(April 14, 2023)
Peo0le with clearance and access to „Top Secret“ U.S.federal government information, by employee type
Government 605.579
Contractor 472.576
Other 173.803
Total 1.251.958
As of Oct.1, 2019
Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence via Federation of American Scientists
(July 20, 2010)
The Post investigation uncovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America created since 9/11 that is hidden from public view, lacking in thorough oversight and so unwieldy that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.
It is also a system in which contractors are playing an ever more important role. The Post estimates that out of 854,000 people with top-secret clearances, 265,000 are contractors. There is no better example of the government‘s dependency on them than at the CIA, the one place in government that exists to do things overseas that no other U.S. agency is allowed to do.
(…)
Contractors kill enemy fighters. They spy on foreign governments and eavesdrop on terrorist networks. They help craft war plans. They gather information on local factions in war zones. They are the historians, the architects, the recruiters in the nation‘s most secretive agencies. They staff watch centers across the Washington area. They are among the most trusted advisers to the four-star generals leading the nation‘s wars.
First, history has shown that governments and bureaucracies tend to become addicted to a war footing, with failure sucking them in further — think of America’s war on terror, or Vietnam. War encourages a perverse cycle of escalation in which huge financial and political gains accrue for governments and the military-industrial complex while the costs tend to be borne by weaker parties — before they start to come home in some shape or form.
We’ve called this bipartisan pattern “wreckonomics” and have found it especially present in wars or conflicts with costs that Western politicians can largely outsource — from fighting terrorism, drugs and smugglers to quasi-colonial interventions during the Cold War.
Those young demonstrators had come of age seeing continual — and effective — protests during the civil rights movement and national mourning after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A year earlier King staked out his opposition to the war, saying that while he wasn’t attempting “to make North Vietnam or the National Liberation Front paragons of virtue,” he wanted to underscore his belief “that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money, like some demonic, destructive suction tube.” He said he was “compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and attack it as such.”
Congress had been up against a Friday deadline after authority for Section 702 was extended through that date as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
After its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse.
The legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support would extend for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
(02.04.2024)
With the onslaught of new wars, Congress added $70 billion over the last two years to an already bloated Pentagon budget, much of which is funneled directly into the coffers of defense contractors like Palatir, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. The stock values in these companies have since experienced double-digit growth – a lucrative business opportunity not overlooked by lawmakers calling the shots.
At least 25 members of Congress sitting on national security committees have simultaneously purchased stock in these very same companies. The majority of these members sit on the Senate and House Armed Services committees, the entities responsible for overseeing the Defense Department budget and contracts.
Western media reports claiming that Russia could place nuclear weapons in space are nothing more than a ploy by the White House to convince US lawmakers to approve further military aid to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Citing sources, several US media outlets reported this week that American intelligence had obtained information on purported Russian plans to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space, although the idea supposedly remains at the developmental stage.
What‘s everything in Genocide Joe‘s latest request?
First, it‘s important to note the disputes on this. House Republicans want a bill just for Israel, while Democrats say they need it packaged with the other wars (with Russia and China). Both parties agree they want more war.
So, what‘s in Biden‘s request?
To start, $14.3 BILLION for the genocide in Gaza…
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) expressed hesitancy about whether and when it was worth it to pass a funding measure at this point in time. “Why are we talking about Ukraine supplemental when we can’t figure out how to fund our own operation of government to do what it‘s supposed to do?” he asked during a press gaggle on Monday morning.
“I want to see what claim there is for actual success in Ukraine,“ he added. „And I want to know how every dollar that $113 billion is going to be spent. Come present that to me as a member of Congress, and then talk to me about” what future funding should look like.
(August 9, 2023)
This month, as House and Senate conferees begin to iron out differences between the two chambers on a nearly $900 billion Pentagon spending bill for next fiscal year, both the House and Senate armed services committees want to place a new generation of nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles (known as SLCM-Ns) back on Navy vessels. That would be a mistake.
“It’s time to say ‘enough.’ Year after year, we spend more and more on our national defense – it’s too much with too little accountability. We have troops on food stamps while at the same time, price-gouging defense contractors are getting richer by the day.
At stake is an $886 billion bill that would grant a 5.2 percent raise to military personnel, include programs to counter aggressive moves by China and Russia, and establish a special inspector general to oversee U.S. aid to Ukraine.
(2 Jul 2023)
Israel will buy its third fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets in a deal worth $3bn that will be financed through US military aid, according to the Israeli military.
Israel’s Ministry of Defence approved the purchase on Sunday, with the additional 25 aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin to bring the number of F-35 jets in Israel’s air force to 75.
Mr. Haass recently published a book called “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens,” outlining ways Americans can help heal their own society, like “Be Informed,” “Remain Civil,” “Put Country First” — all admittedly bromides and yet somehow often elusive these days. (…)
Putting his foreign policy hat aside for now, he said he wants to expand the message from his book and help refocus the country on the core values embodied in the Declaration of Independence as the 250th anniversary of the document approaches three years from now.
America is a stratocracy, a form of government dominated by the military. It is axiomatic among the two ruling parties that there must be a constant preparation for war. The war machine’s massive budgets are sacrosanct. Its billions of dollars in waste and fraud are ignored. Its military fiascos in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East have disappeared into the vast cavern of historical amnesia. This amnesia, which means there is never accountability, licenses the war machine to economically disembowel the country and drive the Empire into one self-defeating conflict after another. The militarists win every election. They cannot lose. It is impossible to vote against them. The war state is a Götterdämmerung, as Dwight Macdonald writes, “without the gods.”
Since the Space Force’s inception three years ago, there’s been some tension between the newest military service and spy satellite agencies over who’s responsible for acquiring satellite imagery and ISR products and providing actionable information to military commanders.
After 30 years of shrinking military budgets, air power had become a vulnerability for NATO, but that began changing after the Russian invasion. NATO increased its air patrols along the Russian border and based allied troops and aircraft in four more NATO countries.
In addition, some NATO states are trying to bolster Ukraine’s air power — for the current conflict and to deter Russia in the future — with the United States recently agreeing to let Ukrainian pilots train on American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Few Americans know what a think tank is or does, although they play a pivotal role in the U.S. political process.2 Think tanks operate as something of a conduit between academia and the policymaking community, conducting research and opining on pressing policy issues, including everything from healthcare to climate change to U.S. foreign policy. Think tanks also work directly with policymakers in the executive branch and Congress. Their experts regularly testify before Congress and go on to serve in key positions in the executive branch. Former government officials in turn often go on to work for think tanks, earning them the nickname of “holding tank” where former government officials await a change in party affiliation of Congress or the Presidency.
Of most direct relevance to this brief is the fact that think tanks are a go–to source for media outlets seeking opinions on pressing policy issues. Think tank experts provide the comments and articles you read in prominent national media outlets . They’re the voices you hear providing commentary on NPR, podcasts, and even local radio stations. They’re the faces you see on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC opining on the most pressing U.S. policy issues of the day. In short, think tanks are a key component of public debates about U.S. politics and policy.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition is building a new military base in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa, The New Arab reported, citing a source close to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The US backs the SDF and keeps about 900 troops (officially at least) in eastern Syria, allowing the US to control about one-third of Syria’s territory. The report said there are currently about 24 US-led military sites spread throughout eastern Syria.
(24 May, 2023)
There are currently at least 24 US-led coalition military sites spread throughout Syria’s northeast.
The US says its military is stationed in the country to fight against the remnants of IS.
Imagine how we could rebuild our nation if we brought even half that amount home. Let‘s take care of those left behind. Let‘s fix our infrastructure. Let‘s clean up our environment. Let‘s make our nation strong and prosperous again! #Kennedy24
(April 20, 2023)
This free world knows, out of the bitter wisdom of experience, that vigilance and sacrifice are the price of liberty.
It knows that the defense of Western Europe imperatively demands the unity of purpose and action made possible by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, embracing a European Defense Community.
It knows that Western Germany deserves to be a free and equal partner in this community and that this, for Germany, is the only safe way to full, final unity.
It knows that aggression in Korea and in southeast Asia are threats to the whole free community to be met by united action.
(…)
We are ready not only to press forward with the present plans for closer unity of the nations of Western Europe but also, upon that foundation, to strive to foster a broader European community, conducive to the free movement of persons, of trade, and of ideas.
This community would include a free and united Germany, with a government based upon free and secret elections.
This free community and the full independence of the East European nations could mean the end of the present unnatural division of Europe.
(…)
Again we say: the hunger for peace is too great, the hour in history too late, for any government to mock men’s hopes with mere words and promises and gestures.
The test of truth is simple. There can be no persuasion but by deeds.
(…)
The test is clear.
There is, before all peoples, a precious chance to turn the black tide of events. If we failed to strive to seize this chance, the judgment of future ages would be harsh and just.
If we strive but fail and the world remains armed against itself, it at least need be divided no longer in its clear knowledge of who has condemned humankind to this fate.
(April 19, 2023)
Eisenhower made these comparisons in the early years of the Cold War, shortly after the death of Joseph Stalin. As he told his speechwriter at the time, he was “tired…of just plain indictments of the Soviet regime.… [J]ust one thing matters. What have we got to offer the world?” He was looking for a positive alternative to what he described as the “dread road” the world was then on, which in his view could only lead to one of two outcomes: atomic war or immiseration tied to perpetual military buildups. He described the outcome of continuing with the status quo as “not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
(December 06, 2022)
And of course, it wouldn’t be a defense-related topic in 2022 without a focus on China. “The language extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) through fiscal year 2023, identifies approximately $11.5 billion of investments in support of PDI objectives, and authorizes approximately an additional $1 billion to address unfunded requirements identified by the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).” It also includes potentially interesting language requiring “the establishment of a joint force headquarters within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.”
(May 2, 2022)
President Biden has requested a massive $813 billion military budget for the 2023 fiscal year, but it isn’t enough for Congress. Lawmakers have been combing the budget to find ways to increase the spending, and one area of concern is the Pentagon’s budget request for US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).
(December 15, 2022)
The NDAA would extend and modify the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, as well as authorize $800 million in funding in fiscal year 2023, which is $500 million more than was contained in last year’s defense bill.
The program provides funding for the federal government to pay industry to produce weapons and security assistance to send to Ukraine, rather than drawing directly from current US stockpiles of weapons.
In recent days, German officials have indicated they won‘t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv — something the Pentagon has said for months it has no intention of doing given the logistical costs of maintaining them.
(29 Dec 2022)
(October 11, 2022)
Initially enacted as a provisional authority in 2004 and subsequently codified in 2016, § 127e allows U.S. forces to “provide support” to foreign militaries, paramilitaries, and private individuals that are “supporting” U.S. counterterrorism operations.
The kinds of support that U.S. forces may give and receive are not defined in § 127e. But the Department of Defense sought § 127e from Congress so that U.S. forces would have the ability to recruit, train, equip, and pay the salaries of foreign militaries, paramilitaries, and private individuals that would assist the United States in combating terrorism. According to Maj. Gen. J. Marcus Hicks, the former head of Special Operations Command Africa, putting these partners on payroll would give U.S. forces “full incentive authority” over them and enable U.S. forces to “command and control” them on missions.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is expanding the military budget enormously. Pentagon spending is set to hit levels not seen since the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Both chambers of Congress have passed the bill, and it will now head to President Biden‘s desk.
The bill passed by a vote of 83-11, with 60 votes needed for approval.
(29 Nov 2022)
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), introduced the legislation in February in response to media reports and subcommittee hearings on social media companies‘ practices that the lawmakers say put kids at risk.
„Big Tech has brazenly failed children and betrayed its trust, putting profits above safety,“ Blumenthal said at the time. „The Kids Online Safety Act would finally give kids and their parents the tools and safeguards they need to protect against toxic content — and hold Big Tech accountable for deeply dangerous algorithms.“
(November 17, 2022)
Over the past week, I’ve been hearing about a major push by activists and lawmakers to include the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) in the year-end “must pass” omnibus law. Earlier this week, one of the primary parents pushing the bill walked on Jake Tapper’s show on CNN and stumbled for it. And Axios’ recent report confirms that lawmakers are trying to put it on the Lameduck omnibus, or possibly the NDAA (although it has absolutely nothing to do with defense spending).
(December 10, 2019)
Section 1631(b) expressly affirms that the Defense Department can conduct “military operations” in the information environment, “including clandestine operations,” for certain purposes. I’ll have more to say about that reference to “clandestine” below. First, let’s note the broad list of purposes.
The military’s role comes into play in three scenarios. First, defense of the United States itself. Second, defense of allies. Third, defense of the “interests” of the United States. The statute notably does not clarify what nature or degree of threats to these objects count, and so the invitation can only be described as quite broad.
(September 19, 2022)
The measure, known as Section 1631, allows the military to carry out clandestine psychological operations without crossing what the CIA has claimed as its covert authority, alleviating some of the friction that had hindered such operations previously.
“Combatant commanders got really excited,” recalled the first defense official. “They were very eager to utilize these new authorities. The defense contractors were equally eager to land lucrative classified contracts to enable clandestine influence operations.”
(20.09.2022)
Under both 127e and 1202, the use of proxy forces must support “authorized” U.S. military operations. The Defense Department has cited two sources of authority for engaging in combat through and with 127e proxies: the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF—the authority for the United States’s endless “war on terror”—and the president’s constitutional prerogative to engage in “self-defense,” defined expansively by executive branch lawyers.
The Defense Department could cite similar authorities for the use of 1202 proxies. Although no AUMF was designed to counter Iran, North Korea, Russia, or China, the executive branch believes it has the authority to engage these countries militarily.