Sabbagh subrayó la necesidad de que la ONU adopte medidas urgentes para poner fin a las continuas violaciones israelíes contra el Golán sirio ocupado desde 1967, así como a los repetidos ataques israelíes contra la soberanía siria y sus agresiones contra infraestructuras e instalaciones vitales.
El viceministro de Asuntos Exteriores y Expatriados, Bassam Sabbagh, recibió hoy al Secretario General Adjunto de las Naciones Unidas para Operaciones de Mantenimiento de la Paz, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, acompañado por el General de División Nirmal Thapa, Comandante de la Fuerza de las Naciones Unidas de Observación de la Separación (FNUOS), y la delegación que lo acompaña.
Durante la reunión, se abordó el trabajo de la FNUOS en la zona de separación y las facilidades proporcionadas por el gobierno sirio para que esta fuerza cumpla su mandato de acuerdo con la resolución pertinente del Consejo de Seguridad.
Sabbagh subrayó la necesidad de que la ONU adopte medidas urgentes para poner fin a las continuas violaciones israelíes contra el Golán sirio ocupado desde 1967, así como a los repetidos ataques israelíes contra la soberanía siria y sus agresiones contra infraestructuras e instalaciones vitales.
Destacó la importancia de que los informes de la misión de mantenimiento de la paz incluyan un seguimiento preciso de estos ataques y violaciones.
Por su parte, Lacroix afirmó que su visita tiene como objetivo revisar el trabajo de la FNUOS, además de realizar reuniones con funcionarios sirios pertinentes.
Señaló los esfuerzos realizados por las Naciones Unidas para evitar cualquier escalada en la región, y expresó su agradecimiento y aprecio por las facilidades brindadas por el gobierno sirio para el trabajo de la FNUOS.
Dos cazas de combate F-16 estadounidenses sobrevolarán hoy Bosnia-Herzegovinapara advertir que EE.UU. no tolerará intentos de secesión en el Estado balcánico, comunicó este lunes la embajada de ese país en Sarajevo. «EE.UU. ha destacado que la Constitución de Bosnia-Herzegovina no prevé ningún derecho de secesión y actuará si alguien intenta cambiar este elemento básico de (el Acuerdo de paz de) Dayton», advirtió la embajada en un comunicado difundido en su página web.
La embajada destacó también que los ejercicios de los cazas forman parte de un entrenamiento bilateral con el Ejército bosnio y representa parte de la cooperación militar entre los dos países que contribuye a la paz y la seguridad en los Balcanes occidentales.»También demuestra el compromiso de los Estados Unidos de garantizar la integridad territorial de Bosnia-Herzegovina frente a la actividad secesionista y anti-Dayton», subrayó.
El 29 de diciembre Sudáfrica dio el paso de invocar la Convención sobre el Genocidio de 1948 por los bombardeos de Israel contra la población civil de Gaza, que han acabado con la vida de 22-000 palestinos. No es de extrañar porque Sudáfrica padeció el aparteheid contra la población negra durante décadas.
Ahora los ojos están puestos en el Tribunal Internacional de Justicia de La Haya, que es la máxima autoridad jurídica de la ONU y podría poner fin a la agresión israelí contra los palestinos. La audiencia está prevista para los días 11 y 12 de enero. En el plazo de una semana podría emitir una orden para que Israel cese todas las actividades que puedan constituir genocidio.
El artículo 1 de la Convención insta a todas las partes, que suman 153 países, a impedir que se cometa genocidio, una vez que se haya emitido la orden de cese de cualquier acción.
El crimen de genocidio se definió en 1948 a instancias de la URSS como “la intención de destruir, total o parcialmente, a un grupo nacional, étnico, racial o religioso”. La deportación y la limpieza étnica suelen seguir al genocidio.
El gobierno sionista de Netanyahu es la principal fuente de pruebas de la querella sudafricana. Sus ministros han dejado claro lo que quieren hacer con el pueblo de Gaza. Dicen que quieren deportarlos al Sinaí. La semana pasada también se filtró que Israel había mantenido conversaciones secretas con la República Democrática del Congo en un intento de encontrar un lugar de acogida para la población deportada de Gaza. Además, Israel continúa su campaña encaminada a lograr que Gaza quede inhabitable para los palestinos.
En Oriente Medio se preguntan por qué la querella no la han presentado los países árabes o musulmanes, que han quedado muy mal retratados. A la querella se han sumado Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comores, Yibouti y Jordania. No obstante, la causa palestina es tan importante para el mundo que desborda cualquier aspecto regional o confesional. Es la humanidad misma la que se tiene que mirar en el espejo.
Lo mismo que Palestina, Sudáfrica sufrió un apartheid consustancial al colonialismo que subyugó a los pueblos autóctonos. Hoy los palestinos están sometidos a las leyes militares israelíes en Cisjordania, mientras los colonos viven bajo sus propias leyes civiles. Este régimen legal dual, en el que las personas son diferenciadas y separadas según su origen, es la esencia misma de apartheid.
Una querella iniciada por Sudáfrica, que es un país predominantemente cristiano, no deja lugar a dudas sobre la naturaleza del litigio. Su naturaleza internacional es indiscutible y los criminales no son sólo los israelíes porque en todo el mundo se han escuchado llamamientos a la deportación. Por ejemplo, la antigua embajadora de Estados Unidos ante la ONU, Nikki Haley, ha pedido abiertamente que los palestinos sean expulsados y enviados a países “pro-Hamas”, lo cual es un llamamiento al genocidio, tan criminal como el genocidio mismo.
Los responsables del crimen de genocidio no son sólo los matarifes, sino también los que “ayudan e incitan” a cometerlo, lo que puede poner en dificultades a Estados Unidos, que ha enviado a Israel las armas con las que se está cometiendo la matanza y la está financiando.
Si la resolución es favorable, lo más probable que se intensifiquen los llamamientos a un alto el fuego. La presión sobre Estados Unidos aumentará, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que es un año electoral.
Se puede descargar una copia en inglés de la querella presentada por Sudáfrica pulsando en el siguiente enlace:
La defensa de Israel la va a asumir el abogado estadounidense Alan Dershowitz, profesor de la Universidad de Harvard. Quienes no lo conozcan, le pueden ver en la película “El misterio Von Bülow”, estrenada en 1990.
Dershowitz también fue el abogado de Jeffrey Epstein, organizador de una red pedófila para la alta sociedad internacional que actuaba por cuenta del Mosad.
El Ejército ruso atacó instalaciones del complejo militar-industrial ucraniano con el sistema de misiles hipersónicos Kinzhal, comunicó la Defensa de Rusia. Además, durante la última jornada, Ucrania perdió hasta 820 militares en la zona de la operación militar especial, agregaron.
“Las FFAA de Rusia asestaron golpes contra instalaciones del complejo militar-industrial ucraniano con armas de precisión de largo alcance desde el mar y el aire, incluido el sistema de misiles hipersónicos Kinzhal”, comunicó el Ministerio de Defensa ruso.
En las últimas 24 horas, las Tropas de Cohetes y Artillería rusas, así como los drones de ataque, alcanzaron el centro de reunión de los comandantes de las unidades de la 101.ª Brigada de Defensa Territorial ucraniana, al igual que a 113 unidades de artillería en posiciones de tiro, personal y equipo militar en 108 zonas. Por otro lado, la defensa antiaérea rusa interceptó cinco lanzacohetes múltiples HIMARS de fabricación estadounidense y destruyó 14 drones ucranianos.
La dirección de Kúpiansk y Krasni Limán
De acuerdo con el ente castrense, en la línea de operaciones de Kúpiansk, el grupo de fuerzas ruso Oeste, con apoyo de la aviación y la artillería, repelió nueve ataques de grupos de asalto de la 32.ª, 43.ª y 115.ª Brigadas Mecanizadas, la 25.ª Brigada Aerotransportada y la 95.ª Brigada de Asalto Aerotransportada ucranianas en las zonas de las localidades de Sinkovka e Ivánovka en la región de Járkov y de Terni en Donetsk.
Las pérdidas de Kiev ascendieron a 110 soldados, dos tanques, dos vehículos de combate de infantería, dos vehículos blindados de transporte de tropas, tres automóviles, así como dos obuses D-20 y dos unidades de artillería autopropulsada Gvozdika, señalaron desde el organismo.
En la dirección de Krasni Limán, el grupo de fuerzas ruso Centro, con apoyo de la aviación y la artillería, asestó un golpe contra las tropas y equipos ucranianos en las zonas de las localidades de Tórskoye y Yampol, en Donetsk, y de Chervona Dibrova, en Lugansk.
Las pérdidas de Kiev ascendieron a 230 soldados muertos y heridos, tres vehículos blindados de combate, ocho automóviles y dos unidades de artillería autopropulsada Akatsiya, agregaron desde el organismo.
La dirección de Donetsk y el sur de Donetsk
En la línea de Donetsk, el grupo de fuerzas ruso Sur, con apoyo de la artillería y la aviación, asestó un golpe contra los militares y los equipos de las 24.ª, 28.ª, 42.ª, 93.ª Brigadas Mecanizadas, la 92.ª Brigada de Asalto y también de la 112.ª Brigada de Defensa Territorial ucranianas en las zonas de las localidades de Toretsk, Andréyevka, Kleshchéyevka y Krásnoye.
Las tropas ucranianas perdieron más de 250 soldados muertos o heridos, dos tanques, tres vehículos blindados de combate, dos automóviles y dos obuses D-30, según el Ministerio.
Al mismo tiempo, en la línea de operaciones del sur de Donetsk, el grupo de fuerzas ruso Este, con apoyo de la aviación y la artillería, repelió tres ataques de la 127.ª Brigada de Defensa Territorial ucraniana al norte de la localidad de Priyútnoye. Además, el Ejército ruso asestó un golpe contra la 79.ª Brigada de Asalto Aéreo de Ucrania cerca de la localidad de Novomijáilovka.
Fueron eliminados hasta 130 soldados y dos vehículos blindados de combate, tres automóviles y una unidad de artillería autopropulsada de Gvozdika, señalaron desde el ministerio.
La dirección de Zaporozhie
En la línea de Zaporozhie las FFAA rusas, con apoyo de la aviación y la artillería, alcanzaron a la 118.ª Brigada Mecanizada y la 3.ª Brigada de la Guardía Nacional ucranianas en las zonas de Rabótino y Novoprokópovka.
Además, fueron abatidos hasta 40 soldados durante la semana y fueron eliminados un tanque, dos vehículos de combate de infantería, tres automóviles y un obús D-20.
La dirección de Jersón
En cuanto a la dirección de Jersón, el grupo de fuerzas ruso Dniéper asestó un golpe contra los efectivos y sus equipos de las 35.ª y 38.ª Brigadas de Infantería de Marina y de la 121.ª Brigada de Defensa Territorial ucranianas en la orilla derecha del río Dniéper, en las zonas de las localidades de Mijáilovka, Ivánovka, Sablukovka y Kachkárovka.
Kiev sufrió bajas de hasta 60 militares, fueron alcanzados un centro de control de drones y un depósito de municiones del Ejército ucraniano.
En total, desde el comienzo de la operación especial fueron destruidos 567 aviones militares ucranianos, 265 helicópteros, 10.540 drones, 447 sistemas de misiles antiaéreos, 14.536 tanques y otros vehículos blindados de combate. Igualmente, según el Ministerio de Defensa ruso, fueron eliminados 1.201 vehículos de sistemas de lanzacohetes múltiples, 7.666 cañones de artillería de campaña y morteros, así como 17.210 vehículos militares especiales.
Los resultados de la operación especial de las Fuerzas Antifascistas contra el brazo armado del capital financiero estadounidense, la OTAN. 447 sistemas de defensa aérea S-300, Buk-M1 y Osa 14536+30 tanques y otros blindados 7666+10 cañones de artillería de campaña y morteros 1201 lanzacohetes múltiples 567 aviones 265 helicópteros 10540+14 drones 17210+40 vehículos de … Sigue leyendoLa desmilitarización de la banda terrorista OTAN en Ucrania a fecha de hoy
Las fuerzas israelíes mataron a tres palestinos, incluida una niña de cuatro años, después de abrir fuego indiscriminado contra civiles en un puesto de control al noroeste de la ciudad ocupada de Al-Quds, en Cisjordania.
Testigos presenciales dijeron a los medios palestinos que las fuerzas israelíes abrieron fuego al azar contra personas después de que el domingo se produjera un incidente automovilístico, que según ellos fue un ataque de embestida, en el puesto de control militar de Beit Iksa.
Como resultado, la niña palestina, identificada como Ruqaya Ahmed Odeh Jahaleen, recibió un disparo junto con un palestino y su esposa.
Testigos presenciales dijeron a la agencia de noticias WAFA que las fuerzas israelíes dispararon contra dos vehículos que pasaban por el puesto de control y alcanzaron al hombre palestino que conducía su vehículo y estaba acompañado por su esposa. Además, la niña de cuatro años, que iba en otro coche, también murió por los disparos.
Unos minutos más tarde, fuentes locales confirmaron la muerte de la niña y la joven pareja, procedentes de la vecina localidad de Bidd.
Tras los asesinatos, las fuerzas israelíes cerraron completamente el puesto de control, impidiendo que las ambulancias palestinas trasladaran a las víctimas al hospital.
La ocupada Cisjordania se ha enfrentado a una creciente agresión israelí después de que el régimen iniciara su guerra genocida contra la asediada Franja de Gaza el 7 de octubre. Desde entonces, más de 332 palestinos han sido asesinados por tropas o colonos israelíes en toda Cisjordania, mientras que al menos 5.600 personas han sido detenidas y más de 3.000 heridas.
A su juicio, las autoridades deberían revelar el número de pérdidas para que los ucranianos se den cuenta de la gravedad de la situación en el frente y acepten alistarse en el Ejército.
Las tropas del régimen nazi-fascista de Kiev están sufriendo enormes pérdidas en el campo de batalla, que se cuentan por decenas de miles de efectivos al mes, declaró el pasado domingo el ex fiscal general de Ucrania, Yuri Lutsenko, en una entrevista.
Al hablar de un proyecto de ley sobre la actualización de las normas de movilización en Ucrania, Lutsenko instó al presidente Vladímir Zelenski, al comandante en jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas, Valeri Zaluzhny, y al ministro de Defensa, Rustem Umérov, que revelaran las cifras reales de pérdidas para que los ucranianos se dieran cuenta de la gravedad de la situación en el frente y aceptaran alistarse en las filas del Ejército.
Según sus palabras, aunque las autoridades “no quieren” hacerlo, “no hay otra manera de sacar de la zona de confort a millones de los que se esconden detrás de diversas fábulas de que todo el mundo, todos excepto yo, puede servir”.
“Tenemos que ser honestos: 500.000, de los que se habla ahora, si lo dividimos en meses, son 30.000 al mes. Y entonces entenderemos más o menos lo que está pasando en el frente. Son muertos y gravemente heridos. Tenemos que decir la verdad a la gente, estoy seguro de que los ucranianos merecen saber la verdad”, subrayó.
Anteriormente, el 19 de diciembre, el ministro de Defensa ruso, Serguéi Shoigú, informó que las tropas de Kiev sufren enormes pérdidas en el conflicto, pese al apoyo militar y financiero proporcionado por los países occidentales. Evaluó en 383.000 las bajas ucranianas, entre muertos y heridos, desde el comienzo de la operación especial rusa en febrero del 2022.
Allowing war while trying to prevent it from becoming bigger is akin to the rhythm method of contraception: it doesn’t always work. From Ted Snider at antiwar.com:
In both Gaza and Ukraine, the United States has followed a policy of allowing a war to continue – in the former case through its Security Council veto and in the latter by blocking negotiations – while attempting to limit a widening war. In Gaza, attempts to prevent a wider war have focused first on Lebanon and the potential to spread still wider from there; in Ukraine attempts to prevent a wider war have focused on calibrating Ukraine’s ability to strike deeper into Russian territory and preventing a Russian response that would draw the United States and NATO into a wider world war.
That balancing strategy of allowing war while preventing widening war is now at risk in both theaters.
In the Middle East, while the focus was on Lebanon, a perhaps surprising threat came from Yemen as Houthi fighters attacked and boarded commercial naval vessels bound to or from Israeli ports with cargo. The U.S. opted for a military solution, forming a naval coalition with a small number of countries to protect Red Sea traffic from Houthi attacks. As the attacks continued, and even escalated, the U.S. and thirteen likeminded countries issued a joint statement warning the Houthi against further attacks.
The joint statement asserted that there is no justification for targeting and killing civilians nor for blocking the flow of goods. It called for an immediate end of the illegal attacks and warned the Houthi that they “will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.” The joint statement anchored its legitimacy in a commitment “to the international rules-based order.”
A container ship carrying uranium ore was allowed to dock at Fremantle on Thursday, but was forced to wait for several hours whilst officials checked it was safe for it to berth.
The Maritime Union of Australia said wharfies expressed safety concerns when they became aware of the radioactive cargo.
”They’ve never had that cargo on board that anyone can remember so there was some push back from the workforce, to make sure all the safety requirements were in place,” union organiser Daniel Piccoli told The Sunday Times.
The vessel APL Mexico City was eventually allowed in on Thursday morning and the ship was due to sail on Sunday night.
The uranium stayed in 18 containers on the ship, which had left Adelaide on December 30.
Fremantle Port Authority said that while the cargo was prohibited from being handled, it was permitted for transit through the Port…………………………
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Fremantle was a nuclear free zone under a long-time City of Fremantle policy.
According to the policy, “Council would object to uranium, nuclear waste or other material connected with the nuclear power industry being stored or transported in or through the municipality.“
Fremantle Greens MLC and former mayor Brad Pettitt said the transit was unusual, but it raised questions about whether the port workers were adequately informed about the dangerous cargo and were all the safety protocols adhered to.
He said protocols should be transparent as well as strong……….
The post-9/11 war funding pattern was completely different. For the first time since the American Revolutionary War, war costs were covered almost entirely by debt. There were no wartime tax increases or cuts in spending. Quite the reverse
a “culture of endless money” inside the Pentagon.
the ability to keep borrowing and spending with minimal oversight allowed the United States to keep fighting indefinitely.
Prior to 2001, U.S. wars were financed through a mixture of higher taxes and budget cuts, and funded mostly through the regular defense budget. The post-9/11 war funding pattern was completely different.
The post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were enabled by a historically unprecedented combination of budgetary procedures and financing methods. Unlike all previous U.S. wars, the post-9/11 wars were funded without higher taxes or non-war budget cuts, and through a separate budget. This set of circumstances – one that I have termed the “Ghost Budget” – enabled successive administrations to prosecute the wars with limited congressional oversight and minimal transparency and public debate. I adopted the name “Ghost Budget” because the term “ghost” appeared frequently in post-9/11 government reports in reference to funds allocated to people, places, or projects that turned out to be phantoms.
The Ghost Budget was the result of an interplay between changes in the U.S. budgetary process, a more assertive military establishment, and the conditions in global capital markets. It has had far-reaching implications for the conduct and course of the post-9/11 wars and for defense policy today.
Funding the Post-9/11 Wars
The “Ghost Budget” was the biggest budgetary anomaly in U.S. history. Prior to 9/11, U.S. wars were financed through a mixture of higher taxes and budget cuts, and funded mostly through the regular defense budget. One third of the costs of World War I and half the costs of World War II were met through higher taxes. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt described paying taxes as a “patriotic duty” as he raised taxes on business, imposed a “wealth tax,” raised inheritance taxes, and expanded the number of income taxpayers to roughly 80 percent of the workforce by 1945. Wars in Korea and Vietnam largely followed a similar pattern, with President Harry Truman pledging to make the country “pay as you go” for the Korean War. War funding was also a central issue in the Vietnam War, which ended when Congress refused to appropriate money for the South Vietnamese military.
The post-9/11 war funding pattern was completely different. For the first time since the American Revolutionary War, war costs were covered almost entirely by debt. There were no wartime tax increases or cuts in spending. Quite the reverse: far from demanding sacrifices, President George W. Bush slashed federal taxes in 2001 and again in 2003, just as the United States invaded Iraq. President Donald Trump reduced taxes further in 2017. Overall, federal taxes declined from 18.8 percent of GDP in 2001 to 16.2 percent by the start of 2020. In the same period, outstanding federal debt held by the public rose from $3.5 trillion to $20 trillion. War spending contributed at least $2.2 trillion to this increase.
Not only was the financing strategy unprecedented, but the budgetary mechanism used to approve the vast post-9/11 wartime spending also diverged radically from the past. In all previous conflicts, the United States paid for wars as part of its regular defense appropriations (the defense “base budget”), after the initial period (1-2 years) of supplemental “emergency” funding bills. By contrast, for the entire decade from FY 2001 to FY 2011, Congress paid for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as “emergencies,” devoid of serious legislative or executive oversight.
By statute, emergency spending is defined as “unanticipated…sudden…urgent…unforeseen…and temporary” and is typically reserved for one-off crises such as floods and hurricanes. Such emergency spending measures are exempt from regular procedural rules in Congress because the intent is to disburse money quickly in situations where delay would be harmful.
Congress continued to enact “emergency supplemental” funding even as the war effort expanded. The United States sent 130,000 military personnel into Iraq in 2003 (alongside troops from more than 30 countries). By 2009, there were 187,200 U.S. “boots on the ground” in Iraq and Afghanistan, supported by a similar number of military contractors, with nearly 500 U.S. military bases set up across Iraq, but the conflict was still being paid for as an “emergency.” In FY 2012, President Obama renamed the “Global War on Terror” as “Overseas Contingency Operations” (OCO) but the war continued to be funded using money that – although not designated as “emergency” – was explicitly exempted from regular spending limits on other government spending programs.
How We Got Here
There were three primary drivers of the Ghost Budget: unusual economic conditions, congressional budget dysfunction, and military assertiveness.
Economic Conditions: Unlike earlier wars, the post 9/11 conflicts took place in an era of free-flowing international capital markets. That provided the U.S. Treasury with access to a deep and global pool of capital, making it easy to borrow large amounts without negatively affecting the cost. It was also a period of historically low interest rates. Real interest rates (nominal rate minus inflation) on 10-year Treasury bonds fell from 3.4% at the start of 2001 to negative (-0.4%) by early 2021 — a 40-year low. Consequently, the Treasury was able to borrow trillions of dollars to pay for the wars, and simultaneously finance the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 without having any material effect on the amount of debt service being repaid through the annual budget. By FY 2017, total public debt had more than tripled, but debt service payments as a percentage of annual budget outlays had decreased to 6.6 percent, compared to 8.5 percent of federal budget outlays in FY 2002. In terms of cash outlays, this meant that the United States paid only slightly more in interest payments in FY 2017 than it had in FY 2002 ($268 billion versus $232 billion in 2018 dollars). Borrowing seemed virtually painless.
Budget Dysfunction: For several decades, the federal budget process has become increasingly dysfunctional. This breakdown may be traced to the post-Watergate budget reforms enacted in 1974, which shifted power away from the President and to the Congress. Most budget experts from both parties agree that the reforms made the budget process weaker, less predictable, less capable of reconciling competing demands, and more prone to fiscal crises. Prior to 1974, the federal government had never ceased operations for lack of funding. Since then, it has “shut down” 22 times, completely or partially. There have been only four years in which Congress passed its annual appropriations bills on time, and a series of near-defaults and other fiscal crises. In the absence of reliable budgets, Congress has enacted hundreds of short-term stopgap “continuing resolutions” to pay the bills. In this context, it was convenient for all the stakeholders to fund the wars as an “emergency” outside the regular process. The President was able to exclude war funding from his annual defense budget request to Congress, thus presenting an artificially low number for the federal budget deficit. This helped the Bush administration sustain the pretense that the wars would be short, while pursuing its political agenda of cutting taxes. Meanwhile, Congress was freed from the need to find politically painful spending cuts elsewhere to pay for the war, and the Pentagon was able to prosecute the wars without worrying about whether Congress would pass the defense appropriations bills on time.
Military Assertiveness: In 2001, the Pentagon was actively seeking to increase its budget after a decade of post-cold war budget cuts. The Afghanistan and Iraq conflict not only reversed the downward trend in military spending, but opened the floodgates to a spending bonanza due to the nature of emergency and OCO appropriations. Unlike the regular defense base budget, the wartime supplemental money was easier to secure, had few restrictions on how it could be spent, and avoided the lengthy internal Planning, Programming, Budgeting & Execution Process (PPBE) budget justification process. Consequently, the Defense Department was able to shift war funding into other categories to obtain items on its long-time “wish list” that were only tangentially (or not at all) related to the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates termed this a “culture of endless money” inside the Pentagon.
By 2009, war spending accounted for almost one quarter of the total military budget; the Pentagon budget had grown to its highest level since the Second World War, and military spending had rebounded from 2.9% of GDP in FY 2001 to above 4% of GDP, where it remained through FY 2019. The OCO budget had evolved into a second defense budget that was largely untethered from the wars, and protected the military from congressional budget volatility.
Implications for Perpetual War
The Ghost Budget provided the ability to keep borrowing and spending in an almost unconstrained manner for more than two decades. The absence of new taxes insulated the public from the mounting cost of the wars and broke the expectation that wars would inevitably involve higher taxes. The OCO budget extended far beyond the immediate operational needs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, perpetuating military actions throughout the region. As Immanuel Kant predicted in Perpetual Peace (1795), the ability to keep borrowing and spending with minimal oversight allowed the United States to keep fighting indefinitely.
Implications for Perpetual War
The Ghost Budget provided the ability to keep borrowing and spending in an almost unconstrained manner for more than two decades. The absence of new taxes insulated the public from the mounting cost of the wars and broke the expectation that wars would inevitably involve higher taxes. The OCO budget extended far beyond the immediate operational needs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, perpetuating military actions throughout the region. As Immanuel Kant predicted in Perpetual Peace (1795), the ability to keep borrowing and spending with minimal oversight allowed the United States to keep fighting indefinitely.
The legacy of the Ghost Budget is that money is no longer a serious deterrent to war. To date, 99% of US assistance to Ukraine has been funded by supplemental emergency funds – which means that this spending is in addition to the $840 billion regular defense budget. The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve another $106 billion in emergency funding for the Middle East, Ukraine, and other regions. Regardless of the merits of any particular endeavor, the use of Ghost Budgets makes it far easier to prolong the fighting at any cost.
We’ve seen an amazing level of bipartisan support!” For what initiative do we hear this rare statement echoed about Congress today?
The 15th Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, held once again at the Hyatt Regency in Arlington, Va., Feb. 13–15. For three days the rooms are filled with a multitude of companies and government agencies from around the country connected to the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and National Nuclear Security Administration that make up our nuclear weapons industry, and its terribly secretive renewed Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) race.
What is termed the “Enterprise” is in full-out sales and confidence-building mode. It is here the relationships for securing contracts through the next 5 to 35 years are solidified.
One aged reporter who once covered the industry in the 1980s confides his shock after a dizzying day of presentations: “How did you know these gatherings were going on? I just found out last week! Can’t believe this, I mean, this is a new unbridled arms race! These people in there are totally convinced this is the only way to go.” Looking at only two of us with our sign, he asks, “Why aren’t more people in the streets? Where is the movement pushing back?”………………………………………………………………….
Attendees were a bit puzzled that I wasn’t with a company connected to the summit, but I continued to share my purpose, seeing that we desperately need their dedication and skillset to begin turning toward the critical needs before us today: sustainability, good jobs supporting our environment, food, water, air, housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure … you know the issue. Some were relieved that I was all for science and space exploration, but first, for the precious earth!
…………………………………………………… Most exhibitors were too young to remember that the vast majority of citizens had voted with their feet to end this madness, and that there was no transparency or democratic process in the decision to use our treasure to fund it all.
Inevitably the confounding old Cold War rhetoric arose, painting China and Russia as vile enemies that we can not trust to honor any agreements. ……………………..
Naturally, I’d let them know we had a most worthy instrument, The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, now international law, to help guide this needed transformation, despite its being dismissed by our mainstream media. Only a few had heard of it, and of those, few knew particulars.
Laser beamed on their one aspect of the industry, several with competitors present vying for the same contract, many met in the dozens of closed-door side rooms for private company presentations/briefings. There were open “networking breakfasts” lunches and evening cocktail parties and several daily general gatherings in the large Hyatt Ballroom focused on the latest in pit production, delivery platforms, command-and-control infrastructure and communications, warhead modernization, STRATCOM reports, reports from the heads of all our labs, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Sandia, etc. Presentations on increasing efficiency in product and organization, best practices, and cited pathways to “success.” After all, we are leading and “winning.” Exactly what we think we are winning made no sense to anyone on the nuclear abolition team.
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There were exhibitors displaying highly specialized metal nose cones and delivery vehicle parts. Designers of fabrics that claim to protect from radioactivity, cybersecurity “experts,” nuclear waste management specialists, triad infrastructure architects, specialists in improving uranium refining, nuclear physicists and engineers specializing in all materials and their “enhanced delivery” of precision warhead targeting and interception by “safety” umbrellas, inter-agency communication specialists, and those through it all maintaining secure communications. My presence seemed harmless enough to this security. I think of all our very brave colleagues who’ve risked life to enter the kill zones of these most highly sealed-off omnicidal compounds to render witness of the crime against humanity.
Amazon, a “Gold Sponsor” of the summit, had an exhibit: “We have established good relations with the CIA, but we need to get better integrated with the NNSA. This is new to us. That’s why we’re here.”
In this very clearly white male-oriented world, there was also a presentation on the essential hiring of more “diversity” for the future. One enticing statement read they “offer specialized worth to employees by valuing their entire career life cycle–creating stable careers…” Ah, such security………..
The revolving door is astoundingly evident here, and the boundaries of government, military, with private companies is quite indistinguishable. Those with Navy, Air Force, and other triad experience are now running these private companies or working as their specialized “experts in technical and professional innovation. support and security.” One “private” company proudly advertising that 70% of “our expertise” hold all the necessary security clearances within the government!
…………………………….. Former General Lloyd Austin, who retired to become Raytheon’s CEO, was easily confirmed by our Congress to become our current Secretary of Defense under President Biden. In his hearings, General/CEO Austin guaranteed to our representatives that the Triad would get his full support to obtain all that it needed. What seems illegal goes unchallenged.
Along with the DOE, National Security Administration, and Budget Office, the regular old nuclear weapon corps were very present: General Dynamics, Huntington Ingalls, Bechtel, Flour, Honeywell, Aerospace, SAIC, etc., and a number of universities……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Within 25 minutes we were surrounded by hotel security and managers asking us to leave the premises immediately. They then claimed even the sidewalks outside the hotel were private and we could not remain there………………………………………………………..
Ask your representative to sign H. Res. 77, sponsored by Rep. James McGovern, supporting the goals of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons! Ask your senator to call for the same in the Senate. Thank all the nations ratifying the TPNW. Ask your representative to observe the Ban Treaty’s Meeting of States this November in New York City at the United Nations. They are welcome to learn, and think deeper.
Knowing the horror of war was pushing ahead and with it an increasing, completely unnecessary risk of nuclear annihilation, there was ever-present sense of unity with the citizens of the world who are pleading and advocating another way. There were many thumbs up and waves from passing vehicles. Thinking of those who have young children/grandchildren, including a good number I got to speak with on this Summit floor, we felt there was nowhere else to be on this day celebrating the love in our hearts and in our lives, round the world, Valentine’s Day.
Der Friedensstifter 