Skip to content

Pentagon

Hegseth Orders Pentagon To Make Sweeping Budget Cuts

February 20, 2025 Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com. , , ,
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered Pentagon leaders to develop plans to make sweeping cuts to the Defense Department’s budget, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. According to a memo obtained by the Post, Hegseth’s order calls for an 8% cut to the Pentagon budget each year for five years. The Pentagon budget for 2025 is about $850 billion, and an 8% cut for five years would bring it down to roughly $560 billion, a reduction of $290 billion. Hegseth wants the proposed cuts to be drawn up by February 24, and the memo included a list of 17 categories that would be exempt from the spending cuts.

The Pentagon Is Recruiting Elon Musk To Help Win A Nuclear War

February 11, 2025 Alan MacLeod, MintPress News. , , , , , ,
Donald Trump has announced his intention to build a gigantic anti-ballistic missile system to counter Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons, and he is recruiting Elon Musk to help him. The Pentagon has long dreamed of constructing an American “Iron Dome.” The technology is couched in the defense language – i.e., to make America safe again. But like its Israeli counterpart, it would function as an offensive weapon, giving the United States the ability to launch nuclear attacks anywhere in the world without having to worry about the consequences of a similar response.

A New Military-Industrial Complex Arises

February 10, 2025 Michael T. Klare, Scheer Post. , , ,
Last April, in a move generating scant media attention, the Air Force announced that it had chosen two little-known drone manufacturers — Anduril Industries of Costa Mesa, California, and General Atomics of San Diego — to build prototype versions of its proposed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), a future unmanned plane intended to accompany piloted aircraft on high-risk combat missions. The lack of coverage was surprising, given that the Air Force expects to acquire at least 1,000 CCAs over the coming decade at around $30 million each, making this one of the Pentagon’s costliest new projects.

Under Trump’s Orders, Pentagon Plans ‘Permanent Withdrawal’ From Syria

February 5, 2025 News Desk, The Cradle. , , ,
Washington is drafting plans for a withdrawal of US military forces from Syria, two defense officials told NBC News on 4 February. “The Defense Department is developing plans to withdraw all US troops from Syria,” the officials said. As a result of US President Donald Trump and those close to him expressing an intention to pull out of Syria recently, Pentagon officials are “drawing up plans for a full withdrawal in 30, 60 or 90 days,” the report conveyed. US defense officials told NBC that Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz visited CENTCOM’s headquarters last week, met with senior army officials, and received briefings on the region.

Pentagon Confirms ‘Around 2,000’ US Troops Deployed In Syria

December 20, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , ,
Pentagon Press Secretary General Pat Ryder revealed on 19 December that the US has “around 2,000” troops deployed inside Syria, more than double the figure Washington has previously claimed to have inside the war-torn country. “As you know, we have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria. In light of the situation in Syria and the significant interests, we recently learned that those numbers were higher,” Ryder told reporters on Thursday, adding that he “learned today there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria.”

Pete Hegseth Is A Terrible Choice To Head The Pentagon

December 16, 2024 Veterans for Peace, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Veterans For Peace is astounded that someone with the track record of Pete Hegseth would seriously be considered for the critically important role of US Secretary of Defense. His dubious and questionable qualifications are far overshadowed by the many reasons that should disqualify him. These include a well-documented record of misogyny, sexual assault, white supremacy, Islamophobia, financial malfeasance, alcoholism, and opposition to VA healthcare. Are these the qualities we want in our Secretary of Defense?

Pentagon Fails Seventh Straight Audit

November 19, 2024 Jake Johnson, Common Dreams. , , ,
The Pentagon announced late last week that it failed its seventh consecutive audit as the sprawling, profiteering-ridden department wasn't able to fully account for its trillions of dollars in assets. As with its past failures to achieve a clean audit, the U.S. Defense Department attempted to cast the 2024 results in a positive light, with the Pentagon's chief financial officer declaring in a statement that "momentum is on our side." The Pentagon is the largest U.S. federal agency and is responsible for roughly half of the government's annual discretionary spending, with its yearly budget approaching $1 trillion despite long-standing concerns about the department's inability to account for vast sums of money approved by lawmakers and presidents from both major parties.

US Military Makes First Confirmed OpenAI Purchase For Fighting Forces

October 30, 2024 Sam Biddle, Black Agenda Report. , , , ,
Less than a year after OpenAI quietly signaled it wanted to do business with the Pentagon , a procurement document obtained by The Intercept shows U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, believes access to OpenAI’s technology is “essential” for its mission. The September 30 document lays out AFRICOM’s rationale for buying cloud computing services directly from Microsoft as part of its $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, rather than seeking another provider on the open market. “The USAFRICOM operates in a dynamic and evolving environment where IT plays a critical role in achieving mission objectives,” the document reads, including “its vital mission in support of our African Mission Partners [and] USAFRICOM joint exercises.”

Pentagon Confirms US Troops To Operate THAAD Missile Defense In Israel

October 14, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , ,
The US military will send a missile defense battery and troops to operate it in Israel, the Pentagon said on 13 October, amid warnings from Iran that Washington should keep all US military forces out of Israel. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery at the direction of President Joe Biden, the Pentagon said in a statement. The US is seeking to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following a large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israeli airbases on 1 October. Tehran launched the ballistic missile barrage in retaliation for multiple aggressions carried out by Tel Aviv, including the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in July and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on 27 September.

Deal Or No Deal?

October 3, 2024 Andrew P. Napolitano, Consortium News. , , , , ,
The case of the Gitmo plea agreement keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. A few weeks ago, we learned that a plea agreement had been entered into by way of a signed contract among the retired general in the Pentagon who is supervising all Gitmo prosecutions, the Gitmo defendants and defense counsel, and the military prosecutors. The agreement, as we understand it from sources who have seen it, provides that in return for a guilty plea, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others will serve life terms at Gitmo, rather than be exposed at trial to the death penalty. The guilty plea is to include a public and detailed recitation of guilt.

Lebanon’s UK Envoy Warns Of ‘Doomsday’ Scenario For West Asia

September 21, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , , , ,
An Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon would be a “doomsday” scenario leading to an all-out regional conflict and the radicalization of Muslims in Europe, a senior Lebanese diplomat warned in an interview with The Times on 20 September. Rami Mortada, Lebanon’s ambassador to the UK, warned that the UK-trained Lebanese army would not “stand idly” by and watch if Israel launches a ground invasion or “heavy aerial attack” on Lebanon. Israel has said it seeks to create a buffer zone in south Lebanon by pushing Hezbollah’s forces some 30 kilometers away from the Israel border to behind the Litani River. Since 8 October, Hezbollah has been striking Israeli military sites near the border with missiles and drones, forcing Israelis in the northern settlements to evacuate their homes. Hezbollah says it will continue targeting Israel until its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is halted.

Pentagon Renovates Israeli Air Base

September 14, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , ,
The US Department of Defense is building aircraft facilities in Israel to accommodate new US-made KC-46A Pegasus refueling tanker planes that could assist in an attack on Iran, The Intercept reported on 14 September. Army Corps of Engineers documents show new buildings will be constructed and existing buildings will be upgraded, including hangars, warehouses, and storage facilities, at a military base in the south of Israel.  The project includes “establishing and adapting aviation and maintenance infrastructure for the KC-46,” including the construction of five new concrete and steel structures, the documents show.

World-Ending Maneuvers?

August 8, 2024 Hekmat Aboukhater and William D. Hartung, Scheer Post. , , ,
The Pentagon is in the midst of a massive $2 trillion multiyear plan to build a new generation of nuclear-armed missiles, bombers, and submarines. A large chunk of that funding will go to major nuclear weapons contractors like Bechtel, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. And they will do everything in their power to keep that money flowing. This January, a review of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program under the Nunn-McCurdy Act — a congressional provision designed to rein in cost overruns of Pentagon weapons programs — found that the missile, the crown jewel of the nuclear overhaul plan involving 450 missile-holding silos spread across five states, is already 81% over its original budget.

Pentagon Again Uses Budget Lies To Deliver More Weapons To Ukraine

July 28, 2024 Moon Of Alabama. , , ,
In accounting an entity can generally use one of several methods to account for stock material. Using (ever increasing) replacement costs or (ever decreasing) book value are two arguably valid methods. What is a no-no though is to change horses during race. One either uses one or the other. One never-ever changes the applied accounting method during the accounting period. Any commercial company doing what the Pentagon is doing here would be asking for serious trouble. One wonder if and when Congress will wake up to this.

NATO Summit: Collectively Losing Their Minds

July 13, 2024 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. , , , , , , ,
On March 7, 2022, two weeks after Moscow entered the civil war in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News from Moldova that the U.S. would give NATO-member Poland a “green light” to send Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Within days the Pentagon shot down the idea. Then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also supported the Polish planes scheme, but the Pentagon rejected it because it “could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO,” according to then Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. 
«12345678910»