The Fraud of War – Julia Harte

U.S. Army Specialist Stephanie Charboneau sat at the center of a complex trucking network in Forward Operating Base Fenty near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that distributed daily tens of thousands of gallons of what troops called “liquid gold”: the refined petroleum that fueled the international coalition’s vehicles, planes, and generators. A prominent sign in the base read: “The Army Won’t Go …

Pentagon Hiding Data on Military Sexual Assault: Report – Nadia Prupis

Sexual assault in the U.S. military is occurring at a much higher rate than the Defense Department has previously admitted, a new report released Monday revealed. After investigating more than 100 sexual assault cases that took place on four large domestic military bases, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, released a damning critique of …

Why Iran Must Remain a US Enemy – GARETH PORTER

Since the start of the US nuclear negotiations with Iran, both Israeli and Saudi officials have indulged in highly publicised handwringing over their belief that such a nuclear deal would represent a fundamental strategic shift in US policy towards the region at the expense of its traditional alliances with Israel and Saudi Arabia. But the Obama administration is no more likely …

Mother Earth Is Weeping For Her Children: The US Military Must Stop Environmental Ecocide – Joy First

As I traveled to DC to risk arrest in an action organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) I was feeling nervous, but also knowing this is what I needed to be doing. This would be my first arrest since I was arrested at the CIA in June 2013, and served a one-year probation sentence after an October …

Pentagon can’t account for $1 billion in Afghan reconstruction aid – JAMES ROSEN

The Defense Department can’t account for $1.3 billion that was shipped to force commanders in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014 for critical reconstruction projects, 60 percent of all such spending under an emergency program, an internal report released Thursday concludes. The missing money was part of the relatively small amount of Afghanistan spending that was routed directly to military officers …

Helping Veterans with PTSD Using Yoga – Constance Scharff Ph.D.

We have come a long way in our efforts to treat PTSD and other psychological disorders. Some of the best information has come from veterans themselves. For example, after suffering from the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, Army veteran John Thurman used his experience with yoga to help others, in a program that packs rooms. There are many complementary therapies …

How The Politics of Memory Affects Us All – Sam Osherson Ph.D.

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”  Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun. This year brings a 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War sponsored by the Pentagon, complete with a website, interactive videos, and a $15 million price tag for taxpayers. Cost overruns are to be expected. Commemoration? Is that quite the right word to describe a war, particularly …

Push for Controversial Trade Deal Continues With Pitch From Defense Secretary

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on Monday trumpeted the administration’s so-called Pacific pivot and urged passage of legislative power that critics say will allow a massive corporate-friendly trade deal to be rammed through Congress. Carter made the remarks during a speech at the McCain Institute of Arizona State University ahead of his inaugural trip to Asia, which begins with visits to Japan and …

Larry Summers has a major warning for the US economy, and everyone should be paying attention

This is a big deal. On Monday, we published Larry Summers’ latest op-ed in The Washington Post, which opened with the former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president writing, “This past month may be remembered as the moment the United States lost its role as the underwriter of the global economic system.” What Summers is referring to is the creation of the Asian Infrastructure …

Rumsfeldt’s Missing Trillions, Stavridis and Unconventional War

September 10, 2001. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeldt stated that 2.3 trillion dollar from the Pentagon’s annual budget could not be accounted for. September 11, 2001, the Pentagon’s accounting office and the Naval Command Center were targeted, allegedly by a plane. Survivors would report about explosions inside the Pentagon prior to the alleged plane impact. During a 2012 Forestall …