War Profits Soar as Diplomacy Sinks
W.J. Astore
I came across a remarkable stat while reading William Hartung's latest article, "The Profits of War," at TomDispatch.com. The giant military contractor, Lockheed Martin, received $77 billion in federal funds in FY2020 (Lockheed Martin builds the F-35 fighter jet), almost double the entire budget for the U.S. State Department (roughly $44 billion). So as President Biden gives speeches about favoring diplomacy over military action, he might want to consider how the Pentagon's budget (and related spending on weaponry, including new nuclear weapons) is roughly 20 times that of the State Department. Biden once said, show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value. Looks like weaponry and war remains number one and job one. USA! USA!
I had to laugh when I saw this headline from the New York Times in my email this morning: "At U.N., Biden calls for diplomacy, not conflict, but some are skeptical." Readers, I can't fathom any skepticism about U.S. intentions, can you? We are a peace-loving nation. We just choose to show it by constantly building new weapons in a febrile quest for "full-spectrum dominance" as we showcase our global reach and global power with assassin drones and endless wars. Does any other country in the world have 750 overseas military bases in 80 countries? Does any other country in the world slice and dice the map into regional commands (Africa Command, Central Command, and so on) led by four-star generals and admirals? Proving the world is not enough, America now seeks to dominate space with our "Space Force" and virtual worlds like cyberspace.
Remember how Teddy Roosevelt said to speak softly but also to carry a big stick? That needs to be amended. The U.S. policy for decades has been: Shout loudly and swing a big stick. And that "big stick" is the U.S. military, which routinely gobbles up more than half of the federal discretionary budget.
Let me know when the State Department's budget soars to $750 billion and the Pentagon's budget plunges to $44 billion and maybe I'll believe Joe Biden's words about the new importance of diplomacy in America.