Empire

A recent NPR report, “Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation aims for a monument on the National Mall”, alerted me to this project. Authorized by Congress in 2017, it is entering the design selection phase now. The group driving this is the aforementioned GWOT Memorial Foundation, and it states its --->> read more -->>

President Eisenhower, previously General Eisenhower of WWII fame, warned of the Military Industrial Complex in  his farewell addresses in 1961. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced --->> read more -->>

Recently I listened to the first episode of the podcast City of the Rails. About 30 minutes in, the author Danelle Morton interviews the historian Richard White about what actually happened when railroads were built across the North American continent in the 1860′ and ’70s. (opens the podcast at the interview) --->> read more -->>

Yesterday as I was taking a walk up and down Warren St. here in Hudson I realized that I had become actively angry about the state of the US and the world. I walked past hotels where a single room would set you back $400 for a night or you --->> read more -->>

Since I noticed that every day now as many Americans are dying in the Trump Pandemic as died during the 9/11 attacks I have thought about how different public and government reactions have been. 9/11 2,977 people died in the attacks in the US on 9/11/2001. 9/11 brought on a --->> read more -->>

 How America Tortures by M. P. Denbeaux, & Seton Hall University. (2019) This report includes eight drawings by Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo detainee, illustrating his experiences during torture sessions. Abu Zubaydah is also a figure in the movie discussed below. This report is really a short book, some 95 pages --->> read more -->>

We’ve written quite a bit about the US Empire. A key component of this US foreign policy is regime change. Here is a list of the posts here on this topic. Recently Democracy Now! ran a 22 minute discussion of the history of US regime change actions over the last --->> read more -->>

Many Americans are either blind or in denial about US militarism not to mention our empire. Recently our past President Carter took note of our long-term proclivity for empire and war in one of his Sunday school talks. Carter noted that there have only been five years in the entire --->> read more -->>

The recent movie The Post (about the Washington Post newspaper and its involvement with the Pentagon Papers – see below) poses interesting reminders of the power of the US government to rain death on countries that fall under our imperial domain and simultaneously keep the American people in the dark --->> read more -->>

Intervention in Iran – 65th Anniversary On August 19, 1953 President Eisenhower authorized the CIA to support British efforts to launch a coup against the popularly elected government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in favor of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. At immediate issue were plans by Mossadegh to nationalize --->> read more -->>

President Obama came into office on a wave of emotion and hope for change. His two terms have been largely a disappointment. He did a competent job of working part way out of the financial crisis of the Clinton-Bush Bubble – the 2008 Wall St. meltdown. Having completed the bailout --->> read more -->>

The Watson Institute at Brown University has just released an updated report: United States Budgetary Costs of Post 9/11 Wars Through FY2018: A Summary of the $5.6 Trillion in Costs for the US Wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Post 9/11 Veterans Care and Homeland Security by Neta C. Crawford. --->> read more -->>

The US has been engaged in military actions, no actual declared wars though, continuously since my birth. This is a simplified list taken from Wikipedia entry: Timeline of United States military operations. Information added by me is in italics. Note that this list does not include CIA and other covert --->> read more -->>

Corrective History The NYTimes posted a bit of Turkey Day corrective history: “Most Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving Is Wrong” By MAYA SALAM Adaptive Turkeys The Trump pardoned two turkeys yesterday at the White House. But, no surprise for us here in Columbia County, wild turkeys are doing just fine. Once again --->> read more -->>

With all of the current outrage over Russia’s attempts to influence our last presidential election one can only be struck by the notion that Americans don’t know their own history, even that which occurred within our own lifetimes. Thus they are unable to see the ironies involved in our complaints --->> read more -->>

Pete Seeger wrote a song “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” in 1967 that became closely associated with President Johnson and the Vietnam War. Does Trump remember it? Maybe Afghanistan will bring it to his mind? It included a series of refrains: “We were — knee deep in the Big --->> read more -->>

A report about an amendment to the defense budget that would end the 2001 AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force) that has provided legal cover for more than forty military actions around the world without Congressional oversight, just the decisions of three Presidents. Russia-Obsessed Media Ignores Barbara Lee’s --->> read more -->>

Everyone who wants to know already understands how disastrous President Bush’s Iraq War has been. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost, perhaps several million displaced people and financial costs in the $ trillions. This to depose a dictator not much different than many dictators the US has supported and continues --->> read more -->>

Netflix has just released War Machine onto the streaming media waters. This movie fits into the long tradition of American media mostly puffing up our military exploits or turning them into light tragi-comedy.  Brad Pitt, applying the acting style of a trimmed down George Clooney, portrays the fictional General Glen McMahon. Broadly and --->> read more -->>

Defense Dept. Budget (does not include CIA, NSA, and other departments like DEA that conduct international operations) Military Bases and Personnel (all data from DOD Base Structure Report – 2015) Military Bases Department of Defense Personnel Army – 540,330 Navy – 321,599 Marines – 187,891 Air Force – 312,453 SubTotal --->> read more -->>

Recently I stopped at the US Marine Corp War Memorial in Washington DC. Walking around the base with its lengthy list of Marine engagements since 1775, now a double row on several sides, I thought, “How many of these can faithfully be considered to be in defence of the homeland? --->> read more -->>

John le Carré, author of many beloved spy novels, e.g., Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy, wrote this piece critiquing the then upcoming War on Iraq in January 2003. Besides pointing out the very strong connections between big oil and the Bushes, many other elements of the critique continue to be applicable --->> read more -->>