Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. President Donald Trump says he’s ready to tackle the Pentagon, which has failed seven audits in a row. He says America might save “trillions” after effective audits. Will it happen? The Pentagon budget...
Even Visceral War Movies Are Often Pro-War
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. I was reading a memoir by a combat veteran today who served in Afghanistan and he had this to say: "I remember watching the movie Saving Private Ryan with him [my dad] and all I wanted after that was to be a...
Gaza as the New Riviera – But Not for Palestinians
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Now it's take and take and takeover, takeover It's all take and never give All these trumped up towers They're just golden showers Where are people supposed to live? Don Henley, “Gimme What You Got” (1989)...
William Astore says Cut Pentagon Spending!
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. As Elon Musk runs amok in the U.S. government, claiming to work for government efficiency, I’ve yet to see him tackle the elephant in the room: the Pentagon budget. That budget, nominally at $900 billion,...
Sports and Militarism Shouldn’t Mix
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. I’m a sports fan. And last weekend I caught the epic clash between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, once again won by the Chiefs and the magical Patrick Mahomes. Yet seemingly no big NFL game is...
Thermonuclear Crack: The Death Wish of the ‘Elites’
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Isn’t it high time we “augment” our nuclear force “posture”? Shouldn’t we fight to achieve peace through nuclear “strength” and “deterrence”? Isn’t it smart to “refurbish, rebuild, and modernize” the nuclear...
William Astore on The American Cult of Bombing
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Back in August of 2014, I wrote a piece for TomDispatch on the American cult of bombing. The Air Force’s new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider, was still on the drawing board a decade ago. The Air Force wanted...
Military Service Parochialism: All the Services Always Want More
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. A few days ago, I posted the following comment to a fine article that addressed America’s nuclear triad and the reality that we really only need the Navy’s nuclear submarine force for deterrence: My old...
America’s Merchants of Death Are Making a Killing
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Yesterday, the Merchants of Death Tribunal concluded with a verdict of “guilty” for all those U.S. dealers and exporters of weapons globally. Yes, the merchants of death are guilty as sin, even as they account...
Gaza: Cap Guns Versus Bazookas
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. If one side is armed with cap guns and the other with bazookas, would we call that a “war” between roughly equal powers? I thought of this as I turned to Antiwar.com to see that President Biden has approved...
