military Archives - Page 14 of 30 - Foreign Policy In Focus

The Plane That Won’t Die…Or Fly

by Miriam Pemberton | Apr 26, 2007

Calling the V-22 Osprey a Rube Goldberg contraption does some disservice to the late cartoonist who died in 1970. Vice President Dick Cheney tried to kill the V-22 in the early 1990s, when he was defense secretary. But it lives on today, and the Marine Corps announced on April 13 that in September it will begin flying its first combat missions in Iraq. A combination helicopter-plane with bells and whistles galore might have appealed to Rube, but he wouldn’t have unveiled it in public until he’d made it work.

Militarism and U.S. Trade Policy

by Erik Leaver, David Ranney | Dec 15, 2006

It is rare to think about the links between militarism and U.S. “trade” policy. But in recent decades, U.S. global economic policies have increasingly driven U.S. military policy. And under the Presidency of George W. Bush and the “war on terrorism” the trend has rapidly and dangerously accelerated. The results have generated a militarism that is beyond the reach of democratic processes both in the United States and abroad. For this reason, activists who oppose the Iraq War and U.S. militarism generally and those promoting global economic and environmental justice must develop a common agenda.

3D Security

by Aaron Kishbaugh, Miriam Pemberton, Lisa Schirch | Nov 17, 2006

By defining development and diplomacy as security strategies, the administration officially recognizes that building stable and sustainable peace involves preventing conflict and addressing the root causes of insecurity. The concept of Âhuman security,Â focusing on a wide range of threats to individuals rather than nations, is gaining wider currency. When former President Bill Clinton called AIDS one of the greatest threats to U.S. security he elevated the priority of AIDS from a health issue requiring charity to a security issue even for those who do not have AIDS.

Leveraging "3D" Security: From Rhetoric to Reality

by Aaron Kishbaugh, Miriam Pemberton, Lisa Schirch | Nov 14, 2006

If It Looks Like a Landmine, Smells Like a Landmine…

by Miriam Pemberton, Matt Schaaf, Scott Stedjan | Aug 25, 2006

Would a bomb by another name be any less explosive? Would a landmine by another name be less pernicious?

Who’s Arming Israel?

by Frida Berrigan, John Feffer, William D. Hartung | Jul 26, 2006

Much has been made in the U.S. media of the Syrian- and Iranian-origin weaponry used by Hezbollah in the escalating violence in Israel and Lebanon. There has been no parallel discussion of the origin of Israel’s weaponry, the vast bulk of which is from the United States.

A Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2007

by Lawrence Korb, Miriam Pemberton | May 2, 2006

As it is portrayed in the Bush administration’s new National Security Strategy doctrine, our military is a co-equal partner with our diplomatic corps, our development agency and our homeland security department. The text speaks of pursuing national security by championing aspirations for human dignity, strengthening alliances, defusing regional conflicts, and expanding development. In the section on “key national security institutions,” the Department of Defense (DOD) is third on the list.

Iran: The Day After

by Phyllis Bennis | Apr 20, 2006

The airwaves and the headlines are full of talk of a U.S. military strike against Iran. That is as it should be–the danger of such a reckless move is real, and rising, and we should be talking about it. The Bush administration claims that negotiations are their first choice. But they have gone to war based on lies before, and there is no reason to believe that they are telling the truth this time.

Permanent US Bases in Iraq are Immoral

by Adil E. Shamoo | Apr 20, 2006

Last February, former President Jimmy Carter said on the Larry King show, “Some of our top leaders never intend to withdraw military forces from Iraq and they are looking for [staying] ten, 20, 50 years.” He continued, “I have never heard our leaders say that …ten years from now there will be no military bases of the United States in Iraq.”

Not terrorism–China drives up U.S. military spending

by Michael Klare | Apr 11, 2006

Ostensibly, the growing threat of international terrorism is responsible for the Bush administration’s proposed 2007 military budget, of $439 billion: a 7-percent increase from last year’s record tally. Higher spending, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has indicated, would ensure U.S. success “in the long war against terrorist extremism.”