The Cataclysmic Iraq War in 6 Charts
The US invaded Iraq 20 years ago this spring. From killing hundreds of thousands of civilians to redistributing wealth to the rich and powerful, it was an unmitigated disaster. These charts show how.
19 Articles by: Stephen Semler
Stephen Semler is cofounder of Security Policy Reform Institute, a grassroots-funded US foreign policy think tank.
Over the Holidays, Congress Gave the Military an $860 Billion Budgetary Gift
At the end of last year, Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion budget bill that gives $1.1 trillion to the Pentagon, police, and prisons, including a whopping $860 billion for the military alone. So much for Build Back Better.
The Arms Industry Owns Congress
The new $850 billion military budget, which the House just approved and the Senate will take up soon, is a giveaway to the arms industry. Is it a coincidence that House supporters of the bill got seven times more money from military contractors than opponents?
The New US Military Budget Enriches Private Contractors at the Cost of Human Well-Being
Congress will soon vote on an $850 billion military budget that would lavish over $400 billion on private contractors. It would be a massive redistribution of wealth to for-profit hands — at the same time millions of workers are struggling to pay the bills.
How the Military-Industrial Complex Gets Its Power and Harms Workers, in 6 Graphs
The military-industrial complex generates death and destruction abroad while also harming workers at home: it funds politicians and think tanks, siphons off money from pro-worker programs, and turns the public coffers into a slush fund for war profiteering.
The Think Tanks Advising Congress on Military Spending Take Money From the Arms Industry
The Senate is considering increasing the Pentagon’s budget to $850 billion. Think tanks are key advisers to the Senate on such increases — and a look at those think tanks’ funding reveals they’re all getting money from weapons manufacturers.
On Military Spending, the Establishment’s Inflation Hawks Are Nowhere to Be Found
The House has approved an $850 billion military budget, twice as much as Biden’s stimulus checks cost. Yet somehow, we aren’t getting panicked screeds from corporate pundits about how a massive injection of federal spending is going to turbocharge inflation.
A New Bill Would Redirect $100 Billion from the Military Budget to Pro-Worker Programs
Every year the US military budget grows ever larger, sucking up resources that we could use to improve the lives of workers. A new bill seeks to do just that, immediately cutting $100 billion from the military budget and putting it in social programs.
The Ukraine Aid Bill Is a Massive Windfall for US Military Contractors
Joe Biden has signed a $40 billion aid bill to Ukraine. But the biggest beneficiary isn’t ordinary Ukrainians — it’s the US military contractors set to receive at least $17 billion in additional revenue.
Biden Proposes Massive Military Spending, to Private Contractors’ Delight
Joe Biden has requested more than $800 billion in military spending for the coming fiscal year. His spending plan won’t make the world safer, but it will probably funnel more than $400 billion in public money to private sector firms.
The Senate’s Ukraine Bill Will Flood the Country With US Arms
The only clear beneficiaries of the current proposal for military aid to Ukraine are US weapons manufacturers and the Pentagon — and both parties seem intent on passing it.
Joe Biden Has Been Very Good for the Military-Industrial Complex
Joe Biden signed a record-breaking defense budget even as his domestic agenda is languishing. We’re getting all of the Pentagon spending and anti-China saber-rattling — and none of the supposedly transformative social programs.
Stop Rubber-Stamping Exorbitant Defense Spending
The US government is set to spend twice as much on the military as on Joe Biden’s social spending programs over ten years. Instead of apologizing for social spending, Biden should stop rubber-stamping defense spending and start using it as leverage.
“Fiscal Conservatives” Have No Problem With Astronomical Military Spending
Conservatives in both parties are blocking the current infrastructure and reconciliation bills on account of the price tag. But the record shows they’ve never objected to sky-high defense budgets.
Congress Has a Chance to Roll Back the Flow of Military Weapons to Police Departments
The Pentagon’s 1033 program has allowed over $1.5 billion in military equipment to be given to local police departments. The House votes today on rolling 1033 back — but the Biden administration hasn’t lifted a finger to reduce the military weapons in cops’ hands.
You Can’t Be Against “Forever Wars” Without Cutting the Military Budget
These days, a lot of politicians say they’re against “forever wars” — and that’s a good thing. But the acid test for genuine opposition to the national security state is support for cutting the military budget.
Joe Biden Could Easily Recall the Billions in Military Equipment Police Received From the Pentagon
American police departments are armed to the teeth with military-grade weaponry like Humvees and assault rifles. Nothing is stopping President Biden from shutting down this military-to-police pipeline right away.
Cut the Military Budget and Give Us $2,000 Checks With the Money
Average Americans want to cut the military budget, but a constant stream of defense contractor cash to Congress makes such cuts unlikely. Perhaps the best way to argue against the continued expansion of the gargantuan budget for war: insist that we need that money for measures like $2,000 survival checks.
Congressional Democrats Are Raking in Huge Donations from War Profiteers
A look at the numbers reveals that congressional Democrats who voted for Trump’s defense budget last week accepted four times as much war industry cash in the House and six times as much in the Senate as those who voted against. To stop the war machine from sucking up resources that could be used on social programs, we need to confront those Democrats happy to rake in cash from war profiteers.