Tag: War

The Commandeering of the USS Fitzgerald: A Tale of War Industry Greed

The USS Fitzgerald is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, a large ship designed to carry out many different types of missions. It is one of over 400 ships in the U.S. Navy’s arsenal.

The U.S. war industry, the corporations that manufacture and market weaponry to the U.S. Armed Forces and allied foreign nations, has sold many goods and services to the U.S. Navy for use on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. These include, but are not limited to: Argon ST Inc. anti-torpedo systems, Boeing anti-ship missiles, Northrop Grumman navigation software and control systems, Lockheed Martin radar, Lockheed Martin vertical launch systems (VLS), General Electric engines, propulsion systems from Philadelphia Gear and Timken Gears & Services, and Honeywell and Northrop Grumman torpedoes (featuring L-3 electro-optical sensors). Raytheon missiles like the Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) and the Tomahawk also feature prominently on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The USS Fitzgerald is stacked.

On 17 June 2017, the high-tech USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship southeast of Japan. What followed was a classic case of war industry greed and Pentagon complicity.

Continue reading The Commandeering of the USS Fitzgerald: A Tale of War Industry Greed

Chris Murphy is Selling Us On ‘Empire Lite,’ and We’re Falling For It

This story plays out consistently in American politics: a lawmaker or candidate comes along and advocates for one or a few positions activists of some sort have been waiting years for a public figure to get behind.

Encouraged, those activists whole-heartedly embrace the politician without first looking closely into the nuances of his or her record and positions.

That’s what’s going on right now with Chris Murphy, the Democratic U.S. senator from Connecticut. He took the lead on challenging the U.S. military’s role in the Saudi war on Yemen, something few other members of Congress were willing to do, and he’s backing that up with calls to rethink U.S. policy abroad.

He’s started a website titled “Chance for Peace” and positioned his political brand around “A Progressive Foreign Policy.” The reaction, from what I’ve seen, has mostly been applause.

But, if you talk to peace activists in Murphy’s home state—people much more familiar with his track record—they’ll tell you to be much more skeptical.

“Progressive doesn’t mean pacifist,” Joanne Sheehan, a Norwich, Conn., activist with the War Resisters League, told me recently. “It doesn’t even mean anti-militarist.” Continue reading Chris Murphy is Selling Us On ‘Empire Lite,’ and We’re Falling For It

Jack Reed, Jim Langevin, and the Defense Industry

[NOTE: This opinion article was published simultaneously on RIFuture.com.]

A couple months back, I was emailed by South County, R.I., activist Jonathan Daly-LaBelle, who wanted to know if I’d seen Rep. Jim Langevin’s press release announcing the rationale behind his recent yes vote on a nearly $700-billion Pentagon budget.

It “is really quite disturbing,” Daly-LaBelle wrote.

No argument from me on this one.

Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District, has embraced a bizarre and increasingly dangerous stance on “defense” issues in recent years, and that attitude was on full display in his prepared statement.

Among his many points in support of a monstrous Pentagon budget that will go unaudited, as it always does, and undoubtedly lead to waste, was the contention that Congress must make certain “our nation’s warfighters are never sent into a fair fight.”

Tough talk.

But maybe Langevin should consider asking all those innocent civilians in the numerous countries we’ve dropped bombs on since 9/11 what it feels like to be on the receiving end of an “unfair fight.” Continue reading Jack Reed, Jim Langevin, and the Defense Industry