Forget Petraeus, Here's a Real Scandal Involving Generals
What do Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman have in common? Each of these corporations is one of the top five largest defense contractors in the nation. In 2011 alone, the Department of Defense committed to spending nearly $100 billion with just these five companies. To put that in perspective, that is about the same amount spent on the entire federal education budget for 2011.
Read moreJoin Our #BlastBuck McKeon Twitter Bomb on Oct. 30
Next Tuesday, October 30, at 2 pm ET/11 am PT to 4 pm ET/1 pm PT, Brave New Foundation's War Costs is going to lead a Twitter bomb aimed at House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon, the leading recipient of defense contractor campaign contributions in Congress and one-man force for the military-industrial-congressional complex.
Read moreProtecting the Profiteers: Congress Insists Army Needs General Dynamics Tanks It Doesn't Want
CNN aired a telling segment on how the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex works. The Army insists holding off on refurbishing thousands of sedentary tanks sitting in the California desert, which would save taxpayers $3 billion. But 173 members of Congress disagree: The jobs in their districts and campaign contributions they might lose if producing and fixing tanks momentarily halts is just too much, though don't expect any of them to say that. Contractor powerhouse General Dynamics, which spreads around money to Congress quite generously, stands to benefit.
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When the Defense Industry and Congress Are Indistinguishable: Drone Edition
It's moments like this that underscore the near, if not complete, evaporation between the interests of the war industry and the public entity that's supposed to have oversight over it, the U.S. Congress. Read this post from Colorlines' Seth Freed Wessler and try to describe where the drone lobby and industry end and where the House of Represenatives Unmanned Systems (or Drone) Caucus begins:
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Monopolizing War? What America Knows How to Do Best
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.
By Tom Engelhardt
It’s pop-quiz time when it comes to the American way of war: three questions, torn from the latest news, just for you. Here’s the first of them, and good luck!
Two weeks ago, 200 U.S. Marines began armed operations in…?:
Read morea)Afghanistan
b)Pakistan
c)Iran
d)Somalia
e)Yemen
f)Central Africa
g) Northern Mali
h) The Philippines
i)Guatemala