Tag Archives: US military spending

It's not straightforward. David Swanson explains the nuance. CounterpunchBernie Finally Puts a Number on Cutting Military SpendingDavid Swanson

The assassination was intended to escalate America’s presence in Iraq to keep control the region’s oil reserves, and to back Saudi Arabia’s Wahabi troops (Isis, Al Quaeda in Iraq, Al Nusra and other divisions of what are actually America’s foreign legion) to support U.S. control o Near Eastern oil as a buttress o the U.S. dollar. That remains the key to understanding this policy, and why it is in the process of escalating, not dying down.  I sat in on discussions of this policy as it was...

The report notes that the United States now faces five rising challenges—China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and transnational terrorism—yet has fewer military forces than at any time since the end of World War II. “Simply put,” it observes, “the United States needs a larger force than it has today if it is to meet the objectives of the strategy.”... Message: The US needs to spend more on military — a lot more.The National InterestWhy the U.S. Military Is In Serious Trouble Army Lt. Gen....

Worldwide military spending was slightly up over the last year, with the US amounting to more than a third (35%) of global military spending. AntiWarRussia’s Military Spending Declines; US Now a Third of Global Spending Jason Ditz

The Washington Post headlined on January 26th, “Trump plans to ask for $716 billion for national defense in 2019 — a major increase”, and reported that when President Trump had entered the White House in January 2017, the ‘Defense’ budget was $521 billion, but that President Trump will propose in his upcoming State-of-the-Union speech, a 2019 ‘Defense’ budget of $716 billion, which, if it becomes law, would mean a 37% increase, above Obama’s last Pentagon budget (for 2017). This is in line...

"Affordability"? No problem.ReutersSenate backs massive increase in military spendingThe Hill NewsSenate passes $700B defense bill Jordain Carney Also One of the most controversial proposals put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential campaign was a pledge to make tuition free at public colleges and universities. Critics from both parties howled that the pie-in-the-sky idea would bankrupt the country. Where, after all, would the money come from? Such concerns were...