William D. Hartung surveys U.S. military spending, which in 2019 was higher than at the peak of either the Korean or Vietnam conflicts.
The Pentagon Budget Still Rising, 40 Years Later
Tag: Military Industrial Complex
The Conflicted Boeing Executive Running Trump’s Pentagon
To truly avoid a conflict of interest, the Boeing executive appointed acting secretary of defense would have to avoid many significant decisions, write Mandy Smithberger and William D. Hartung of Tom’s Dispatch.
Budget Woes Sign of a Dysfunctional Empire
Exclusive: The bloated military budget is justified on the assumption that the United States can and should police the entire world, but this approach is fundamentally unsustainable, warns Jonathan Marshall.
America’s Military-Industrial Addiction
Polls show that Americans are tired of endless wars in faraway lands, but many cheer President Trump’s showering money on the Pentagon and its contractors, a paradox that President Eisenhower foresaw, writes JP Sottile.
Trump’s Incoherent Foreign Policy
President Trump’s foreign policy is sinking into incoherence from the Middle East to the Far East, with his promise of less interventionism and budget savings disappearing from view, as Ivan Eland reports.
New Navy Ship Leaking Tax Dollars
Exclusive: The New Cold War with Russia provides a stronger budgetary lifeline for the Military-Industrial Complex than the War on Terror does while helping to quiet critics of wasteful spending, as Jonathan Marshall describes.
Clinton Shows a Dovish Side on Nukes
Exclusive: Hillary Clinton, who has carved out a reputation as a war hawk, has quietly voiced opposition to a $1 trillion plan to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal, including a nuke-tipped cruise missile, notes Jonathan Marshall.
How Arms Sales Distort US Foreign Policy
Exclusive: Money may not be the root of all evil but it surely contributes to horrible war crimes when lucrative arms sales distort U.S. foreign policy and cause selective outrage over human rights atrocities, writes Jonathan Marshall.
Obama’s Gift to Israel — and Lockheed
President Obama approved $38 billion in military aid to Israel, but that cash is then recycled to subsidize the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex like some giant money-laundering machine of the taxpayers’ money, explains JP Sottile.
US Foreign Policy Elite vs. the Evil One
The crème de la U.S. foreign policy establishment gathered in Texas last week, reaffirming at a friendly conclave the need for their skillful stewardship of the national security state, as Michael Brenner witnessed.