It isn’t simply the White Home’s present arms-for-peace deal that contradicts Trump’s new declare that he’s the white knight candidate who will lastly put a damper on the military-industrial complicated. Lower than six months after taking workplace, Trump signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia—the principle perpetrator of the battle in Yemen—for $110 billion in instant U.S. weapons gross sales and $350 billion in gross sales over the next 10 years. On April 16, 2019, Trump used his veto energy to quash a bipartisan Congressional decision that will have principally ended American army involvement within the battle in Yemen—a battle that has killed 1000’s of civilians, created the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet, and helped firms like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin enhance their already huge piles of wealth. Not solely did Trump proceed U.S. involvement within the battle in Yemen, however the next month, in Could 2019, his administration used an emergency declaration to push by way of—with out congressional approval—an $8.1 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE.
With Trump touting himself because the anti-war candidate, Fox Information host Laura Ingraham stated on her present, The Ingraham Angle: “If you wish to rein within the Pentagon, Trump is your solely possibility.” However the Pentagon price range has elevated yearly yearly over the previous 5 years. The fiscal yr 2020 noticed a colossal $738 billion for the Division of Protection, and for the fiscal yr 2021, Trump is seeking a whopping $750 billion DoD price range.
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QUOTATION
“Braveness is like — it’s a habitus, a behavior, a advantage: you get it by brave acts. It’s such as you be taught to swim by swimming. You be taught braveness by couraging.” —Marie Daly, the primary Black lady to earn a PhD in chemistry and found the connection between ldl cholesterol and clogged arteries.
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Day by day Kos on this date in 2007: Gen. Petraeus’s “Powell” Moment:
In its must-read editorial right this moment, “Hiding Behind the General,” the New York Occasions lays out the case for warning on the eve of Basic Petraeus’s testimony on Iraq. It notes, as many have talked about, that six weeks earlier than the 2004 election, Basic Petraeus penned an op-ed by which he “rhapsodized about ‘tangible progress’ and the way the Iraqi forces had been ‘creating steadily,’ an evaluation that will have swayed some voters however has lengthy since proved to be unfaithful.” It additionally emphasizes that tomorrow’s testimony must be seen in mild of the numerous studies from impartial businesses and organizations which paint an correct and dire image for the way forward for American involvement in Iraq. The editorial additionally brings up a chilling comparability:
Mr. Bush, deeply unpopular with the American folks, is relying on the overall to revive credibility to his discredited Iraq coverage. He often refers back to the escalation of American forces final January as Basic Petraeus’s technique — as if it weren’t his personal creation. The state of affairs echoes the way in which Mr. Bush made Colin Powell — one other army man with a very honed sense of a soldier’s obligation — play frontman on the United Nations in 2003 to make the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Bush can’t as soon as once more subcontract his duty. That is his battle.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Greg Dworkin notes each regular polls and Day n+1 of the “Trump hates the army” story. The virus is every thing. (Even earlier than right this moment’s bombshell!) There are not any legal guidelines! DOJ intervenes within the Carroll case, and we will not cease the approaching constitutional disaster.
