14, 2016 Staff, www.english.yonhapnews.co.kr Resist! Defense, South Korea

By Staff of Yonhap News Agency - SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's main opposition party on Tuesday demanded the government delay the controversial deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system until the next administration as President Park Geun-hye faces impeachment over corruption allegations. The remark came four days after the parliament approved Park's impeachment, signaling major changes to her key policies opposed by the opposition bloc. Her fate hinges on a Constitutional Court decision due in six months.

Weapons Makers Tell Investors Russia Threat Great For Business

August 25, 2016 Lee Fang, www.theintercept.com Educate! Corporations, Defense, Investment, Russia

By Lee Fang for The Intercept - THE ESCALATING ANTI-RUSSIAN rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign comes in the midst of a major push by military contractors to position Moscow as a potent enemy that must be countered with a drastic increase in military spending by NATO countries. Weapon makers have told investors that they are relying on tensions with Russia to fuel new business in the wake of Russian’s annexation of Crimea and modest increases in its military budget.

Philadelphia Lawyers Form Coalition To Defend Protesters At DNC

June 24, 2016 Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris, www.phillyinfocus.com Create! Defense, DNC, Philadelphia, Protesters

By Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris for Philly In Focus - for Philadelphia – (Politics): More than a dozen copies of the book, “Crashing the Party: Legacies and Lessons from the RNC 2000,” sat in a brown box on a sturdy wooden table just inches from where twenty or so private Philadelphia criminal defense and civil rights lawyers who will defend free speech at the Democratic National Convention convened to introduce their collaborative to the news media, answer journalists’ questions and, once the press exited the Law Offices of Krasner & Long, LLC, talk strategy among themselves.

264 Military Buildings To Become Parks Or Hospitals In Ecuador

September 5, 2014 Telesur, www.telesurtv.net Create! Defense, Ecuador, Peace

Ecuador will reduce its military by 51 percent over the next ten years. Ecuadorean defense minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa announced on Wednesday that the army´s 516 units will be reduced to 252, reported El Telegrafo. The measure aims to optimize Ecuador´s military presence nationally. “We know now what we have, how to maintain it, and what we need,” she explained to the press. She clarified that this will affect the three branches of the army and at least 600 hectares of urban spaces will be made available by 2025. This space is in addition to the 30,000 hectares of rural spaces already delivered by the army to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for protection. Inmobiliar, the government institution in charge of managing public land, will assess and determine the future use of the lands. They could be converted into parks, or used for new schools, hospitals, centres for children, or community police units, but will not be for private use or real estate. In the south of Quito, the army base will be used for the presidency and other ministries.

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