News & Comment
Blogs and Opinion
Yes, We Have A (Defense) Spending Problem by David Callahan, prospect.org | January 8, 2013
Last year, in 2012, the U.S. government spent about $841 billion on security—a figure that includes defense, intelligence, war appropriations, and foreign aid. At the same time, the government collected about $1.1 trillion in individual income taxes. (And about $2.4 trillion in revenues overall if you include payroll, corporate, estate, and excise taxes.) In other words, about 80 cents of every dollar collected in traditional federal income taxes went for security. That's an astonishing statistic, and it captures the most underappreciated aspect of today's fiscal challenges: We have a security spending problem. Such spending is significantly higher than all non-defense discretionary domestic spending. Worse yet, almost nobody in Washington seems interested in seriously curtailing defense spending that is greater in real terms than what the U.S. spent in the Cold War. read more »Ending the Mindset that Got Us into Iraq by Matthew Duss, prospect.org | January 8, 2013
President Obama’s announcement yesterday of his nomination of former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense is important in a couple of ways. The first is that by following through with a candidate who faced one of the most intense negative pre-nomination campaigns in recent memory, the president signaled that is shaking off some of the caution that characterized his first term, and is prepared to undertake a bolder political course. The second way the Hagel nomination is important, one that has even more significant implications for U.S. foreign policy, is that Obama may be preparing to pursue one of the more ambitious goals he articulated as a candidate for president. Back in January 2008, Senator Obama took the opportunity during a debate to explain his opposition to the Iraq war. “I don't want to just end the war,” he insisted, “I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.” read more »The Hoax of Entitlement Reform by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | January 7, 2013
It has become accepted economic wisdom, uttered with deadpan certainty by policy pundits and budget scolds on both sides of the aisle, that the only way to get control over America’s looming deficits is to “reform entitlements.” The accepted wisdom is wrong. f anything, America’s safety nets have been too small and shot through with holes. That’s why the number and percentage of Americans in poverty has increased dramatically, including 22 percent of our children. “Entitlement reform” sounds like a noble endeavor. But it has little or nothing to do with reducing future budget deficits. Taming future deficits requires three steps having nothing to do with entitlements: Limiting the growth of overall healthcare costs, cutting our bloated military, and ending corporate welfare (tax breaks and subsidies targeted to particular firms and industries). Obsessing about “entitlement reform” only serves to distract us from these more important endeavors. read more »The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel by Fred Kaplan, slate.com | January 7, 2013
It’s good news that President Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense, despite the frantic campaign against him that’s been mounted by certain Republicans. I don’t think that he chose Hagel because of the opposition. It’s generally not Obama’s style to pick a fight for its own sake. He’s an issues man, and he faces many fights on other pressing matters. If he thought that someone less controversial could do the job at the Pentagon, he’d have gone with that person in a flash. The real question is what kind of job Obama wants his next secretary of defense to do. I have no inside knowledge on this, but judging from some of his actions and remarks on matters of national defense, Hagel seems to be the right choice. And that’s what disturbs the most outspoken Hagel-resisters. read more »Could Chuck Hagel, Likely Defense Secretary Nominee, Turn Out To Be A Climate Hawk? by Lisa Hymas, grist.org | January 7, 2013
Chuck Hagel, who’s expected to be nominated as secretary of defense this week, has long been confused about climate change … and yet concerned about it too. He has a history of obstructing climate action, but also a record of elevating climate as a national security issue. If he’s confirmed to head the Department of Defense, he might ultimately show himself to be a climate hawk — though not one who hews to green orthodoxy or any party line. On the one hand, Hagel — a Republican senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2008 and now co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board — has professed many views you might associate with a climate denier. On the other hand, Hagel has long cited climate change as a threat to national security and an important issue in terms of international relations. read more »The Wingnut Trifecta by Joan Walsh, salon.com | January 3, 2013
Right-wing claims that Hillary Clinton faked illness to avoid testifying about the Benghazi tragedy would be funny if they weren’t so ugly. It’s the wingnut trifecta, smearing our most popular past Democratic president, Bill Clinton, along with our current president, Barack Obama, and the current 2016 front-runner, all with one shot. Imagine birtherism crossed with the worst of the hateful anti-Clinton lies, like the “Vince Foster was murdered” claim. That’s Hillary-health trutherism. But so far right-wingers claiming that Clinton somehow faked her concussion have gone virtually unchallenged on Fox News and right-wing sites like Newsbusters and the Daily Caller. This is crazy. read more »America’s Afghanistan Odyssey: When will Enough be Enough? by Jack Stevenson, juancole.com | December 13, 2012
The U.S. has been involved, covertly or openly, in military actions in Afghanistan since 1979, with no end in sight. Nor, after all these decades, is the news very good. A Taliban assassination attempt has put Afghanistan’s chief intelligence and security official in the hospital. A recent Pentagon review found that only one of the Afghanistan National Army’s 23 brigades can conduct operations independently of NATO. Violence is higher now than in 2009 before the “surge” ordered by President Barack Obama. And the Obama administration is negotiating for a 6,000 to 9,000-strong U.S. troop presence in the country after the bulk of the American military withdraws by the end of 2014. How long is long enough for this mission in a country that is not even as important to U.S. security as the Congo? read more »Why Does Obama Want to Spend $8 Trillion on Defense in the Next Decade? by David Callahan, policyshop.net | December 11, 2012
Washington is in a fiscal panic, yet surprisingly few people are asking an obvious question: Why in the world is the Obama Administration proposing to spend $8 trillion on security over the next decade? Included in that giant sum is not just Pentagon spending, but also outlays for intelligence, homeland security, foreign aid, and diplomacy abroad. If the Administration gets its way, security spending would account for a fifth of all government outlays over the next decade. Such spending would be roughly twice as great as all non-mandatory spending through 2022 -- a category that includes everything from NASA to Pell Grants to national parks. That's a whole lot of defense for a country that, as of 2014 (when U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan), will be officially at peace and faces no major global adversaries. read more »The Unhinging of John McCain by Geoffrey Dunn, Huffington Post | November 20, 2012
In case anyone hasn't noticed, Arizona Senator John McCain has been making a fool of himself lately, on a weekly if not daily basis, his rants seeming to be fueled by an unhealthy mix of anger and envy, with not insignificant hints of racism and misogyny thrown in for good measure. The direct, and at times indirect, object of his rage has been President Barack Obama, who beat McCain substantially in the 2008 presidential election and who had the gall to be reelected by a significant electoral margin again this month--much, apparently, to McCain's chagrin. read more »The Fall of the American Empire (Writ Small) by Tom Engelhardt, tomdispatch.com | November 20, 2012
History, it is said, arrives first as tragedy, then as farce. First as Karl Marx, then as the Marx Brothers. In the case of twenty-first century America, history arrived first as George W. Bush (and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith and the Project for a New America -- a shadow government masquerading as a think tank -- and an assorted crew of ambitious neocons and neo-pundits); only later did David Petraeus make it onto the scene. It couldn’t be clearer now that, from the shirtless FBI agent to the “embedded” biographer and the “other other woman,” the “fall” of David Petraeus is playing out as farce of the first order. What’s less obvious is that Petraeus, America’s military golden boy and Caesar of celebrity, was always smoke and mirrors, always the farce, even if the denizens of Washington didn’t know it. read more »
The Latest
Rumsfeld, White House Blamed for Detainee Abuses, The New York Times | December 12, 2008
A report released Thursday by leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee said top Bush administration officials, including Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary, bore major responsibility for the abuses committed by American troops in interrogations at Abu Ghraib in Iraq; Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; and other military detention centers. read more »
U.S. To Send More Troops to Afghanistan , CNN | December 11, 2008
The U.S. military plans to move three more combat brigades to Afghanistan by summer, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. Gates landed in the Afghan city of Kandahar, where he was met by Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces battling a resurgent Taliban and its al Qaeda allies. read more »
U.S. Foreign Policy Shift Raises Hope , Financial Times | December 11, 2008
The imminent change of guard in Washington has raised high hopes of a new direction in foreign policy, with the United Nations senior human rights official predicting this week that the arrival of the Obama administration could mark the return of the U.S. to "the international family." Speaking on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights, Navi Pillay, U.N. read more »
General Shinseki to VA, blogs.abcnews.com | December 8, 2008
On the 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, President-elect Barack Obama Sunday nominated Gen. Eric Shinseki (Ret.), a Japanese-American born in Obama's home state of Hawaii, to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Obama said Shinseki, the first Asian-American named to his cabinet, was the right person to cut red tape, boost funding, and bring benefits to veterans. read more »
Blackwater Guards Charged in Iraqi Deaths, CNN | December 7, 2008
Five security guards from Blackwater Worldwide have been indicted on charges related to a 2007 shooting in which 17 Iraqis were killed in a Baghdad square, two sources said. A sixth security guard is in plea negotiations. The exact charges handed up by a federal grand jury were not revealed. The sources requested anonymity because the indictment remains under court seal. read more »
Mumbai Attacks Refocus U.S. Cities , USA Today | December 5, 2008
The deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai are prompting new efforts to bolster security in the U.S. by law enforcement officials who fear the assault on India's financial capital represents an unforeseen model for future attacks on U.S. soil. Since the 9/11 attacks, the FBI has warned that al-Qaeda could use suicide bombers to attack shopping centers and other so-called soft targets. read more »
Iraq Approves U.S. Security Pact, USA Today | December 4, 2008
Iraq's three-member presidential council approved a security pact with the United States setting out a three-year timeframe for the full withdrawal of American troops, a spokesman said. The final legal hurdle to the deal was cleared even as Iraqis faced another round of bombings in a deadly week as insurgents try to chip away at recent security gains. read more »
U.S., Russia Refuse Cluster Bomb Ban, USA Today | December 4, 2008
Afghanistan was initially reluctant to join the pact — which the United States and Russia have refused to support — but agreed to after lobbying by victims maimed by cluster munitions. The U.S., Russia and other countries refusing to sign the treaty say cluster bombs have legitimate military uses, such as repelling advancing troop columns. read more »
New Leadership to Fight WMD Terrorism, boston.com | December 3, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama plans to appoint a new White House official to coordinate efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear or biological weapons, advisers say, giving the highest priority to thwarting a catastrophic attack that a bipartisan panel warns could come in the next five years. read more »
Panel: Biological Attack Likely by 2013, USA Today | December 2, 2008
The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism. The report suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists. read more »
