Pentagon

Report Makes The Case For Eliminating Land-Based Nuclear Missiles

June 10, 2024 William D. Hartung, The Nation. Educate! ICBMs, Nuclear Ban Treaty, Nuclear Weapons, Pentagon

Nuclear weapons are back in style in official Washington. The Pentagon is in the midst of a $2 trillion, three-decade-long effort to build a new generation of nuclear-armed bombers, missiles, and submarines, and the weapons lobby and its allies in Congress are pressing to spend even more. Thankfully, a new report from the government watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) offers a refreshing counterpoint to this rush towards a new nuclear arms race, explaining in persuasive detail why the centerpiece of the Pentagon’s new buildup, the Sentinel ICBM, is dangerous, unaffordable, and unnecessary. The late Daniel Ellsberg and Norman Solomon made this point forcefully in an October 2021 piece in The Nation, noting that eliminating ICBMs was the easiest and fastest way to reduce “the overall danger of nuclear war.”

Constant Killing

May 28, 2024 Nick Turse TomDispatch.com. Educate! Civilian Deaths, History, Pentagon, Reparations, US Imperialism

There are constants in this world — occurrences you can count on. Sunrises and sunsets. The tides. That, day by day, people will be born and others will die. Some of them will die in peace, but others, of course, in violence and agony. For hundreds of years, the U.S. military has been killing people. It’s been a constant of our history. Another constant has been American military personnel killing civilians, whether Native Americans, Filipinos, Nicaraguans, Haitians, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Afghans, Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis, and on and on. And there’s something else that’s gone along with those killings: a lack of accountability for them.

Pentagon Says No Aid Unloaded At US Pier Has Reached Gaza

May 22, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! Gaza, Humanitarian Aid, Israel, Palestine, Pentagon

The Pentagon said on 21 May that none of the humanitarian aid has been unloaded off of Washington’s floating pier on the coast of Gaza, as the US says it is working with the UN and Israel to identify safe routes into the besieged enclave. Pentagon spokesman, Major General Patrick Ryder, said on Tuesday that the US, Israel, and the UN are working to determine “alternative routes” for the delivery of over 500 tons of aid that has been transported to the Gaza pier since last week. The announcement comes after desperate Palestinians, stricken by famine as a result of Israel’s war, tried intercepting a number of trucks carrying aid from the pier over the weekend, according to Ryder.

US Army Officer Resigns Over ‘Unqualified’ Support For Israel

May 15, 2024 Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com. Resist! Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Palestine, Pentagon, Resignation

An Army officer working at the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has resigned in protest of the US’s “unqualified” support for the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. Maj. Harrison Mann posted his resignation letter on LinkedIn and said it was initially distributed within the DIA on April 16. In the letter, he said the DIA does not only “inform policy” but “facilitates, and at times, directly executes policy,” referring to US support for Israel. “The policy that has never been far from my mind for the past six months is the nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians,” Mann said in the letter.

Last Year, You Spent Over A Month’s Rent On Pentagon Contractors

April 11, 2024 Lindsay Koshgarian, Scheer Post. Educate! Finance and the Economy, Military Industrial Complex, Pentagon, Taxes

Ever wonder where your taxes go? Each year, the Institute for Policy Studies releases a tax receipt so you can find out. One item always stands out: the Pentagon — and the contractors who profit off it. In 2023, the average taxpayer spent $2,974 on the Pentagon. Of that, just $705 went to salaries for the troops, who often have to rely on programs like food stamps. A much larger sum — $1,748 — went to corporate Pentagon contractors. That’s more than the average American’s monthly rent, $1,372. From Lockheed Martin to SpaceX, these corporations don’t need your support. And they aren’t operating with your well-being in mind.

‘Move The Money’: Detroit Votes For Slashing Bloated Pentagon Budget

February 29, 2024 C. J. Atkins, People's World. Resist! Detroit, Finance and the Economy, Michigan, military spending, Pentagon

Detroit, Michigan - Following in the footsteps of neighboring Hamtramck, Detroit has become the biggest U.S. city so far to pass a “Move the Money” resolution. The measure, approved unanimously by City Council on Tuesday, calls on the U.S. Congress and the president to shift public money away from the military to fund social services. The Michigan Peace Council, a major backer of the campaign to win the resolution, praised the council vote, which came on the same day that nearly 101,000 Michiganders voted “Uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to oppose President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s brutal war against Gaza.

Fatal Flaws Undermine America’s Defense Industrial Base

February 24, 2024 Brian Berletic, Orinoco Tribune. Educate! China, Military Industrial Complex, Pentagon, Russia, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

The first-ever US Department of Defense National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS) confirms what many analysts have concluded in regard to the unsustainable nature of Washington’s global-spanning foreign policy objectives and its defense industrial base’s (DIB) inability to achieve them. The report lays out a multitude of problems plaguing the US DIB including a lack of surge capacity, inadequate workforce, off-shore downstream suppliers, as well as insufficient “demand signals” to motivate private industry partners to produce what’s needed, in the quantities needed, when it is needed.

US Government Report Contradicts Claims Of ‘ISIS Threat’ In Iraq, Syria

February 14, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! Iraq, ISIS, Pentagon, Syria, US Imperialism

A new report by the inspectors general of the US State Department, Defense Department, and USAID conducted between 1 October and 31 December 2023 has determined that ISIS poses a minimal threat in Iraq and Syria, raising questions about the Pentagon's insistence on keeping US troops in both nations. “During the quarter, ISIS continued to operate in a survival posture in both Iraq and Syria. The group remained militarily defeated, incapable of mounting large, complex attacks domestically or externally, even as Coalition forces increased their focus on force protection due to attacks by Iran-aligned militia group,” the quarterly report on the so-called Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) determines, noting the group's ”capacity to conduct insurgent activities remained severely degraded."

US Plans Weeks-Long Bombing Campaign Against Iranian Targets

February 2, 2024 Dave DeCamp, Scheer Post. Educate! Iran, Pentagon, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

US officials told NBC News that the US is planning to launch a weeks-long bombing campaign in the Middle East in retaliation for the drone attack in northeast Jordan that killed three American soldiers. The officials said that the targets are expected to include Iranian targets outside of Iran, and the campaign will involve strikes and cyber operations. Other reports have said the US is considering targeting Iranians in Iraq and Syria or the Iranian navy. While the potential targets are not inside Iran, direct attacks on the Iranian military could provoke a full-blown war between the US and Iran.

The Mess They Made Of 2023

December 28, 2023 Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News. Educate! Donald Trump, Elections, Joe Biden, Pentagon, Republican Party, Wars and Militarism

Let us consider together the year gone past and arrive at some conclusions as to where it leaves us as we enter upon another. We can begin with two recent events that, to the naked eye, have nothing to do with one another. The first of these concerns what the Biden regime calls Operation Prosperity Guardian. The Pentagon described this last week as a coalition of 20–odd countries that have agreed to assist the U.S. to protect commercial traffic in the Red Sea from drone attacks mounted by Houthi rebels in Yemen, which — look at the map — chokes off the southern end of this key maritime passage.

Senate Passes Massive $886 Billion National Defense Authorization Act

December 15, 2023 Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com. Educate! Congress, NDAA, Pentagon, Pentagon Budget, Senate, Wars and Militarism

On Wednesday, the Senate passed the mammoth $886 billion 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which funds the Pentagon and military spending in other government agencies. The bill passed in a vote of 87-13, with six Democrats, six Republicans, and one Independent voting against it. This NDAA now heads to the House, where it’s expected to pass in a vote on Thursday as the bill is the version that the two chambers negotiated. The NDAA includes an amendment to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which gives the FBI the power to conduct warrantless spying of foreign targets and Americans they interact with.

The Pentagon Just Can’t Pass An Audit

November 30, 2023 Lindsay Koshgarian, Scheer Post. Educate! Audit, Congress, Finance and the Economy, Pentagon, Social Programs

The Pentagon just failed its audit — again. For the sixth time in a row, the agency that accounts for half the money Congress approves each year can’t figure out what it did with all that money. For a brief recap, the Pentagon has never passed an audit. Until 2018, it had never even completed one. Since then, the Pentagon has done an audit every year and given itself a participation prize each time. Yet despite this year’s triumphant press release — titled “DOD Makes Incremental Progress Towards Clean Audit” — it has failed every time. In its most recent audit, the Pentagon was able to account for just half of its $3.8 trillion in assets (including equipment, facilities, etc).

US Deploys More Warships, Hundreds Of Marines To Israeli Coast

October 17, 2023 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Media, Palestine, Pentagon, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

The Pentagon has deployed a US Marine rapid response unit consisting of 2,000 marines and sailors to Israeli waters, according to two US defense officials who spoke with CNN. “[The unit] will join a growing number of US warships and forces converging on Israel as the US seeks to send a message of deterrence to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah,” the US outlet reported on 17 October. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is onboard the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship that can carry over 20 aircraft. It was deployed to the Red Sea in August to counter the Iranian navy in Persian Gulf waters alongside the USS Carter Hall landing ship.

AI Goes To War

October 4, 2023 William D. Hartung, TomDispatch.com. Educate! Artificial Intelligence, China, Pentagon, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism, Worker Rights and Jobs

On August 28th, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks chose the occasion of a three-day conference organized by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the arms industry’s biggest trade group, to announce the “Replicator Initiative.” Among other things, it would involve producing “swarms of drones” that could hit thousands of targets in China on short notice. Call it the full-scale launching of techno-war. Her speech to the assembled arms makers was yet another sign that the military-industrial complex (MIC) President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about more than 60 years ago is still alive, all too well, and taking a new turn. Call it the MIC for the digital age.

Chinese Balloon Was Not Spying, US Government Admits Months Later

September 21, 2023 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. Resistance Report China, Media, New Cold War, Pentagon, US Imperialism

The US government has admitted that severe accusations it made against China were just a lot of hot air. The highest-ranking official in the US military has clarified that a Chinese balloon that crossed into US territory in February 2023 was not spying; it was likely blown off course by wind. CBS News published an interview this September with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, who stated, “The intelligence community, their assessment – and it’s a high-confidence assessment – [is] that there was no intelligence collection by that balloon”. Milley conceded that the large rubber object was probably pushed off track by powerful wind.

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