Military Industrial Complex

Culture War vs. Class War vs. Holy War vs. Earth War
By Gary Corseri

“… pure and puerile insanities, the silly creations of an imagination that is not conscious of its freaks. …” --Mark Twain (The Mysterious Stranger)

Those who take the long view of history often wind up with the short end of the stick.

That’s because, as John Maynard Keynes himself said, in the long run, we’ll all be dead.

December 18th was the Shministim Day of Action in Israel. Even as Tamar Katz remained in solitary confinement, the Shministim were thrilled. They told us they had not seen this much media coverage in Israel of young refusers in years. The global response, which continues to grow, has been ovewhelming. I want to share with you this first-hand account that Rebecca Vilkomerson wrote about the day. And, thank you so much from all of us at Jewish Voice for Peace.

Our work continues.
Sydney Levy
Jewish Voice for Peace

By Tim Shipman, Telegraph

'We've got a terrible situation with this great patriot, he's out of control and we must save him from himself'. The OSS head General did not trust Patton

The newly unearthed diaries of a colourful assassin for the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA, reveal that American spy chiefs wanted Patton dead because he was threatening to expose allied collusion with the Russians that cost American lives.

The death of General Patton in December 1945, is one of the enduring mysteries of the war era. Although he had suffered serious injuries in a car crash in Manheim, he was thought to be recovering and was on the verge of flying home.

Does Old Glory Have a Dark Side?
Research suggests that seeing the flag doesn't make Americans feel more patriotic. But it does make them feel more nationalistic and more superior to non-Americans. READ MORE.

Many see violence against military wives as a 'big-time problem,' but official statistics tell different story
By Rob Perez, Honolulu Advertiser

Sitting at a Windward O'ahu spouse abuse shelter, thousands of miles from her alleged batterer, Kaliegh Cuervo lifted her blouse to reveal a small scar from a bullet wound on her left side.

It serves as a permanent reminder of the brutal attacks she said she suffered on the Mainland after her then-Marine husband returned from a second deployment to Iraq.

The attacks left other lasting effects. Her right eye is permanently damaged. She has false teeth. Doctors told her she no longer can bear children.

By Penny Coleman, AlterNet

The Army Experience Center, located in the Franklin Mills Mall just north of Philadelphia, bills itself as a "state-of-the-art educational facility that uses interactive simulations and online learning programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and educational opportunities available in the Army."

Nonsense. The only thing they're teaching here is how to blow shit up. If it's state-of-the-art anything, it's state-of-the-art adolescent boys’ wet dreams.

"Too slow! Do it again!" yells the voice in my earphones as a new sequence of armed figures in camouflage pop up in front of me. I -- the player -- am attached to the foreshortened barrel of an M-16 -- and a little embarrassed by that. It's not my thing, really. And I wasn't expecting the game to involve having to tolerate some dickhead's personal opinion about my marksmanship.

By Rob Perez, Honolulu Advertiser

In the Hawai'i Army National Guard, a felony conviction usually is enough to get a citizen soldier kicked out of the military.

But when Guard member Ernie Gomez was convicted of a felony in 2005 for terrorizing his wife with a semiautomatic weapon, his military career was far from derailed.

Free on bail, the convicted domestic-violence felon was able to transfer from the Guard to the Army Reserve, get mobilized to active duty status in New Jersey and start an Army job that required a "secret" security clearance to train war-bound troops.
Gomez even was able to enroll in and complete a military police training course while a felon.

Official US Military Casualty Count Reaches 70,231 | Compiled by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq suffered eight combat casualties in the week ending Dec.16 as the official casualty total rose to at least 70,231. The total includes 34,276 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 35,955 dead and medically evacuated (as of Dec. 6, 2008) from "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 90,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the more than 20,000 veterans whose injuries-mainly brain trauma from explosions--were diagnosed only after they had left Iraq..**

The Imperial Transition: 44, The Prequel
By Tom Engelhardt | TomDispatch.com

Did you know that the IBM Center for the Business of Government hosts a "Presidential Transition" blog; that the Council on Foreign Relations has its own "Transition Blog: The New Administration"; and that the American University School of Communication has a "Transition Tracker" website? The National Journal offers its online readers a comprehensive "Lost in Transition" site to help them "navigate the presidential handover," including a "short list," offering not only the president-elect's key recent appointments, but also a series of not-so-short lists of those still believed to be in contention for as-yet-unfilled jobs. Think of all this as Entertainment Weekly married to People Magazine for post-election political junkies.

American University, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 27–Mar. 2, 2009

Join Us at the Security Without Empire Conference

There is a sense of relief that many here in the U.S. feel after the presidential election, but we understand this is a time to step up our organizing for peace and economic justice — including the growing movement to close and withdraw the nearly 1,000 U.S. military bases located in foreign nations.

From Okinawa and Guam to Honduras, Germany, Iraq, and beyond people who have suffered from the abuses inherent to foreign military bases have been calling for their withdrawal. People in the U.S. have joined this call, outraged by the damage done by U.S. bases abroad and by their expense, which diverts $138 billion a year from addressing human needs and revitalizing our economy. Representatives of 13 organizations have come together to organize a national conference or the closing and withdrawal of military bases. The goals of the conference are:

*

By Tim Rinne, The Grand Island Independent

Just as it's done every year since 2005, the Bush/Cheney Administration has once again opposed a UN resolution to prevent an arms race in outer space. Every other country on earth except the U.S. (and Israel which abstained) supported the resolution in the December 2 vote. Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Great Britain, France, Japan, Canada, Venezuela-177 nations total-all voted in favor of the annual "Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space" (PAROS) resolution, as they have for the past twenty years. Only the U.S. dissented.

Results from PIPA.

Marines now patrol for drunk drivers.

Mr. Jones, We Got a Thing Going On...
By Bruce K. Gagnon | Organizing Notes

Obama's National Security Adviser pick, Gen. James Jones, will "impose discipline on the members of the [national security] team," says Zbigniew Brzezinski. "We will see more global political planning under Gen. Jones," Brzezinski predicts.

Brzezinski, who served as Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser and was one of Obama's early supporters, was interviewed yesterday by his daughter Mika on MSNBC's Morning Joe news talk program.

One MSNBC reporter said Obama's foreign policy will be similar to that of George H.W. Bush. Correspondent Chuck Todd reported that Gen. Jones is a close buddy of John McCain and was likely picked for his new role because Secretary of Defense (DoD) Robert Gates insisted on having Jones be part of the team if Obama wanted Gates to remain at DoD.

US domination is giving way to greater balance.
By Helena Cobban, Christian Science Monitor

Washington - Most Americans have been watching the presidential transition here in Washington very closely. But another, much broader political transition has also been accelerating in recent weeks: the shift from the US-dominated world we have lived in since 1989 to one in which global power has become significantly more diffuse, more networked, and more Asian.

This broad global shift will shape the agenda and achievements of the Obama presidency from Day 1.

From Herald Sun

WEAPONS maker Lockheed Martin has tested a hovering robot intended to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles.

Video of the December 2 flight test of the "Multiple Kill Vehicle," at Edwards Air Force Base in California, has made it onto YouTube, and it looks like something out of the Terminator movies. [Click on link above to watch the video.]

Inside a large steel cage, Lockheed's MKV lifts off the ground, moves left and moves right, rapidly firing as flames shoot out of its bottom and sides, FOXNews reports.

The MKVs would be mounted on carrier missiles which would take them into space to engage enemy nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles at the peak of their trajectory arcs, The Pentagon said.

The MKVs would then break off from the carrier vehicles and shoot at enemy warheads with big bullets, "kinetic interceptors" in military-speak, before dropping back down to Earth.

By Cindy Sheehan

Since my son, Casey was a victim of the US Military Empire in 2004, I have traveled the world and met with people in almost 20 countries that have also been victimized by the US.

Whether it was the First Nation people in Honolulu who could no longer fish or swim in their ancestral waters of Pearl Harbor because of the toxic contamination by the Navy, or my brothers and sisters in Daichuri, South Korea whose village was being destroyed so the nearby Army base, Camp Humprhey could build a golf course, I always walk away from these encounters with an extra steely resolve to try and confront the US Military Industrial Complex wherever I can, and to try and ease the suffering of so many people.

Major New Report Details the Global Impact of Arms Sales and Military Assistance

http://www.newamerica.net/pressroom/2008/u_s_weapons_war

As the world marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this week, a new report from The New America Foundation finds that U.S. arms transfers are undermining human rights, weakening democracy and fueling conflict around the world.

"While it is critical to commemorate this historic occasion, we must use this moment to stress that the United States cannot demand respect for human rights and arm human rights abusers at the same time," notes William D. Hartung, the lead author of the ground-breaking new report, U.S. Weapons at War 2008: Beyond the Bush Legacy, which will be released at an event in Washington, DC on Wednesday, December 10, 2008.

By AFP

One hundred political, military, business and civic leaders from across the globe launched a new initiative in Paris on Tuesday aiming eliminate all nuclear weapons.

The "Global Zero" declaration, endorsed by a "Who's Who" of the world's foreign policy aristocracy from the past 30 years, calls for a binding and verifiable agreement to dismantle all nuclear weapons by a specified date.

"The threat of proliferation and nuclear terrorism has led to a growing chorus of government leaders ... calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons, including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Barack Obama," said a statement issued after many of the signatories met here.

"This new and unprecedented political support for getting to zero nuclear weapons from key governments around the world has made this goal -- while still difficult -- possible," it said.

http://www.space4peace.org

Was US anti-missile test aimed at Russia and China?

A consultant to the head of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces has said that a simulated anti-missile test by the U.S. [Dec 5] was not aimed at stopping a North Korean threat as Washington had claimed.

Colonel-general Viktor Yesin said last Friday’s test had China and Russia in mind.

He said: “To avoid agitating public opinion, U.S. Missile Defense Agency officials say the test was aimed at intercepting North Korean and Iranian rockets. But we missile specialists understand that it was in fact aimed at stopping Russian and Chinese intercontinental missiles.”

During the test last Friday an interceptor rocket was launched from California to knock down a missile launched from Alaska.

He wrote this.

By Dave Lindorff

One impact of this deepening recession which is largely hidden because it is spread out and distributed across the land is a wave of budget crises swamping nearly every state government and every municipal government in the country.

State governments, according to the Center for Budget Priorities, are facing a $77-billion revenue shortfall for the 2009 fiscal year. Municipal governments are probably facing a total revenue shortfall of even more than that—perhaps closer to $100 billion. New York City, for example, is reportedly facing a budget shortfall of $1.5 billion over the next two years and Philadelphia, the nation’s fifth largest city, a shortfall of $1 billion over the next five years.

Re-Envisioning Defense: An Agenda for US Policy Debate and Transition

and

Forceful Engagement: Rethinking the Role of Military Power in US Global Policy

would make good reading for the new transformed Robert Gates.

Dear President-Elect Obama:

We the undersigned, members and supporters of the Global Network, write to congratulate you on your recent election as President of the U.S. We want to help you in every way possible to promote peace around the world so that our national resources could be used for the tremendous needs we have here at home like health care, education, job creation, dealing with climate change and more.

We specifically write to urge you to reject the Bush administration plan to deploy "missile defense" interceptors in Poland and a Star Wars radar system in the Czech Republic. We know you are aware of Russia's deep concern that these deployments are really aimed at them in spite of Pentagon assurances they are only directed at Iran.

Tour of Duty
By Gary Corseri

He wants a new language!
Ratta-tat-tat! Ratta-tat-tat!
The old one’s full of homonyms
That sound too much like war:

"Military-industrial"; "Humvee";
"Bombs bursting in air";
"Predator”; “duty ... honor ... country. ..."

Iraq War Casualty Report as of 11/25/2008
Compiled and submitted by Michael Munk | www.MichaelMunk.com

US military occupation forces in Iraq suffered eight combat casualties casualties in the five days ending Nov. 25 as the official casualty total rose to at least 69,664. The total includes 34,233 dead and wounded from what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 35,431 dead and medically evacuated (as of Nov. 1) from "non-hostile" causes.*

Obama intends to ask Gates to stay: source | Reuters.com

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama intends to ask Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to remain at the Pentagon when his new administration takes office, a senior Democratic source said on Tuesday.

"He intends to ask Gates to stay," the Democrat said, adding that he believed it was likely he would. He said the talks had advanced to a point where Gates was discussing which of his team to keep in place under the Obama administration.

Politico had earlier reported on its website that Gates would stay on in his job and that Obama would appoint retired Marine Gen. James Jones as his national security adviser.

More:

Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, Who Rules the Pentagon? | TomDispatch.com

[Note for Readers: With this post, TomDispatch closes for the Thanksgiving holiday. We'll be back next Monday. By the way, to listen to an audio interview about Obama and the Pentagon with today's author, arms expert Frida Berrigan, click here. ]

The Obama national security "team" -- part of that much-hailed "team of rivals" -- does not yet exist, but it does seem to be heaving into view. And so far, its views seem anything but rivalrous. Mainstream reporters and pundits lovingly refer to them as "centrist," but, in a Democratic context, they are distinctly right of center. The next secretary of state looks to be Hillary Clinton, a hawk on the Middle East. During the campaign, she spoke of our ability to "totally obliterate" Iran, should that country carry out a nuclear strike against Israel. She will evidently be allowed to bring her own (hawkish) subordinates into the State Department with her. Her prospective appointment is now being praised by the likes of Newt Gingrich and Henry Kissinger.

By Dave Lindorff

I was listening to Robert Reich, once the left end of the spectrum in the Clinton cabinet, talking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer a few days ago, and Reich, who has in the past sometimes made sense, was talking about how Americans’ incomes had fallen over the last eight years of the Bush/Cheney administration and that it was necessary to get their incomes back on an upward trend, so that they could “start shopping again.”

Now I understand Reich was trying to make the case that the bailout so far has been focused on the banks and the insurance industry, and that none of this will help unless ordinary people start getting some relief, but still, there’s something completely twisted and out of whack when the best we can come up with is that we need to get Americans back into the malls.

In fact, that is a good part of what’s wrong with the US economy: Fully 75 percent of GDP in America is consumer spending.

Tomgram: Nick Turse, A Truth-teller for Our Times | TomDispatch.com

By October 2005, when American casualties in Iraq had not yet reached 2,000 dead or 15,000 wounded, and our casualties in Afghanistan were still modest indeed, informal "walls" had already begun springing up online to honor the fallen. At that time, I suggested that "the particular dishonor this administration has brought down on our country calls out for other 'walls' as well." I imagined, then, walls of shame for Bush administration figures and their cronies -- and even produced one (in words) that November. By now, of course, any such wall would be full to bursting with names that will live in infamy.