Is the military still under civilian control?
POSTED BY: 1KIKI
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 4, 2026 13:25
VIEWED: 4151
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Quote:That is an interesting theory that I have heard many times, but I think it is more subtle than that. Military spending is spread out to all 50 states by the Pentagon. It could be spent in only a few states, but then Congressmen from the states not receiving that wonderful spending wouldn't vote for it. Each state's Congressmen want their state to get a cut of that money, for bases and manufacturers in their state. To get money for their state, the Congressmen have to vote for money to the other 49 states.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
No shit dude.
Hey. Maybe we have before us one of those rare instances where we found some common ground.
We're over there causing mayhem because it lines the pockets of the truly rich and powerful, meanwhile, we're letting invaders in our country and doing nothing about it.
The US Federal government has failed and should be dismantled.
The Pentagon is always asking for more money and Congress keeps raising Pentagon spending by about 3% more than inflation every year because the voters feel like they aren't safe unless Defense has a huge budget. This is why the Pentagon could spend $trillions for 70,000 H-bombs and A-bombs that can't be used anywhere on Earth. Other countries, except Russia which is another stupid bunch of people, are satisfied with only hundreds of A-bombs. Those bombs are expensive and most countries aren't stupid enough to waste too much money on those dangerous gadgets.
https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/costs-us-nuclear-weapons/
As with A-bombs, the Pentagon also wastes money on less dangerous gadgets. It can't win a nuclear war, but who cares? Not the military. The Pentagon can't seem to win an ordinary and conventional war because the Generals are the goofy in head, but who cares? Certainly not Congress. It is about the money spent in their states.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:Nah. It's about the president whipping up war-hunger to distract voters from failed domestic policies and create a sense of unity because it's the only thing the politicians haven't divided the country on.
the voters feel like they aren't safe unless Defense has a huge budget
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Quote:Did you notice that Congress hasn't issued a formal declaration of war since 1942? The decision to declare war is supposed to be made only by Congress, but it doesn't want its fingerprints on a failed war. So America gets one failure after another because it won't punish Generals or Presidents who fail to win wars. Congress just spends more defense money in the 50 states of Congressmen instead of reducing the Pentagon's budget. It all seems very stupid, but that assumes Congressmen really and truly care about anything more than how much money is going to their state. On the other hand, it is all very smart if war is only about money.
Originally posted by 1KIKI:Quote:Nah. It's about the president whipping up war-hunger to distract voters from failed domestic policies and create a sense of unity because it's the only thing the politicians haven't divided the country on.
the voters feel like they aren't safe unless Defense has a huge budget
If the system was set up for Congressmen and Generals to lose their jobs within a few months of not attaining their war goals, America would win more wars, yet spend less money on defense. That new system would be very stressful for Congress and the Pentagon. Why bother to have clear goals if you will be punished for failure? If your voters will let you have no clear goals, that is GREAT AND GOOD! (Your average voter lacks clear goals, too.) Congress and Pentagon won't change their system because it works pretty good for them. Why fix a system that is not broken?
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Joe Biden is the only recent president who has stood up to the Blob:
Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified Thursday that U.S. military officials did not give President Biden a “unanimous” recommendation to leave Afghanistan until 10 days after the fall of its capital city of Kabul.
This is the work of the infamous Blob, the foreign policy establishment made up of the Pentagon, Congress, think tanks, intelligence services, and private contractors. They always lobby for hawkish policies and their combined influence is all but impossible for a president to stand up to.
So it's notable that Biden did stand up to them. He knew what he wanted, and he stuck to his guns even in the face of intense contrary lobbying from both the domestic and foreign versions of the Blob. Any other president probably would have caved in—the generals are only asking for 2,500 troops!—but no matter how small, 2,500 is not zero. The difference keeps forever wars going forever.
https://jabberwocking.com/joe-biden-is-the-only-recent-president-who-h
as-stood-up-to-the-blob/
Yesterday, Gen. Mark A. Milley said that if those 2,500 troops were attacked by the Taliban, 30,000 more troops would be needed to defend the 2,500. For some unknown reason, Gen. Milley forgot to emphasize that full scale war would be back on in Afghanistan! The news coverage didn't notice what Milley forgot to explain loudly and clearly. Milley didn't get his 2,500 troops so there is no way in the future to bump that number up to 32,500 troops. So sad for Milley and the simpleminded scheme the Pentagon had designed to trap Biden into more years in Afghanistan.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/09/biden-afghanistan-exit-tro
ops-milley.html
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by SECOND:
Joe Biden is the only recent president who has stood up to the Blob:
He's just finishing what Trump started.
It is a complete shock that this happened though, and as I said before it will ultimately end up being the one thing Biden* can hang his hat on after his failed Presidency*.
Unless the 100,000 terrorists that he let in our country start blowing shit up, of course.
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Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."
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Eli Lilly another American pharmaceutical company?
Lockheed Martin loses billions in stock value amid fake Twitter accounts, tweets
https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2022/11/15/fake-tweet-lockheed
-martin-stock-drop.html
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Perpetual wars and the 'greatest fighting force in human history'
https://www.alternet.org/perpetual-wars-greatest-fighting-force/
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United States seeking an armed uprising inside Iran, with ground operation expected within days
https://www.itv.com/news/2026-03-03/united-states-seeking-an-armed-upr
ising-inside-iran
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