Can we close the Futenma U.S. Marine Base in Japan Without Constructing Additional Marine Bases in Okinawa?
Congressional Briefing: Okinawa Marine Bases and U.S. Military Spending
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military spending
Libya and the New Warmongering
The NATO intervention in Libya is likely to produce a more militarized and insecure world, and this will be its most enduring legacy. The military “success”in Libya has increased the possibility of new wars. There is a widespread perception that NATO has achieved an easy victory against Gaddafi, and the resulting sense of hubris augments the risk of future military actions against Iran, Syria, and other possible targets. Politicians in NATO countries surely welcome the public distraction that war provides, especially in the context of the world-wide economic slump, and this may prove an additional motivation for new military action.
Obama’s New Military Strategy Doesn’t Add Up
President Barack Obama ordered up yet another strategic review last year. This one explicitly aimed at bringing the nation’s military posture into line with something we can afford.
Military Spending is the Weakest Job Creator
A study commissioned by the largest defense industry trade association says that military spending creates jobs. The facts, however, indicate otherwise.
Sequestering Military Spending
Even if sequestration cuts across all military programs, this sort of ham-handed approach is safely doable.
Nuclear Turkeys
By the time you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, the 12-member congressional supercommittee will have succeeded in meeting its November 23 deadline to approve a plan to shrink the budget deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Or it will have failed – and produced a turkey instead.
Defending Bloated Military Spending
The Association of the United States Army packed hundreds of exhibitors into two halls the size of football fields at its annual convention. Companies from around the world came to the event, recently held at the Washington Convention Center, to sell the Army everything from mammoth tanks to micro-thin wires. Corporations such as Raytheon and KBR erected multi-level installations nearly big enough to generate their own zip code, complete with conference rooms and coffee bars.
Resolution against the Machine
Communities all over the United States are reeling from budget cuts. Military contractors, meanwhile, have remained fat and well-fed on the one part of federal spending that so far hasn’t been touched by budget-cutting fever: the Pentagon. One community recently decided to call attention to this disparity. In Montgomery County, a relatively wealthy Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, Peace Action Montgomery got together with a group of City Council members to craft a simple, straightforward resolution.
U.S. Military Aid to Israel: Ever Inviolable
Republicans are willing to cut spending on Afghanistan and Iraq, but not military aid for Israel.
What Kinds of Federal Spending Create the Most Good Jobs?
Some are arguing that the military budget can’t be cut because it will cost jobs. This summary of a 2009 study shows that, compared to other forms of federal spending, the military budget is a very poor job creator indeed.