Who Wants More War?

Listen to Rep. Ron Paul on the escalation in Afghanistan (MP3). If anyone still doubted that this administration’s foreign policy would bring any kind of change, this week’s debate on Afghanistan should remove all doubt. The president’s stated justifications for sending more troops to Afghanistan and escalating the war amount to little more than recycling … Continue reading “Who Wants More War?”

Our Chief Industry: War

We often hear the complaint that America doesn’t make anything anymore: that is, our economy seems driven not by producing actual things, but utterly intangible creations such as credit default swaps and securitized sub-prime mortgages. Our once-bustling factories are rusted relics. Entire industries have collapsed. Ghost towns have sprung up where cities once thrived, like … Continue reading “Our Chief Industry: War”

Bleep NATO

Tom Shanker of the New York Times tells us that NATO defense ministers have given their "broad endorsement" to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s plan to escalate the Afghanistan war into a full-Monty counter insurgency effort. NATO defense ministers love Afghanistan; it justifies their phony-baloney jobs. Like much of the U.S. military, NATO became irrelevant when the … Continue reading “Bleep NATO”

Dianne Feinstein: War Profiteer

President Barack Obama barely had time to graciously note his unworthiness of the Nobel Peace Prize before it was time to duck back into the Situation Room for a meeting with his advisers about how to win the war in Afghanistan. The irony of this is underscored by the apparent willingness of the administration to … Continue reading “Dianne Feinstein: War Profiteer”

Will Obama Veto Pork, or Enable It?

On Aug. 17 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, President Barack Obama gave waste and pork in the defense budget a thorough tongue-lashing. It was well said, but also a little pathetic if you consider what the porkers in Congress are up to. The words flew high: Obama promised an end to “the … Continue reading “Will Obama Veto Pork, or Enable It?”

Downloading Disaster

It helps to have spent a childhood reading sci-fi. It means nothing bizarre really surprises you. In June 2008, TomDispatch regular William Astore wrote a post about how the Air Force had jumped big time into cyberspace. That service had even bigger dreams for a “$30 billion cyberspace boondoggle” that would theoretically have provided it … Continue reading “Downloading Disaster”

Cleansing Halliburton

It might be terrible times for so many companies suffering through a global economic meltdown, but in the war zone, there seems to be no recession in sight. In fact, with “Obama’s war” in the expanding Afghanistan/Pakistan theater of operations revving up, there’s likely to be money to the horizon, bases to build, and ever … Continue reading “Cleansing Halliburton”