AI Targeting, Ethics, and the Guns of August

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/3/18/ai_warfare

Everyone is talking about AI right now and unless you've had your head in the sand, you're aware of the discussions regarding the Pentagon's use of the technology and suspicions and claims that it was AI targeting that resulted in the hit on the girl's school in Minab, Iran. Over 175 were killed as a result and while Anthropic has protested and subsequently been blacklisted by the Pentagon, reports suggest that Palantir and other platforms still make use of Anthropic AI.

For years there were discussions about the ethics of robots in battle. Well, the use of AI has circumvented this debate and now computers are actively involved in targeting. The sheer speed of operations means the human element is minimal and unable to keep up.

The Pentagon, Vaccines, and Geopolitical Games that Kill People

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/20/pentagon_china_vaccines

This story reminded me of how America is a moral beacon to the world. Because the United States didn't want China to make money and earn standing they pushed a disinformation campaign - the sort of campaigns that we're daily told are being conducted by the likes of China and Russia.

Boeing and its Place in the US Empire

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/5/2/whistleblower-joshua-dean-ex-worker-at-boeing-supplier-dies

Boeing is too big to fail. As a member of the S&P100, the company constitutes a large and essential component within the stock market as well as the US security apparatus. Boeing builds commercial jets and does billions of dollars in military contracts. In fact it's the second biggest military contractor in the United States (and third in the world).

Booz Allen Hamilton in the News

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2023/08/30/booz-allen-maryland-military-facility/

Articles about Booz Allen Hamilton always catch my eye as the company is well-known for its contract work with the CIA. Perhaps the most famous episode in recent years was in reference to Edward Snowden. The company is involved in all sorts of intelligence work, analysis, IT, and other forms of consulting and its one of those companies that straddles the military and intelligence spheres – in fact the line with a company like Booz Allen Hamilton is completely blurred.

The Ukraine War: A Double Windfall for Western Capitalism

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230109-macron-s-pension-reform-necessary-changes-to-an-unsustainable-system

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50670613

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/macron-boosts-french-military-spending-by-over-a-third-to-transform-army/ar-AA16z12S

This double windfall for capitalism is most clearly demonstrated by recent events in France. President Macron has announced pension reform. He argues (contrary to the numbers) that the present system is unsustainable and as such he wants to raise the minimum retirement age and expand the contribution requirement resulting in lower payouts for some. The money just isn't there, he argues.

The Drums of War in the Asia-Pacific

https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/report-china-is-on-course-to-overtake-america-s-naval-capabilities

If you read the article carefully, the argument can be made that the headline is guilty of sensationalism. America is clearly in the position of supremacy but that margin of domination is not what it was thirty years ago. This I think is probably self-evident and hardly surprising to anyone.

A Ukraine Miscellany (VIII): Sober and Sound Thinking Regarding Russia and Ukraine

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/05/27/an-appeal-to-russia-haters/

This article raises several excellent points. The Ukraine War is being utilized by various interests as a means of distraction. The media could make quite a bit of hay out of an analogy with the Yemen War but has instead chosen to ignore it. And while the Ukraine War is highly destructive, the Yemen War has been far worse.

The Saudi Alliance and the False Claims of the American Establishment Regarding Autocracy and Authoritarianism

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/09/lockheed-military-manufacturing-saudi/

Biden and others in the American Establishment have sought to cast the new Cold War in terms of the Liberal Democracies versus the Authoritarian States. This claim is as farcical as the Capitalist Free World versus the Communist Bloc of the first Cold War. The truth is always far more complicated.

Justified Cynicism Regarding the GOP's 2021 Virginia-Election Narrative

Many Evangelicals have celebrated the win of Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia gubernatorial race. There have been various discussions regarding whether or not he's actually an Evangelical, his place in the GOP vis-à-vis Trump, and what his win means in terms of the pending 2022 mid-term elections.

American Legions to Remain in Germany

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/us-troop-withdrawal-from-germany-put-on-freeze/

This is further evidence of the bureaucratic resistance to Trump's haphazard drawdown of US troops. The order is given, feet drag, the process is entangled and ignored – and then another administration comes to power and slowly reverses the order and its momentum.

Deceitful Blacklists and the Cyber-Pearl Harbor that Wasn't

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/us-publishes-black-list-of-chinese-and-russian-firms-with-military-ties/

What about US blacklist – a list of firms with ties to the US military? It would be the size of a metropolitan phonebook. This kind of article is fundamentally deceitful and meant to prey on either those governed merely by passions or the ignorant.

GOP Exploits Covid-19 in Attempt to Smash State Pension Systems: A Christian Response (Part 2)

Just recently I was talking with one of the wealthier ladies in the area. She was a little baffled over the panic regarding lost wages and the shut-down. After all one of the neighbouring county executives said on television – everyone should have three months of wages set aside for emergencies and that way they can weather such storms. I pointed out that the woman who said this – someone whose family is known to be quite wealthy – is rich and thus doesn't understand how most people live. The latest statistics are startling as apparently about half the country can barely come up with $500 or $1000 in the case of an emergency. Why are things this way? It's complicated. People overextend themselves in many cases. But in many more cases the cost of housing is so high that people work like dogs just to keep a roof over their heads. People are foolish in many cases – trying to keep up with the Joneses – but in many more there are people who have given up on the American dream but still can't seem to get ahead or even break even and as such just barely survive – one disaster from collapse and the threat of homelessness. And in the process their families are destroyed. It's a wicked cycle and a wicked system that breeds evil both at home and abroad.

Blackwater and Wagner

https://theintercept.com/2020/04/13/erik-prince-russia-mercenary-wagner-libya-mozambique/

Prince, a hero to many American Evangelicals is an evil figure to some and certainly a living scandal to Christians who root their faith in the New Testament. Regardless of what one thinks of him, he remains an important if controversial figure.

Coronavirus and the Militarists: A Reality and a Warning

Recently there was yet another rocket attack on American positions in Iraq, an attack believed to be carried out by Iranian-backed or connected militias. This is part of the ongoing struggle that led up to the Soleimani drone assassination and the events after it.

NPR's Reporting on the Space Force

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/26/791414989/the-reasons-for-a-space-force

I don't listen to NPR a lot these days but I did catch this report the other morning and in some ways it typifies just why I've more or less abandoned NPR as a news source.

The story is on the newly created Space Force, a Sixth Branch of the US military. The congressional approval for the Space Force, along with increased defense spending, provisions made for the border wall and an invite to give the State of the Union address are all political victories for the president. A strange thing considering he was just impeached. Why is the Democratically controlled congress helping and empowering the president?

Training the Satraps

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/10/14/Singapore-air-force-celebrates-10-years-of-training-at-Idaho-air-base/4981571077607/?sl=9

Few realise just how common this sort of this is and what an important role it plays for the US empire.

Hidden behind euphemisms of partnership, friendship and alliance the reality is these nations are beholden to the United States.

Tungsten, the A-10 and Vietnam

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/08/22/Boeing-awarded-999M-contract-for-A-10-Warthog-wing-replacements/2891566482184/?sl=7

https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/05/14/air-force-debates-replacing-depleted-uranium-rounds-10.html

On one level this exemplifies how the military-industrial complex works. The military ends up stuck with programmes they don't want and wish to cancel. Congress argues they want to keep the A-10 because of its tactical importance. For those in the know it is the supreme tank-killer and has a stellar reputation as a tough almost indestructible killing machine. A strange plane, it's relatively slow and quiet and yet its sound is unique, its engines sound like nothing else. During my days of shame when I wore the uniform of the legions and participated in its murderous policies, I was around them on a daily basis. I knew it by sound as much as by sight.

VOM and Colombian Half-Truths

https://www.persecution.com/2019-03-colombia/?_source_code=EM1903CL2

The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) can at times be excellent and their reports moving. They are to be commended for their understanding of suffering and persecution as not being incidental or occasional aspects of the Christian life, but rather essential components of our calling.

There are times when I listen to their podcast, watch videos or read their materials and I want to empty my bank account in order to help them.

And then there are the other times when their predilection for Charismatic theology comes to the fore and I reconsider. It's really a continuation of my first encounter with Richard Wurmbrand's work Tortured for Christ which I first read in the 1990's. On the one hand it was deeply moving but on the other hand the theology was such a disastrous mess it was hard to know what to think.

The Raw Power of the Military-Industrial Complex on Display

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-saudi-thaad/lockheed-gets-1-billion-down-payment-for-saudi-thaad-missile-system-idUKKCN1QL28R

This is why the murder of Jamal Khashoggi doesn't matter. The Saudis are not only in an informal alliance with the United States and Israel, they are pursuing US interests in Yemen and vis-à-vis Iran.

This is not to say that there aren't Saudi and American interests upset with the recent turn in Saudi politics under bin Salman. Nevertheless the pressure is great to 'let it ride'.

When billions of dollars are at stake, there's a lot of pressure and influence that come to bear and since there are 101 ways to bribe and payoff people and with plenty of money to spare.... the people who sit atop the Wall Street-Defense industry-political-military nexus... the Military Industrial Complex have a lot of power. They get their way and get rich at the same time.

Weapon Sales and the Building of a Deep State

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bulgaria-defence/bulgarian-parliament-approves-plan-to-buy-fighter-jets-and-armoured-vehicles-idUKKCN1J418C

This article reports that NATO encourages Eastern European members to develop, buy and operate new alliance equipment compatible with older Soviet-era systems.