CounterPunch: The Imperial Bernie Sanders

Corruption, Government, Military

counterpunch squareNo Bern Notice: the Imperial Myopia of Candidate Sanders

But the reticence to attack Clinton on the substance — and the essence and the goals — of American foreign policy is very much a hallmark of the Sanders campaign. For example,his only word about the American-backed campaign of slaughter, ruin and starvation being conducted by the Saudis against Yemen has been a lament that the Saudis are wasting good ammo in Yemen when they should be “getting their hands dirty” against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Yes, apparently the proper “democratic socialist” position is that the world needs more violent intervention by the greatest purveyors of Islamic extremism in the world. We need more killing — and more military expansion — by one of the most repressive regimes on the face of the planet. This is where the “progressive left” is at these days.

Marcus Aurelius: Cognitive Dissonance at Defense — Hollow Army, Hollow Generals

Corruption, Idiocy, Ineptitude, Military
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

In the Pentagon’s new budget, the Air Force won and the Navy and Army lost (Washington Post, by Dan Lamothe, 09 Feb 2016)

This general ‘takes umbrage’ at the notion the U.S. military has been gutted (Washington Post, 09 Feb 2016)

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Berto Jongman: Academics in the Camps – the Life and Death of the Human Terrain System

IO Deeds of Peace, Military
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Academics in Foxholes

The Life and Death of the Human Terrain System

Christopher Sims, Foreign Affairs, 4 February 2016

The U.S. government’s controversial effort to harness the social sciences in support of its counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, in an initiative known as the Human Terrain System, was one of the most ambitious and innovative efforts of the post-9/11 era to help warfighters make sense of conflict’s inherent chaos.   . . .   More than 1,000 personnel were deployed during its duration, from 2007 to 2014 at a total cost of nearly $750 million, making the Human Terrain System the largest investment in a single social science project in U.S. government history.

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Eric Zuesse: How Corruption Cripples US Military

Corruption, Government, Military, Peace Intelligence
Eric Zuesse
Eric Zuesse

How Corruption Cripples America's Military

America’s military budget is roughly 7.2 times that of Russia ($610 billion compared to $84.5 billion), but even Western news-accounts are saying that the weaponry produced in Russia is superior overall to the weaponry produced in the United States.

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Marcus Aurelius: National Commission on Future of the Army — an Immaculate Conception

Military, Sources
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Hot off the press, just released today, invite your attention to report of the statutorily-mandated National Commission on the Future of the Army at following link:

Click for Report
Click for Report

Have not fully read but expect a couple of things:

* It will likely be contentious, both for what it says and does not say and for various factions' assessments of its quality.

* It will generate some degree of workload for the Army Staff as the Chief of Staff and the Secretary decide what they want to do with/about it and how.

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