The Pentagon is totally out of control and it is time that something is finally done to rein it in

[Bjorn Against]

Last edited Thu Aug 29, 2013, 11:24 PM - Edit history (1)

It does not matter who the President is, the Pentagon is totally out of control and has been out of control for decades. Every few years we get sucked into another one of their misadventures, thousands of people die, billions of dollars of treasury are depleted, and millions of families are broken.

And what do we get for it? A global community that thinks we are nuts? More jobs in the funeral industry? Crumbling infrastructure and cuts to our most vulnerable citizens? War profiteers like Halliburton and Lockheed Martin getting billions of our tax dollars funneled to their corporate suites?

Many will try to make this about Presidential politics, but this is not about the Presidency this is about a war economy that has spiraled out of control. Some will try to say that Obama is just like Bush and others will say that such a suggestion is totally absurd, but the reality is that both of those opinions hold a lot of truth despite seeming contradictory. As a person and as a leader Obama is far different than Bush, but the elephant in the room is the massive thing that they do have in common, they both worked or are working under the same exact system of government. You can sit and debate the personal failings of individual Presidents all you want, but when we focus on the individual failings we miss the much bigger picture. We need to realize that this is not about any individual President, this is about a Pentagon that has grown way too powerful and needs to reined in.

We invest hundreds of billions of dollars every year in propping up an organization that is directly responsible for millions of deaths, that is not hyperbole that is a fact that can not be disputed.

Do you think any President is going to be able to stand up to a Pentagon that has built itself to nearly invincible status with the trillions of dollars it has received over the years? No single person can stand up to a multi-trillion dollar institution even if they are the President, the Pentagon is arguably the single most powerful institution in the entire world and it is bigger than any President. The powers that be want us focusing on the President because they know damn well that no single person can take them down, if they can distract us by making us fight over that single person however then they can continue to operate in the background knowing that no matter who gets elected they will not be seriously challenged.

We could elect the most morally pure person in all of human history to be President and that President would still have to work under the system that was established long before they took office, when that system has become totally corrupt then even the most morally pure person will not be able to resist it because it is so much larger than any single human being.

If we really want to change the system we can not rely on the President, the people need to rise up and speak out collectively to say that we no longer support our money going to prop up this corrupt system. It will take grass roots activism, it will take protests, and it will take time, but we need to stand up and say that elections are not bringing about the change that is needed and we need citizen activism that will not merely replace faces but also bring about real and lasting change in the political system.

I have seen too many wars in my still young life, the system that has brought us all this death and destruction needs to finally be reined in.

[Warpy]

1. Reining in the Pentagon is going to be tough

We've already taken the first step, sequestering their bloated budget along with things that should never have been cut.

However, if it is not done, I don't fancy this country lasting for another generation. Threats to the rest of the world are usually dealt with eventually and our day is coming.

That war will be fought here. We can only hope our "enemies" are more humane than we have been.

[Amonester]

8. "We can only hope our "enemies" are more humane than we have been."

That's the problem: they aren't.

History of Wars will not change b/c we wish it would.

When wars start, nobody knows when and how they will end.

Nobody knows which one of the enemies involved will want to be seen as the most inhumane.

That's why the Pentagon will never be reigned in. It spends a little less now due to more reliance on high technology (drones, satellites, et al), and less reliance on personnel forces.

[Warpy]

10. Quibble

It's "REINED in," as in reins controlling a horse.

REIGN refers to governance by a king or queen.

You're not alone in making this mistake, it's common on DU.

[Amonester]

13. Apologies (English is not my natural language).

And thanks for the tip, I'll try to remember it (early stages of alzeimher here, I'm afraid).

[Warpy]

16. It's actually my second one

but I was very small when I switched.

It's a completely insane language, no?

[Amonester]

18. Yes, like all foreign ones, but it's easier than French (mine).

We have things that have a gender, to begin with, which does not exist in English.

Things can be female or male!!

And they can't be mixed.

[L0oniX]

2. Dontchathink we need to vote Goldman Sachs out of office first? n/t

[Amonester]

9. I do (and most of us here do), but who do you think would be called to vote

on this?

The corrupt elites?

Not.Gonna.Happen.

[DirkGently]

3. We've seen enough to conclude that one Democratic President isn't enough

... to change the culture of insane military spending and the corresponding warfare required to justify it.

The fact that Washington in general feel they can straight-facedly claim we must radically alter Social Security and dispense with infrastructure and healthcare reform (just reform) because we cannot afford them, while simultaneously spending more than the next 10 highest countries COMBINED on "defense" tells us most of what we need to know here.

[FiveGoodMen]

19. Depends on the definition of 'Democratic'

Because if Obama's a Democrat, then the word doesn't mean what most of us thought it meant.

[spanone]

4. k&r...

[bhikkhu]

5. Cutting the budget is a good first step

Which is even a little better than it looks here, as the base budget doesn't include the bush-years funding for the two wars. Speaking out in support of the continuing cuts is very good, and seeing some follow-through will likely depend on keeping the WH out of repug hands, and keeping control of the senate.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. It's interesting to note that when the Pentagon building was completed

during WW II, the purpose for the space after the war was thought to be used as file storage.

They thought the need for such a permanent "war building" would be superfluous as we were sure to bring an everlasting peace thruout the world.

What was missing from that grandiose and naive equation was the hunger of the materiel manufacturers for more.

I have a book at home on historic fighter aircraft. Among the statistics it provides for each model it features is the number of orders cancelled in 1945/46.

The figures are mind boggling. I don't have the book in front of me, but something like 10,000 B-29's and 15,000 P-51's were on order but cancelled in late 1945.

The magnitude of this country's war making capability in the forties was enormous.

Think of what it is today.

No company likes to see orders cancelled.

It pisses people off.

[TwilightGardener]

7. If you're referring to Syria...the Pentagon isn't driving the bus.

[indepat]

11. The nomination and confirmation of a Republican as Secretary of Defense in a Democratic

administration imo has virtually guaranteed business as usual at the Pentagon and the MIC. Had someone like General Wesley Clark been nominated and confirmed as Secretary of Defense, a move to reign in the Pentagon's-MIC's reins might have been attempted, but such nomination was clearly never in the cards cause: we gotta have someone strong on national defense and tough on communism and terra that only a Republican can be has been the mantra, the big lie drilled into our heads, i.e., no libral-assed, bleeding-heart socialist-leaning Democratic wussie could ever be strong enough on national defense and tough enough on communism and terra for that is something only any chicken-hawk chicken-shit neocon would be.

[DeSwiss]

12. K&R

[center][/center]

[awoke_in_2003]

15. The original Die Hard...

is one of my guilty indulgences

[SHRED]

14. The Pentagon doesn't answer to us

It answers to war-for-profit corporate powers.

[DLnyc]

17. "If we really want to change the system we can not rely on the President . . ."

Well said!

". . .the people need to rise up and speak out collectively . . ."

Even better!

". . .to say that we no longer support our money going to prop up this corrupt system."

The best!

[7wo7rees]

20. CHALMERS JOHNSON - American Empire

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, is the author of the bestselling books Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis, which make up his Blowback Trilogy

http://www.americanempireproject.com/aep/johnson/


Chalmers Johnson: "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic"

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/27/chalmers_johnson_nemesis_the_last_days

In his new book, CIA analyst, distinguished scholar, and best-selling author Chalmers Johnson argues that US military and economic overreach may actually lead to the nation’s collapse as a constitutional republic. It’s the last volume in his Blowback trilogy, following the best-selling "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire." In those two, Johnson argued American clandestine and military activity has led to un-intended, but direct disaster here in the United States. [includes rush transcript]

Chalmers Johnson is a retired professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego. He is also President of the Japan Policy Research Institute. Johnson has written for several publications including Los Angeles Times, the London Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, and The Nation. In 2005, he was featured prominently in the award-winning documentary film, "Why We Fight."

Chalmers Johnson joined me yesterday from San Diego. I began by asking him about the title of his book, "Nemesis."

Chalmers Johnson, Author, scholar and leading critic of US foreign policy. Retired professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego. He is also President of the Japan Policy Research Institute. His new book is "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic."

Go to the link above for the interview.

this is the end of empire, so sorry he is not still with us to help us find our way!

[woo me with science]

21. K&R