Tag: Military-Industrial Complex

In Defense (Sort Of)

I have been a critic of Trump since he was elected….there is very little about him or his policies that I can agree with on any occasion.

But pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable….I am about to do something that I seldom do….

But I have agree with him on some issues like ending our endless wars…I agree with the promise but not the actions that he has taken.

He opens his mouth and spouts crap almost daily. Most of it is either exaggeration or lies…..but on occasion he does say something that is accurate or almost accurate….like his most recent statement that has the media crapping on themselves to discredit his words.

What could he have said that I would jump to defend him over?

Let’s see shall we?

President Donald Trump blasted the Pentagon’s leadership on Monday for allegedly caring about the defense industry more than U.S. service members.

“I’m not saying the military’s in love with me – the soldiers are,” the president said at a White House news conference. “The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”

Trump also said that his desire to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria now that the Islamic State no longer holds any territory has put him at odds with military leaders.

“I said: That’s good; let’s bring our soldiers back home,” Trump said. “Some people don’t like to come home. Some people like to continue to spend money.”

A Pentagon spokeswoman referred questions about the president’s remarks to the White House. The Joint Staff declined to comment for this story.

(Task & Purpose)

Think about it……if there is not a revolving door at the Pentagon then why are most retired generals and such working for Halluburton, Raytheon or Lockheed-Martin?

Old soldiers don’t retire….they just move location and continue to do what they do…..and war is what they do.

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–11Aug20

The Congress is said to be working on yet another pandemic stim package and of course the Dems and Repubs do not see eye to eye…..and the president does not see it the same as Congress……

But the next package MUST include a bailout of the defense industry……

Republican defense lawmakers are pushing for the next emergency coronavirus funding package to include a hefty boost for defense spending, saying that the pandemic’s effects on military spending have cut across an array of program and procurement accounts.

“Socially distanced production spaces, provision of PPE, self-quarantining, disrupted logistics have generated significant bills,” the group wrote in an open statement on Thursday. “These COVID-related effects made defense programs less efficient and more expensive, and DOD cannot redirect money from other crucial priorities to cover these costs.”

The comments lawmakers — Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.; House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas; House Appropriations Committee ranking member Kay Granger, R-Texas; and the appropriations committee’s defense panel ranking member Ken Calvert, R-Calf. — come amid negotiations on the latest multi-trillion relief package between House Democrats and White House officials.

Defense officials have said publicly they need at least $10 billion in emergency funding to cover pandemic-related costs and avoid exhausting other modernization and readiness funds.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/08/06/next-coronavirus-relief-package-must-include-a-big-defense-boost-gop-leaders-argue/

I say SCREW THEM…I am preached to by the government that I should prepare for that rainy day and yet when it arrives the M-IC whines and demands that we bail them out with taxpayer money….

Once again I say SCREW ‘EM!

Maybe they should start practicing what they preach….hire some accountants that will tell them how to avoid these financial problems.

Not to worry they will get their black mail money for the M-IC has spent lots of cash on Congress to assure that they will ALWAYS get what they want.

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–21Jul20

You know how much the conservatives hate socialism…..but only when it is applied to the downtrodden of this society…..it is acceptable as long as it will benefit the wealthy and preserve profits….

What?

I read a piece the other day about the idea of nationalization of one of America’s industries…..

With the US the world’s largest military, by far, it makes sense that their own armsmakers often have a level of capacity far beyond overseas competitors. The Air Force is finding this is limiting to the competition for US business.

Air Force acquisition head Will Roper has suggested the solution for this may ultimately be having the US nationalize chunks of the military aviation industry outright, to ensure that a few different armsmakers survive.

And yet they’d survive only nominally. The nationalization would give the government an effective monopoly on those parts of the industry, but the US might spare the expense to prop up multiple design and construct facilities just for the sake of “competition.”

The nature of these many billion dollar plane projects means only a few could ever compete to begin with. Many have responded to the mounting cost by merging to share expenses. The Pentagon wants more than one contractor to choose from, even if they have to own them all.

Yet doing this necessarily will lead to consequences for state-run monopolies, replacing the profit motive at the company level with a new layer of bureaucracy. The companies traditionally seek Pentagon deals with lobbyists, and by hiring former Pentagon figures to gaudy contracts. It isn’t clear how well the military will be able to sustain this if they nationalize the companies.

The legality of nationalizing US industries remains shaky, with President Truman’s failed bid to nationalize the steel industry in the 1950s. The Obama Administration, however, did successfully nationalize General Motors, temporarily, under the guise of saving jobs.

Nationalizing to ensure competition is a very unusual notion, and that’s going to make advancing the case all the more difficult. Expect the big armsmakers to resist, as these huge plane deals tend to be wildly profitable.

(antiwar.com)

For more in-depth report…..https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/07/us-may-need-nationalize-military-aircraft-industry-usaf-says/166894/

I wait for the reaction from conservs…..so far I have heard.read NOTHING!

Why is that?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Another Taxpayer Bailout

This pandemic has seen the loss of revenue (profit) for many firms and the Congress has put together several stim plans to help business weather this viral storm……

The latest industry to get lots of taxpayer money is Military-Industrial Complex……

The Pentagon has begun to bail out U.S. companies that have seen large parts of their business dry up amid the coronavirus pandemic, in a bid to make sure they can still build weapons. 

On Wednesday, officials announced that five mid-tier defense companies had received a total of $135 million to “help sustain defense-critical workforce capabilities in body armor, aircraft manufacturing, and shipbuilding,” according to a Defense Department statement.“These actions will help to retain critical workforce capabilities throughout the disruption caused by COVID-19 and to restore some jobs lost because of the pandemic,” Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman, said in the statement

https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/06/pentagon-starts-bailing-out-companies-have-lost-business-due-coronavirus/166106/

How will this effect the industry and the DoD?

First of all we cannot afford the weapon systems that the DoD is drooling over…..will the Pentagon be capable of choosing what system to get over another?

The Pentagon cannot afford all of the new weapons it wants to buy and will be forced to choose winners and losers, absent an influx of cash, a new assessment from data and analytics firm Govini.

More cash is unlikely, experts say, regardless of whether President Trump wins a second term or is defeated by his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Moreover, they predict the Pentagon will face increased competition for dollars as the United States tries to dig itself out of a recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 30 million American without jobs.

“I don’t see a Biden administration making big, big cuts to defense,” said Robert Work, a deputy defense secretary during the Obama administration who is now chairman of Govini, an artificial intelligence-driven analysis firm. “But what I see a potential Biden administration doing is defining the priorities within defense in a different way.”

https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/06/pentagon-cant-afford-all-weapons-it-wants-new-report-says/166034/

I say if it does not protect the homeland from imminent attack then it should be scrapped until better days are here again.  After all that is what families have to do in these days of dwindling funds…if it is not essential then it can wait.

Image

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Are Saudis Our Friend?

I keep asking this question with little information that would state firmly that they are our friends…..it is a question I have asked many times and as of yet have NO good answer why it is assumed that they are our friends.

That is the question….I mean there is still a chance that they knew about the attack on 9/11….but that aside look no further back than the attack in Pensacola last year…..

In December of last year, the United States suffered the first deadly, internationally orchestrated terrorist attack on its soil since 9/11 — when a Saudi Air Force trainee killed three US sailors and wounded eight others at a Navy air base in Pensacola, FL.

Last week, the FBI and Attorney General William Barr announced that data recovered from the cellphone of the perpetrator further confirms that the mass shooting was an act of terrorism, and that the gunman had ties to al-Qaeda. Was this a discrete act committed in the name of a rogue terrorist organization — or an extension of long-standing Saudi state policy?

The Terrorist Threat Concealed by Saudi ‘Soft Power’

The US NEVER needed the Saudis even at the height of the oil boom……and now we are beholden to them for so much…..

he U.S.-Saudi relationship has been badly weakened over the last few years, and it seems as if there are new reasons for ending that relationship every week. Saudi war crimes in Yemen and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi served to turn much of Washington against the kingdom, and their reckless foreign policy has given even some of their regular supporters cause for alarm. The Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has done a remarkable job of burning his bridges with even the most reliable pro-Saudi hawks in Washington.

The Saudis’ ill-advised oil price war this spring alienated many of their few remaining allies on Capitol Hill, and it prompted a rare threat from the Trump administration that the U.S. would cut off military support to the kingdom unless Saudi oil production was reduced. Three years of impunity and constant indulgence of his many other crimes probably made the crown prince believe that he could do whatever he wanted without suffering consequences, but once again he misjudged and overreached.

America’s Saudi Partnership Is Now Killing Americans

Now I need to answer my question….why are the Saudis our friend?

MONEY!  There is your answer.

This article can explain the relationship expertly……

The Trump Administration has sent a notification to Congress confirming plans to sell $500 million in weapons to Saudi Arabia in an upcoming round of sales. The plan would include sales of Paveway bombs to the Saudis, and licenses to Raytheon to let them manufacture the bombs directly in Saudi Arabia.

These bombs are part of a 2019 deal in which the Saudis intend to buy 60,000 precision munitions. The deal has continued to face heavy resistance in Congress, in no small part because the Saudis have been committing war crimes with these US-made arms.

Concerns about US culpability in having provided these arms were compounded with the Saudi assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which fueled a substantial political backlash. So far, the Trump Administration has resisted letting Congress block any sales, but each announcement starts the battle anew.

Large sales of arms to the Middle East have been a high priority for years for US presidents, and that push looks likely to continue until Congress finally gets enough resistance in the way to force a rethink of the wisdom of heavily arming nations in war-torn parts of the world.

(antiwar.com)

The religious ideology of KSA is the same ideology that emboldens al-Qaeda and ISIS….what part of that is friendly toward the US?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

NDAA: War Hawks Win Again

The National Defense Authorization Act has been approved to move to the House, the Senate and then to the President…..and the warmongers get another win by taking all antiwar tone out of the Act.

The House version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) set aside an irresponsibly large amount of money for military spending, but it also added some antiwar amendments and other very basic limitations. The House and Senate versions have now been reconciled into a final bill, and materially all of the limitations that the House voted on and approved have been stripped away, in favor of a $738 billion bill that continues spending, but makes no attempt to rein in the military in any serious way.

The House bill had included the latest attempt to use the power of the purse to end US military involvement in Yemen, something that both houses had attempted to do in a War Powers Act resolution that was previously vetoed by President Trump. That language will not be in the final bill.

At its core, a lot of the language in the House bill was aimed at giving Congress more specific say on how the military is to carry out certain operations, and more importantly certain things that it is absolutely not to do. This was presented as necessary because Congressional Democrats were worried about President Trump acting unilaterally.

In the end, more or less all of this was stripped away, even backing away from border wall restrictions that were one of the first things put in place in the House bill.

The expectation is that this final NDAA will be voted on in the House on Wednesday, and in the Senate some days later. It will almost certainly be signed by the president, since anything remotely objectionable to him has already been forgotten.

(antiwar.com)

US support for the Saudi war on Yemen will continue…..

The 2020 Pentagon budget will not end US involvement in the war in Yemen as some Democratic lawmakers had hoped. 

The Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives in July approved amendments to next year’s military budget legislation that would have halted US assistance to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

But an advanced version of the bill – released late on Monday – excluded the provisions, effectively ending the push to use American military spending to help end the devastating war in Yemen.

Progressive members of Congress, several of whom have lobbied against US support for Saudi Arabia, were outraged by the final draft of the budget, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“Voters would be appalled to know that instead of seizing the opportunity to end illegal US participation in the horrific Saudi-led bombings of Yemen, Congress will continue to fund Trump’s unconstitutional war,” the legislators said in a joint statement. 

Earlier this year, Donald Trump vetoed a bill passed in Congress with bipartisan support that would have halted US support for the coalition.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/push-end-american-support-yemen-war-blocked-us-defence-budget

So no chance of any antiwar policies with the renewed NDAA…..looks like our endless wars will continue to be endless.

Dems pretend to be against our endless wars when it suits them in elections but fold under the pressure and show their true warmongering policies…..

More than 180 House Democrats joined a nearly united Republican caucus Wednesday night to pass a sweeping $738 billion military spending bill that gives President Donald Trump his long-sought “Space Force,” free rein to wage endless wars, and a green light to continue fueling the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/12/atrocious-188-democrats-join-gop-hand-trump-738-billion-military-budget-includes

That is 180 cowards!  1slugs!80 people that has prostituted themselves to M-IC……all for the love of the high dollar donors…..pathetic pack of  slugs.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Trump Between War And Money

I have stated on several occasions that I support our president in his effort to try and end our endless wars….he has shown some brilliant policies only to be stomped on by the MSM, Neocons and the donors….

And then I have been disappointed in his policies shortly after the groundbreaking decisions…..

What seems to be the malfunction?

President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to withdraw the United States from its ongoing wars in the Middle East, and avoid the kind of military adventurism, like the Iraq war, that has destabilized the region. Trump’s track record, however, is largely detached from his promises — a disconnect perhaps at least partially explained by his largest campaign contributors’ consistent advocacy for U.S. military action in the Middle East and support for starting a preventive war with Iran.

Trump appears to understand that the American public is largely supportive of ending the endless wars in Afghanistan and the greater Middle East. “Great nations do not fight endless wars,” said Trump in his 2019 State of the Union Address to bipartisan applause. But Trump’s actions haven’t lined up with his words. Despite his reckless Syria withdrawal announcement and blessing a Turkish invasion into northern Syria, total U.S. troop levels there are expected to remain at around 900, a small reduction from the 1,000 soldiers in Syria at the time of Trump’s announcement. Meanwhile, despite Trump’s repeated claims that he’ll end the war in Afghanistan, U.S. troops will stay there “for several more years,” as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said last month.

Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and a mission creep in Syria that’s expanded stated U.S. goals from containing ISIS to an “effort to push back against Iran,” according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are also a far cry from moving away from Middle East military adventurism, as Trump has always said he wants to do. 

Trump Stuck Between Ending Endless Wars and his Hawkish Megadonors

For someone who pretends to be so independent and tough he submits to the donors so easily…..

If only he would pick a policy and stick with it then he might have more support from people like me.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

M-IC: Make A Killing From Killing

I have been an antiwar supporter for many decades and have tried to bring the control of the Military-Industrial Complex over the foreign policy of the US……

If you would like a refresher…..https://lobotero.com/2019/01/28/what-is-the-military-industrial-complex/

The M-IC has made trillions over the last 70 years…..

Though I encounter students and other young people who have never heard the term I hope most Americans are aware of the “Military Industrial Complex.” In his final speech to the nation President Eisenhower, surprisingly since he oversaw much of its formation, warned citizens of the growing danger of the “permanent armaments industry” controlled by those who owned and profited greatly from this new scientific and technological establishment. Many of the giant arms industries, both industrial and high tech, that dominate the corporate landscape today came into existence as the result of war and would long ago have gone out of business in the absence of the guaranteed government profits flowing from the manufactured wars that sustain them today.

Few citizens have ever heard of Charles Wilson of the General Electric Corporation who served as the “czar” of arms production during World War II. In 1944 as victory loomed the nation awaited the return of 16 million veterans. Would unemployment and bread lines await them again? “What we need,” said Wilson, is a “permanent war economy,” neglecting to add that such a scheme would also require permanent enemies.

Making a Killing From Killing

Too many people do not realize how much power the M-IC has over the process of government….and we were warned by Ike but it was NOT heeded…..

But if my reader is still in the dark about the M-IC then please watch this short video and learn…..

WE all should be aware of this because of the siphon it has on taxpayer money….money that YOU pay for every pay check.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

But There Is Collusion!

This is a topic that begs a post!

Before one of you thinks they have this post figured out by the title…I suggest that to avoid embarrassing yourself that you read the post before commenting.

The collusion this post is referencing is the collusion between the M-IC and the MSM and their wholesale support for war and conflict.

The effectiveness of this collusion is reflected in the fact that not only has this massive theft of public money not gotten much coverage in the mainstream corporate media, but also it only received sporadic coverage in the alternative media. The liberal-left media is distracted enough by the theatrics of the Trump show to do the ideological dirty work of the elites.

Spending on war will consume almost 70% of the budget and be accompanied by cuts in public spending for education, housing, the environment, public transportation, jobs trainings, food support programs like food stamps and Meals on Wheels, as well as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Most of the neoliberal candidates running in the Democratic Party’s electoral process, however, haven’t spoken a word in opposition to Trump’s budget.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/05/17/2020-elections-its-militarism-and-the-military-budget-stupid/

Control the flow of information and you control the narrative…..and the new dude at the Pentagon is doing just that……

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan has issued a new memo imposing major new restrictions on the methods through which the Pentagon and defense officials are allowed to share information with Congressional offices or committees.

The policy imposes serious limits, telling officials to only give Congress official summaries instead of actual plans, and sets officials within the Pentagon who decide whether a Congressional request can be proven to be legitimate.

This is clearly intended to further limit information sharing at a time when many in Congress are complaining they’re already not being kept sufficiently informed. Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA) and Mac Thornberry (R-TX) warned that the new policy is overstepping the Pentagon’s authority, by “presuming to determine what warrants legislative oversight.”

(antiwar.com)

Just another attempt of the Imperial Presidency of Trump, Our Beloved Supreme Leader.

The selling of war thanks to the MSM, both print and broadcast….and the results are in……and a job well done.

Half of all Americans believe that the United States will go to war with Iran “within the next few years,” according to a Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll released on Tuesday amid increased tensions between the two countries.

While Americans are more concerned about Iran as a security threat to the United States now than they were last year, few would be in favour of a pre-emptive attack on the Iranian military. But if Iran attacked U.S. military forces first, four out of five believed the United States should respond militarily in a full or limited way, the May 17-20 poll showed.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-iran-poll/half-of-american-adults-expect-war-with-iran-within-next-few-years-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUKKCN1SR27R

I have written about these and future ones…… conflicts that are bankrupting this country…..

Learn Stuff!

Be Smart!

Waiting For The Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy now there is a term that our Dear Beloved Supreme Leader should know by heart……but in this case I am talking about the many many wars that this nation is fighting….on just about every continent.

The M-IC has been playing a con, the long con, on the American people…….

Consider it a conundrum. Both parties in Congress and the president simply can’t pour enough money into the Pentagon and the rest of the national security state. As a result, theirs has been a cumulative trillion-dollar budget for years and it’s still on the rise. On the other hand, the domestic basics are increasingly being starved. When the president’s long-delayed infrastructure plan finally made it to Congress, two years late, it disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, the country’s roads, rail networks, dams, schools, and so on are in increasingly poor shape. (In reality, the only infrastructure being built up is the Pentagon’s.) Meanwhile, Medicare is now slated to become insolvent in 2026, three years earlier than previously expected. As for the Social Security system, according to the latest government report, its costs will exceed its income next year and it’s expected to become insolvent in 2035. The result: retirement payments are likely to diminish and healthcare costs for aging Americans rise.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176558/

This country is spending so much taxpayer cash on wars and the so-called defense of the nation that it is slowly bankrupting the treasury….

War spending is bankrupting America.

Our nation is being preyed upon by a military industrial complex that is propped up by war profiteers, corrupt politicians and foreign governments.

America has so much to offer—creativity, ingenuity, vast natural resources, a rich heritage, a beautifully diverse populace, a freedom foundation unrivaled anywhere in the world, and opportunities galore—and yet our birthright is being sold out from under us so that power-hungry politicians, greedy military contractors, and bloodthirsty war hawks can make a hefty profit at our expense.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that your hard-earned tax dollars are being used for national security and urgent military needs.

It’s all a ruse.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/pity-the-nation-war-spending-is-bankrupting-america/5671275
 
Even parts of our military see the dangers we are in with this out of control spending on worthless systems…instead we need a new approach to defense…..

If Congress approves, the Trump administration will spend about $750 billion on defense in fiscal year (FY) 2020. The unanswered question is whether that considerable sum will make America and its friends and allies any safer. I fear not.

One reason for this concern is that 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) sets military objectives that are unobtainable, inexecutable, unnecessary, and unaffordable. The Pentagon’s strategy is “to compete, deter, and win” in an “increasingly complex security environment” with China and Russia atop the list of potential adversaries. But how China and Russia are to be defeated is unstated, a deficiency pointedly noted in the report by the Commission on the NDS.  “. . . the NDS too often rests on questionable assumptions and weak analysis, and it leaves unanswered critical questions regarding howthe United States will meet the challenges of a more dangerous world.” It goes on to say, “. . . it does not articulate clear approaches to succeeding in peacetime competition or wartime conflict against those rivals. Resource shortfalls, unanticipated force demands, unfilled capability gaps, and other risk factors threaten DOD’s ability to fulfill the central goals of the NDS . . .” 

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2019/april/needed-workable-and-affordable-defense-strategy

The key is an “affordable” approach to defense……AFFORDABLE!

As it is now there is NOTHING affordable about the crap the M-IC has this nation spending hard cash on…….again the key is to find an approach that is….AFFORDABLE!

The privatization of war is NOT it!

Thoughts?