military industrial complex

Naomi Wolf: The coming drone attack on America

"People often ask me, in terms of my argument about 'ten steps' that mark the descent to a police state or closed society, at what stage we are. I am sorry to say that with the importation of what will be tens of thousands of drones, by both US military and by commercial interests, into US airspace, with a specific mandate to engage in surveillance and with the capacity for weaponization – which is due to begin in earnest at the start of the new year – it means that the police state is now officially here." Continue reading →

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U.S. to open military ties soon with Myanmar: official

"Relations between the two countries have undergone a sea change since Myanmar’s ruling military ceded power last year. US President Barack Obama’s historic visit last month to Yangon underscored the transformation, as both Washington and Myanmar see benefits to bolstering diplomatic and security ties. The Obama administration, seeking a strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific to counter Beijing’s role, is keen to expand its influence in a country where China has had almost unchallenged dominance. Officials said in October that the United States was willing to allow Myanmar to participate as an observer in major joint exercises in Thailand in 2013." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. to open military ties soon with Myanmar: official

NDAA Lawsuit Brief Filed By Children Of Japanese-Americans Interned During World War II

"The children of Japanese-Americans whose internment during World War II was upheld by the infamous Supreme Court ruling Korematsu v. United States are stepping into a new legal battle over whether the military can indefinitely detain American citizens. Writing that their parents 'experienced first-hand the injustice resulting from a lack of searching judicial scrutiny,' the children of Fred Korematsu and other Japanese-Americans who were interned filed a brief on Monday in support of a lawsuit against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012." Continue reading →

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The Military-Industrial Complex, Neocons and General Patraeus

"Frederick and Kimberly Kagan, a husband-and-wife team of hawkish military analysts, put their jobs at influential Washington think tanks on hold for almost a year to work for Gen. David H. Petraeus when he was the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. The pro-bono relationship, which is now being scrutinized by military lawyers, yielded valuable benefits. The Kagans’ proximity to Petraeus provided an incentive for defense contractors to contribute to Kim Kagan’s think tank. For Petraeus, embracing two respected national security analysts in GOP circles helped to shore up support for the war among Republican leaders on Capitol Hill." Continue reading →

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U.S. House approves sweeping $633 billion defense spending bill

"The US House passed a $633 billion defense authorization bill that includes fresh sanctions against Iran and funds the war in Afghanistan. In addition to covering standard national security expenses, it also provides a 1.7-percent pay raise for the military, authorizes the Pentagon to pay for abortions in cases of rape and incest and lifts a ban on same-sex marriage ceremonies on military bases. The legislation, which passed 315-107, ended an indefinite restriction on the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States or other countries, instead extending the current restrictions by one year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. House approves sweeping $633 billion defense spending bill

U.S. Government Asks Court Not To Consider Targeted Killing Challenge

"The U.S. government today filed its first response to a lawsuit challenging the targeted killing of the three U.S. citizens in Yemen last year, Anwar Al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman and Samir Khan. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, which brought the case on behalf of the families of the Americans who died, issued the following statement about the government’s motion to dismiss." Continue reading →

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How the US Air Force Wasted $1 Billion on a Failed Software Plan

"Last month, [the Air Force] canceled a six-year-old modernization effort that had eaten up more than $1 billion. When the Air Force realized that it would cost another $1 billion just to achieve one-quarter of the capabilities originally planned - and that even then the system would not be fully ready before 2020 - it decided to decamp. You might expect the project to be exotic and experimental. If that were there case, the expense and failure might be understandable, if not desirable. But in fact the project was the implementation of commercial off-the-shelf software." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow the US Air Force Wasted $1 Billion on a Failed Software Plan

Sandy Hook Massacre: Sympathy from the Devil

"What Adam Lanza did once in a fit of murderous irrationality, the Regime over which Obama presides does practically every day – by people who act with clear-eyed, clinical indifference to the suffering they inflict. The killer who slaughtered the innocent at Sandy Hook is dead. The Child-Killing Apparatus over which Obama presides continues merrily along. Americans understandably shaken and saddened to the depth of their souls by the horrors in Newton should consider this: The government that impudently presumes to rule us has made Sandy Hook-style massacres routine for residents of Pakistan." Continue reading →

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Study: Wind blew deadly gas to U.S. troops in Gulf War

"U.S. bombings of Iraqi munitions factories in January 1991 released a plume of sarin gas that traveled more than 300 miles to affect American troops in Saudi Arabia, although military officials claimed at the time that chemical alarms triggered by the gas were false. The Jan. 18, 1991, bombings of the munitions plants in Nasiriyah and Khamisiya blew a plume of sarin gas high above a layer of cold, still air and into a swift wind stream that carried the gas to Saudi Arabia. The gas plumes, the researchers said, can be blamed for symptoms of Gulf War illness, the mysterious ailment that has affected more than 250,000 veterans of the war." Continue reading →

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The Woes of an American Drone Operator

"A soldier sets out to graduate at the top of his class. He succeeds, and he becomes a drone pilot working with a special unit of the United States Air Force in New Mexico. He kills dozens of people. But then, one day, he realizes that he can't do it anymore. For more than five years, Brandon Bryant worked in an oblong, windowless container about the size of a trailer, where the air-conditioning was kept at 63 degrees Fahrenheit and, for security reasons, the door couldn't be opened. Bryant and his coworkers sat in front of 14 computer monitors and four keyboards. When Bryant pressed a button in New Mexico, someone died on the other side of the world." Continue reading →

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