William J. Astore

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. (I prepared these notes for a talk I gave on “Truth-killers: The Corporate Media and the Military-Industrial Complex,” sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action. David Swanson also spoke.) I served in the U.S. military for 20 years, and for the last 15 years I’ve been writing articles that … Continue reading “The Mainstream Media and the US Military”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. It was a backlit wonder of a plane on what looked like a Hollywood set – though the location was actually a Northrop Grumman plant in California. The workers from that giant weapons maker were there, too, chanting “USA! USA!” And so was Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who “unveiled” it. … Continue reading “Going Nuclear (Again)”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Reports that Ukraine is launching modified drones to strike airbases deep in Russia highlight the unpredictability and escalatory nature of wars. Ukraine is no longer content at defending itself against Russian aggression; Russia itself must be made a target, which will likely provoke harsher Russian counterattacks. Meanwhile, … Continue reading “Beware of Long Wars”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s the curious thing: since at least the Vietnam War era of the 1960s and early 1970s, the United States has been almost continuously at war. Certain of those conflicts like the Vietnam War itself and those in Iraq and Afghanistan in this century are still remembered by many of us. … Continue reading “Something Is Rotten in the US Military”

Back on June 1st, I noted that Ukraine couldn’t possibly absorb more than $54 billion in U.S. aid, most of it related to weaponry and munitions, given the country’s lack of infrastructure as well as the chaos inherent to a shooting war. As I wrote back then: The entire defense budget of Ukraine before the … Continue reading “The Ukrainian Boondoggle as a Black Hole”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. It’s that moment again. Graduation time in high schools and colleges across the country. Because I’ve always thought that graduation speeches had a certain je ne sais quoi, I’ve given a number of them at TomDispatch to… well, I must admit, never anyone actually graduating from anyplace anywhere, but only, as … Continue reading “A Graduation Speech to Air Force Cadets”

Thirty years ago, I co-taught a course on the making and use of the atomic bomb at the U.S. Air Force Academy. We took cadets to Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the first nuclear weapons were designed and built during World War II, and we also visited the Trinity test site, where … Continue reading “Don’t Think About the Unthinkable”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. I have a question for you: What would it take in today’s world for America’s military spending to go down? Here’s one admittedly farfetched scenario: Vladimir Putin loses his grip on power and Russia retrenches militarily while reaching out to normalize relations with the West. At the same time, China prudently … Continue reading “Will the Pentagon Budget Ever Shrink?”

Space is increasingly a billionaire’s playground as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin marks its 20th mission with its latest launch. It’s easy to mock Bezos and his vision of "a future where millions of people are living and working in space," likely in less-than-safe Amazon mining factories for less-than-generous wages. Yet I’m forced to admit that … Continue reading “War in Space Would Be Disastrous”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. When it comes to bravery in relation to the war in Ukraine, let me just tip my cap to all the antiwar protesters in Russia who have taken to the streets across that ever more autocratic land. They’ve risked arrest to say “no to war” and “shame on you!” to the … Continue reading “Arsenal of Democracy or Simply an Arsenal?”