Military
Nuclear Weapons and the Environment
January 22, 2023 marked the second anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. On January 22, 2021 nuclear weapons officially became illegal under international law. The world community declared the mass murder resulting from using nuclear weapons a crime against humanity. Currently 92 nations have signed and 68 have ratified the treaty and are bound by its provisions.
Unfortunately, none of the nine countries who have nuclear weapons have signed and ratified the treaty. Because they have not, the treaty does not apply to them. As a result, human ...
JUST WHO IS THE AGGRESSOR?
Americans all know Russia is aggressive, populated by Slavic barbarians, and their leader, Putin, is a mad gangster out to dominate the world. The Chinese are just as bad. Their leader, XI Jinping, is friends with Putin. Need one say more? We need to hate these people.
But Americans also believe in fairness, a level playing field. Since the U.S. has placed missiles near Russia’s boarders in Poland and Romania (Ukraine was next) just 5 – 7 minutes flight time to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major Russian cities, Russia should put missiles back in Cuba. And as ...
Waste not…
I was just a low level “grunt,” but I saw and participated in a lot of waste. So when I write about waste in the military budget it is not based on political opinion or cherry picking the numbers.
Nuclear weapons are now illegal
Most of the world agrees with these two former national leaders on opposite sides of the Cold War. On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons became international law. Nuclear weapons are now illegal. Nations who possess, threaten to use, or use these weapons of mass destruction will be outlaws. This is a big step toward abolishing them altogether.
Defending America from the U.S. Department of Defense
In his final year in office, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had also been the 5-star general who led the allied forces against Nazi Germany in World War II, warned Americans against the dangers of maintaining an oversized military and the military-industrial complex itself. He knew this joining of industry and the military could easily grow out of control, could easily drain rather than protect the nation, could easily become a threat to the future of democracy.
Here is a portion of a speech President Eisenhower gave to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in ...
Historical Perspective on Iran
In the last several articles I wrote about our aggressive, militarized foreign policy and how it leads to conflicts and disastrous wars. The current saber rattling with Iran is a classic example. Over the last seven decades our belligerence and interference in the internal affairs of Iran are illustrative of the mistakes we have made all over the world. Knowing this history, it is not hard to understand why we are considered the “great Satan” by Iran.
This is all verifiable history – not ideological or political cherry picking. Since World War II the U.S. ...
An Alternative to War
“Thinking that war is inevitable makes it so; it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“Thinking that ending war is possible opens the door to constructive work on an actual peace system.”
“There is more peace in the world than war. It is not inevitable. We have a record of doing things differently. We have changed in the past and we can do more in the future.”
Most people think world peace is a Utopian pipe dream. Humans are the killer ape. War is as old as humans and it isn't about to go away. We live in a dangerous world and must rely on a strong ...
Militarism in America
“We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism are all tied together. And you can't get rid of one without getting rid of the other.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” President John F. Kennedy
Americans believe we are the “good guys” that promote peace and democracy around the world. But too frequently we are part of the problem rather than the solution to conflicts between nations. As a ...
When is Enough Enough?
The proposed federal budget for FY 2020 has been released. The big winner, again, is the Pentagon and the weapons industry. Endless wars produce endless military spending.
Most Americans know we spend a lot of money on the military and wars. Many of them blindly believe this is necessary to protect the country. But the more we spend the less safe we are. In addition we are not winning the wars. As William J. Astore. USAF LT COL (Ret.), has written,
“When it comes to the “world’s greatest military,” the news has been shocking... as the U.S. military spans the ...
Socialism Supports the Troops… So Why Not the Rest of Us?
This year a number of candidates for state and national offices are running as democratic socialists. Many of these candidates are women and minorities. AND they are being successful in the primary elections! It appears that younger voters are looking for real solutions to our problems and are not as susceptible to meaningless attack ad labels.
Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist. But Bernie does not intend to change the structure of the economy. Rather he simply advocates making the economy work better by being more inclusive. His support for universal healthcare, ...