Disarmageddon April 8

http://warisacrime.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/disarmageddon2-472.pdf

Republicans Split on Cutting Military Spending

It’s one thing to campaign on cutting spending (as the Tea Party candidates did), but it’s another to actually make some cuts, especially in the Pentagon budget (where the money is).  And if a Republican congressman has a big military base in his district, or if he got buckets of campaign money from defense contractors, what’s he to do?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/us/politics/27pentagon.html?hp

The Cato Institute On Military Spending

The Cato Institute is a conservative think tank that, like Ron Paul below, we don’t often quote.  But on the subject of military spending we agree to a great extent.  It is this convergence of thinking beteen the left and the right that makes us optimistic about the chances of really taking a large bite out of “defense” spending.

Martin Luther King Jr. On War

Cut Military Spending – Who Gets The Money?

The tussle starts tomorrow over how to cut the military budget, and the question of Gates staying in his job is part of the equation.  But this Reuters article gives an idea of which weapons systems are on the chopping block.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7035VO20110105?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

So Who’s In Charge Here?

Michael Moore says Eisenhower was right to be concerned about the military-industrial complex.  Bob Woodward’s new book tells us how the brass presented exactly one option on Afghanistan to Obama: escalate.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/dwight-was-right

Pentagon: “Be Afraid Of China!”

Thom Shanker’s article in today’s Times tells us that mysteriously anonymous figures “throughout Washington” are worried about Chinese military growth.  The lesson of course:  don’t cut military spending.  But the article is woefully short on facts.  It estimates that China will spend $150 billion on defense this year, a volcanic increase of 7.9%!  Meanwhile US military spending approaches $1 trillion.  The fact that China has between three and four times as many citizens as the US is not mentioned.  Nor is there a word about the huge numbers of US troops and weapons in Japan and Korea.  We’ll see a lot more of this scare-mongering as 25% grows in popularity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/world/asia/17military.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Shanker&st=cse

We’re Still Buying New Military Aircraft

This is one of many military aircraft graveyards in the United States.  We seem to have extra planes.  This in a country that spends as much or more on the military than all the other nations in the world put together!  Who will say “STOP” to this madness?  You could call your congressman and tell him you want military spending cut by 50%.  We would still be outspending China by about 3 to 1.  Call your congressman at 202-224-3121.