Archive for Military

Exchanging Our Mammoth Defense Industry for a Smaller, Cheaper, Stronger Military

Throughout President Obama’s first term, he kept Bush’s military leaders in charge of our defense and instituted a surge in Afghanistan. He also took out more terrorists in his first year than Bush did in his entire second term and is progressing on reducing nuclear weapons—one of Reagan’s most fervent wishes, and yet, daily he is proclaimed a socialist or worse.

Our global military presences requires both a powerful federal government and a mammoth defense industry. When big defense companies become indispensable, we should not be surprised at their political clout. What do you think of President Obama’s plan to reduce our huge industrial and military machinery of defense in exchange for a smaller, cheaper, stronger military?

For the Army, the Obama plan would reduce active-duty troops from 562,000 to 490,000. Photo illustration by 731: Photographs by Shaigan/AFP/Getty Images (missiles); Vahid Reza Alaei/AP Photo (smoke); Ron Sachs/Getty Images (Obama)

From Bloomberg Businessweek

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Littoral Combat Ship (LCS): Another Military Boondoggle, Waste of Taxpayer Money

On the heels of the Pentagon’s trillion-dollar commitment to the overrated, over budget, and under performing F-35 comes the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a seven-year investment, now triple original cost estimates, that has negligible value to the Navy.

The LCS is fast on its way to joining the F-35, giant spy blimps, and the Medium Extended Air Defense System—another military-industrial boondoggle, wasting taxpayer money year after year.

The Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is not only staggeringly overpriced and chronically unreliable but — even if it were to work perfectly — cannot match the combat power of similar sized foreign warships costing only a fraction as much. Let’s take a deep dive and try to figure out why.

From Time

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DHS Fusion Center Network: An Unwieldy, Bloated, and Unaccountable Waste of Taxpayer Dollars

A new Senate report on the Department of Homeland Security’s fusion center network exposes the federal behemoth for what it really is: an unwieldy, bloated, and unaccountable waste of taxpayer dollars that has encouraged the militarization of domestic law enforcement for nearly a decade.

Thanks to former President George W. Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress, programs such as these “have become pools of ineptitude, waste and civil liberties intrusions,” according to the report. When questionable tactics used in the legitimate pursuit of terrorism become a tool in “regular” criminal investigations, the rights of all American citizens are seriously jeopardized. What do you think?

In July 2009, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano called the fusion centers “a critical part of our nation's homeland security capabilities.”  About 70 of the centers now exist, located in major cities and nearly all states.

From The Center for Public Integrity

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Vast Discrepancies Between Defense and State Department Funding

Diplomacy is a critical arm of our national security, yet there are more people in our military marching bands than in the State Department’s Foreign Service. In light of Tuesday’s tragic events in Benghazi, isn’t it about time we address the vast discrepancies between the annual budgets for the Defense Department ($614B) and the State Department ($51.6B)?

Our national security policies affect every aspect of our society—culturally, politically, and economically. Americans will always rally to defend this great nation, but a true patriot never fears a serious debate about the methods we use to accomplish this vital mission.

Dilan Samo holds a picture of slain U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens during a candlelight vigil outside the Libyan Embassy in New York City. Stevens was killed Sept. 11 during an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, by a mob angered about a film that mocked the prophet Mohammed.Photo By John Minchillo, AP

From Salon.com

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Anti-Government Domestic Terrorists Are A Real Threat to Our Republic

As inflammatory rhetoric and ideological warfare threaten the very pillars of democracy, true patriots must join the battle armed with facts, not deadly weapons and destructive plots. Anti-government “Patriot” groups that engage in domestic terrorism are a real threat to our Republic.

Read this story from Huffington Post Crime about an anarchist militia group under indictment in Georgia, then take a look at the DHS report on Muslim extremism and home grown terrorists discussed in the Economist. Notice any similarities?

LUDOWICI, Ga. — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday. Russ Bynum, Associated Press

From The Huffington Post

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Packing up America’s monolithic, global military presence.

As the U.S. military continues to tone down missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, what will happen to the billions of dollars worth of weapons, vehicles, and machinery created to sustain a never-ending global security presence? 

The New York Times and TomDispatch are reporting on huge supplies of combat equipment that may be ‘strategically relocated’ to so-called ‘satellite bases’ in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. By equipping these locations and deeming them important military stockpiles, defense contractors will reap huge profits maintaining and upgrading this material despite the absence of any major U.S. conflict in the region.  
Despite the pending troop withdrawals in Iraq and those in Afghanistan between now and 2014, the United States remains a superpower on a scale not seen since the days of the Caesars. With this in mind, the National Post’s Richard Johnson takes a look at the scale of America’s forces.  (Source: National Post)

From The New York Times

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NRA members polled by GOP strategist Frank Luntz support more sensible laws.

Banning the ownership of assault and semi-automatic weaponry DOES NOT infringe upon the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Majority of NRA members polled by GOP strategist Frank Luntz support more sensible laws.

The NRA’s lobbying efforts are designed to protect the interests of gun manufacturers, not the public. When will capital-R Reason surmount the influence of big business?

From The Huffington Post

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Weapons makers now suggesting that GOP reconsider tax hikes.

Our global military presence requires a mammoth defense industry, one that consumes nearly half of all military expenditures worldwide. In January, 2013, automatic defense cuts are scheduled to occur under the Budget Control Act. This sequestration has members of Congress and major defense contractors scrambling to dodge this bullet.

Desperate to protect their bottom line, weapons makers now suggest that the GOP consider raising revenues (taxes!). Just maybe those top tier Bush tax cuts should expire to facilitate a budget agreement before the New Year’s deadline. How will Republicans respond to this powerful lobby?

From The Huffington Post

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Does Obama’s nat’l security doctrine make armed conflict an easy option?

Twenty-first century threats require a major shift in our military policies, defense technologies, and concepts of national security. Intelligence gathering, covert law enforcement, and diplomacy have historically proved more effective than full-scale military assault.

Obama’s national security doctrine incorporates much of this philosophy, but does it make war, as an option, too easy? What do you think?

From Salon

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Anthropomorphized drones to reduce drone operator PTSD?

The U.S. military hopes to reduce instances of drone operator PTSD and reduce civilian anxieties, but are they ignoring the real costs of remote-control warfare?

From Wired’s Danger Room:

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