The War Dividend
Then there's the sheer size of this appropriation. The Orwellian-named "defense budget" was already larger than that of the next 10 countries combined -- three times China's and 11times Russia's, according to estimates. And that's not counting the intelligence budget. Or Homeland Security's. Or the cost of the Department of Energy's work on nuclear weapons.
In 1991, as the Cold War was ending, the budget was $280 million, which is $527 billion in 2021 dollars. The House Armed Services Committee just unanimously approved a budget of more than $740 billion. That doesn't include the "Overseas Contingency Operations" budget that funds the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which the Defense Department is requesting $69 billion. When this cost is added to the NDAA budget, the total is approximately $810 billion -- an increase of more than 50 percent over the country's defense spending in 1991, at the close of the Cold War.
Where's that "peace dividend" we were promised?
Speaking of peace: This figure is more than 14 times larger than the "international budget" line item for diplomacy. And yet, the Trump Administration is proposing to cut its international budget request by nearly $12 billion, from $55.8 billion in fiscal year 2021 to $43.9 billion in FY 2021.
The War on Logic
There is simply no logic to it -- other than the inexorable logic of war profiteering and global control. Even if you believe intelligence reports about election hacking and bounties on US troops, neither of those activities will be stopped by high-cost items like the F-35 fighter or the Navy's billion-dollar. This bill was approved by a vote of 56-0, so it is highly likely to pass.
A few representatives fought for common-sense ideas. Rep. Escobar introduced her Insurrection Act amendment. Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) fought the Gallego amendment on troops in Germany.
And there was one piece of good news: the Committee adopted an amendment from Khanna to end logistical support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen. The Saudi assault on that country has created a humanitarian catastrophe, one Congress should have prevented.
But Congress seems to approach military interventions as if it were building mousetraps. It makes it easy to get into them, but almost impossible to get out.
Note.
1) Even that may not be true. The bill gives the military three years to change those names, so Trump could conceivably use the military à ??
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