On COI #117, Kyle Anzalone breaks down Biden's Pentagon budget proposal for FY 2022. The President is asking Congress to give $715 billion in taxpayer dollars to the military-industrial complex. The proposal calls for tens of billions to be spent on weapons systems with legacies of failure, like the F-35 and Ford-class aircraft carrier. Most of the money is spent on maintaining the American Empire, not defending the homeland. While Congress has the power to alter the Pentagon budget, Kyle argues we should expect they will increase the budget. The budget also further reveals the foreign...
military spending
COI #95 – Will Biden Save the Iran Nuclear Deal?
On COI #95, Kyle and Will update the progress of the negotiations between the US and Iran in Vienna, where the two sides are meeting for indirect talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. While there have been some promising developments, public statements from the US have not inspired confidence in Biden's willingness to break with the aggressive policies of his predecessor. A Florida court has concluded that police officers can conceal their names from the public after they shoot suspects, so long as they argue that they were themselves the victim of a crime. The court overturned a...
Trump’s Shifting Justification for Killing Soleimani guest Will Porter
On FPF #456, Will Porter returns to the show to discuss the evolving justification for Trump's assassination of Soleimani. Will explains how the Trump admin has now given several reasons that they needed to and had the power to kill Soleimani. Will and Kyle look at the failure of Trump to have appropriate authorization for the strike and the strategic failures of the strike. Links Abby MartianNATO mission in IraqCIA encryptionSoleimani assassinationRecord military...
US Lawmakers Keep Adding to $1.4 Trillion Spending Deal
US lawmakers have agreed to tack on another $24.7 billion in spending to their $1.4 trillion compromise spending package for 2020, hoping this extra spending will be enough to pass the spending bills before a Friday deadline. Passing the compromise spending has been a struggle for months, with officials constantly agreeing on continuing resolutions for more time to negotiate. Ultimately, they appear to have decided that they can get the votes by adding spending here and there, even if this means the deal is much larger than anticipated. The first set of spending, including military...
Jimmy Dore: Reagan Official (David Stockman) Says Cut Military Spending! Panel SCREAMS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT7WEkvCWeM
Russia Drops Out of Top Five in Global Military Spending
See that's how they getcha! Doing sneaky shit like dissolving their empire and paring down their military forces. But all the worst liars in America warn that we better watch out! They're tricky, them Russians!
Trump: Great Strides Made in ‘Ridiculous’ Afghan War
Praises NATO's promised spending hikes Whenever President Trump is dealing with NATO issues, there is always the question of whether Trump is going to praise NATO as the greatest thing since sliced bread, mock them as a relic of the past, or somehow manage to do both at once. Meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday, Trump played up the pledges for increased military spending, while pushing for even more. He also cheered the “great strides” made in Afghanistan militarily by NATO, while terming the war ‘ridiculous.’ Trump is well known to be weary of the Afghan War, and...
12/3/18 Dave Lindorff on the Pentagon’s Audit
Dave Lindorff joins Scott to talk about his recent article, "The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed," in which he outlines the results of the recent audit of U.S. military spending. The Pentagon's cavalier attitude toward flunking their audit reveals that they don't really care what the voters think, knowing they'll get the funding they want no matter what. In fact, explains Lindorff, much of the supposedly "lost" money is lost because it was never actually spent in the first place. It's a long established practice for military officials to pretend to have spent any leftover...
Foreign Policy Focus #160 – Trump’s CPAC Speech
On FPF #160, I breakdown Trump's CPAC Speech. In the speech, Trump celebrates increased military spending and moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump also makes threats and announces new sanctions against North Korea. I point out Trump's lies and explain why non-intervention is a better path. Links Mark Perry on the Tom Woods Show Coast Guard to enforce sanctions on North Korea FPF - Will Porter on the...
Foreign Policy Focus #160 – Trump's CPAC Speech
On FPF #160, I breakdown Trump's CPAC Speech. In the speech, Trump celebrates increased military spending and moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump also makes threats and announces new sanctions against North Korea. I point out Trump's lies and explain why non-intervention is a better path. Links Mark Perry on the Tom Woods Show Coast Guard to enforce sanctions on North Korea FPF - Will Porter on the...