War's Purpose: National Security or Profits
Every war benefits the military industrial complex, and financiers.
6/1/20262 min read
I regularly complain of the military industrial complex being a money making, profit-oriented industry at the expense of taxpayers… and innocent lives. I believe few wars we involve ourselves in are truly related to actual national defense, but rather empire building and bullying. Now the U.S. military wants to spend even more of our money.
President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth have insisted the U.S. is capable of fighting any war. Well, of course. Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion military budget will buy a lot of needless destruction. In addition, United States politicians haven’t met a war they don’t like (even though they claim so when the other party is in power). Every administration pushes defense contractors to speed up munitions production. Hegseth told lawmakers last month that military spending under Trump will help manufacturers double or even triple their capacities… uh, and profits!
U.S. military contractors will supposedly need at least three years to replenish stockpiles of three key weapons systems used heavily in the Iran war. The weapons systems in question are Tomahawk cruise missiles, Patriot and THAAD incoming missile interceptors, and drones. They emphasize concerns that American forces would have limited firepower in any future conflict with China without such spending. Yeah, right!
“The United States has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war, but the depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict,” a Center for Strategic and International Studies reported.
Interpretation for taxpayers: We wasted money on an attack that never should have occurred, and are more than willing to waste more money on a future attack that should never happen. Oh! Let’s not forget the cost to rebuild Iran so it looks like our Overlord’s are sorry for what they did. The military industrial complex is not sorry. Neither are the banks.
Just how much is $1.5 trillion? It’s over $9,000 per working citizen. In comparison, 40 years ago, the entire federal budget, everything from defense to Social Security to everything covered by every department, cost just $6,525 per worker. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $19,830 today. We’re on pace to spend over $38,000 per worker in the present fiscal year. Where did your “affordability” go? There’s your answer.
The outrageous military spending would put emphasis on high-end munitions that actually began under the Biden administration. As you can see, military spending (and its profits for contractors) cares nothing about which party rules Congress or the White House.
Concerns about diminished stockpiles were a theme at recent congressional hearings. Democrats blame an unnecessary Iran war. Republicans blame sending Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine during Biden. I blame both… as well as profits at the expense of innocent lives.
Hegseth lauded the president’s efforts to expand the nation’s defense manufacturing sector, with private contractors investing in new plants and production lines “so that we’re getting weapons faster than ever.” After all, you never know when we’ll need to make up another “it’s a matter of national security” excuse to wield our almighty dictatorial power… and money wasting machine.
Source used: Associated Press
