Tag: military industrial complex

The Weaponization of Gene-Edited Mosquitoes

There are several dimensions to the mosquito crisis. The release of gene-edited male mosquitoes, coupled with the development of a dengue and malaria vaccine

But that is but the tip of the iceberg.

According to F. William Engdahl in 2018, the weaponization of insects is on the drawing board of the Pentagon:

There is strong evidence that the Pentagon, through its research and development agency, DARPA, is developing genetically modified insects that would be capable of destroying agriculture crops of a potential enemy.

The claim has been denied by DARPA, but leading biologists have sounded the alarm on what is taking place using new “gene-editing” CRISPR technology to in effect weaponize insects.

It’s like a 21st Century update of the Biblical plague of locusts, only potentially far worse.

Under the DARPA project, Genetic Alteration Agents or viruses will be introduced into the insect population to directly influence the genetic makeup of crops.

DARPA plans to use leaf hoppers, white flies, and aphids to introduce select viruses into crops. Among other dubious claims they say it will help farmers combat ‘climate change’.

What no one can answer, especially as neither the Pentagon nor the US FDA are asking, is how will the genetically engineered viruses in the insects interact with other microorganisms in the environment?

If crops are constantly being inundated by genetically modified viruses, how could this could alter the genetics and immune systems of humans who depend on the crops?

See F. William Engdahl, Why Is the Pentagon “Weaponizing Insects”? October 30, 2018

This posting includes excerpts from Jordan Shachtel, Amie Wek and Jamie White followed by the article of F. William Engdahl.

The World Mosquito Program plans to release five billion mosquitoes into Brazil.

“And the hope is they will help save lives. [Once] you see the reductions in disease transmission, it doesn’t seem like a horror movie any more,” Scott O’Neill, director of the World Mosquito Program” (CBC, April 2023)

Implemented concurrently with the influx of 5 billion friendly mosquitoes, Brazil approved in March 2023 a vaccine against dengue.

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The Real National Emergency: Endless Wars, Failing Infrastructure, and a Dying Republic

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”—President Dwight D. Eisenhower (April 16, 1953)

Seventy years after President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about the cost of a military-industrial complex, America is still stealing from its own people to fund a global empire.

In 2025 alone, the U.S. has launched airstrikes in Yemen (Operation Rough Rider), bombed Houthi-controlled ports and radar installations (killing scores of civilians), deployed greater numbers of troops and multiple aircraft carriers to the Middle East, and edged closer to direct war with Iran in support of Israel’s escalating conflict.

Each of these “new” fronts has been sold to the public as national defense. In truth, they are the latest outposts in a decades-long campaign of empire maintenance—one that lines the pockets of defense contractors while schools crumble, bridges collapse, and veterans sleep on the streets at home.

This isn’t about national defense. This is empire maintenance.

It’s about preserving a military-industrial complex that profits from endless war, global policing, and foreign occupations—while the nation’s infrastructure rots and its people are neglected.

The United States has spent much of the past half-century policing the globe, occupying other countries, and waging endless wars.

What most Americans fail to recognize is that these ongoing wars have little to do with keeping the country safe and everything to do with propping up a military-industrial complex that has its sights set on world domination.

War has become a huge money-making venture, and the U.S. government, with its vast military empire, is one of its best buyers and sellers.

America’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has already cost taxpayers more than $112 billion.

And now, the price of empire is rising again.

Clearly, it’s time for the U.S. government to stop policing the globe.

The U.S. military reportedly has more than 1.3 million men and women on active duty, with more than 200,000 of them stationed overseas in nearly every country in the world.

American troops are stationed in Somalia, Iraq and Syria. In Germany, South Korea and Japan. In Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman. In Niger, Chad and Mali. In Turkey, the Philippines, and northern Australia.

Those numbers are likely significantly higher in keeping with the Pentagon’s policy of not fully disclosing where and how many troops are deployed for the sake of “operational security and denying the enemy any advantage.” As investigative journalist David Vine explains, “Although few Americans realize it, the United States likely has more bases in foreign lands than any other people, nation, or empire in history.”

Incredibly, America’s military forces aren’t being deployed abroad to protect our freedoms here at home. Rather, they’re being used to guard oil fields, build foreign infrastructure and protect the financial interests of the corporate elite. In fact, the United States military spends about $81 billion a year just to protect oil supplies around the world.

America’s military empire spans nearly 800 bases in 160 countries, operated at a cost of more than $156 billion annually. As Vine reports, “Even US military resorts and recreation areas in places like the Bavarian Alps and Seoul, South Korea, are bases of a kind. Worldwide, the military runs more than 170 golf courses.”

This is how a military empire occupies the globe.

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ABC forced to delete story as it’s revealed reporter received $16,000 from a weapons company for travel costs

The ABC is investigating one of its reporters after it was revealed he received $16,000 in travel costs from a weapons company he covered in one of his stories. 

Andrew Greene travelled from Sydney to Germany on business class flights worth about $16,000, and was put up in hotels in Hamburg and Kiel to attend a press event for the German weapons company TKMS. The company paid for his trip.

The senior defence correspondent for the ABC later filed a segment for The World Today about TKMS including quotes from its CEO Oliver Burkhard. After revelations of Greene’s junket came to light, the story was removed from the ABC website.

‘We know what we’re doing,’ Mr Burkhard told Greene in the report.

‘I know our competitors, they never have been exported in the past.’

Greene did not disclose the trip to either his ABC audience or his bosses, according to Media Watch. 

As far as the ABC knew, he was on personal leave and had obtained audio of Mr Burkhard’s press conference by email, rather than travelling to Germany in person.

Media Watch host Linton Besser was highly critical of the veteran reporter, saying that ‘while Andrew Greene might have a long history as a news breaker, he’s now been brought undone by weakness before temptation’.

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Russian Strikes Damage Boeing Building in Ukraine

A large Russian drone and missile barrage damaged a building in Ukraine where Boeing operates. Last year, the American company and Kiev signed a memorandum agreeing to step up arms production.

The Financial Times reported speaking with Ukrainian officials and reviewing images that confirmed the Boeing building sustained damage on Sunday night. The strike comes as the American arms maker has been building a relationship with Kiev that would see more weapons produced in Ukraine.

In February, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Boeing president Steve Parker discussed joint “manufacturing ammunition and aerial strike systems.” A top Boeing official said the damage to the building did not cause “operational disruption.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said the attack on a US firm should convince Washington to provide more support to Kiev. “Russian strikes on American companies in Ukraine are yet another example of Putin’s disregard for US peace efforts,” he told the outlet. “The fact that Russia targets American businesses emphasises the importance of continued US involvement – both in peace efforts and in the security of Ukraine and the rest of Europe.”

Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks following a Ukrainian operation in Russia that destroyed or damaged several of Moscow’s strategic bombers.

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US Sent Israel Hundreds of Missiles Days Before Attack on Iran

Just days before the surprise and unprovoked Israeli war on Iran, the US shipped Tel Aviv 300 Hellfire missiles. An Israeli official implied they were used in the assault.

On Friday, Israel launched an offensive war against Iran, striking military sites, nuclear facilities, and carrying out targeted assassinations of top officials. Middle East Eye reports that on Tuesday, just three days before the attack began, the US sent 300 Hellfire missiles to Israel.

One Israeli official indicated that the precision air-to-ground munitions were used in targeted attacks on top civilian and military leaders. Ali Shamkhani, a senior aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in his home on Friday.

Shamkhani was part of the negotiation team engaging with the US to work out a new nuclear agreement. American and Iranian officials have engaged in five rounds of talks, with a sixth previously scheduled for Sunday. Tehran recently indicated it believed a deal was possible.

However, following the start of Israel’s undeclared war, Iran called off talks with the US. New York Times UN correspondent Farnaz Fassihi said Iranian officials made it clear that Tehran views Shamkhani’s assassination as “Israel targeting and killing nuclear diplomacy with the US.”

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US quietly sent hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before Iran attack

The US quietly delivered hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before its unprecedented attack on Iran on Friday, Middle East Eye can reveal. 

The US sent around 300 Hellfire missiles to Israel on Tuesday in a large-scale stock-up of supplies before its attack, and as the Trump administration was saying it was ready to continue engaging Iran in nuclear talks. 

The transfer of such a large quantity of Hellfires suggests that the Trump administration was well-informed of Israel’s plans to attack the Islamic Republic of Iran, two US officials told MEE on the condition of anonymity. 

The US’s delivery of Hellfires or other large quantities of weapons in the lead up to Friday’s attack has not been previously reported. 

The US military helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed towards Israel, two US officials told Reuters on Friday.

Hellfires are laser-guided air-to-ground missiles. They would not be useful for Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, but for precision strikes. 

Israel’s military used more than 100 aircraft in its attack on Friday, which used precision tracking to target senior military officials, nuclear scientists, and command centres.

“There is a time and place for Hellfires. They were useful to Israel,” one senior US defence official told MEE. 

Israel killed scores of senior Iranian officials and nuclear scientists on Friday. 

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Biden Officials Fear “Tiananmen Square Moment” as Trump Plans Patriotic Military Parade to Honor America

Biden officials and their allies in the legacy media are sounding the alarm over President Donald Trump’s upcoming patriotic military parade, scheduled to coincide with the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary — and his 79th birthday.

The parade will feature 7,000 soldiers, 150 Army vehicles, and more than 60 aircraft.

Instead of celebrating American strength and military excellence, top former Pentagon brass and New York Times reporters are melting down, suggesting the event might become a “Tiananmen Square moment.”

Appearing on The Daily podcast, New York Times host Michael Barbaro and Pentagon reporter Helene Cooper revealed that retired generals and Biden-aligned officials are “very worried” about the optics of Trump putting tanks in the streets of D.C. to honor the troops.

Far-left Mediate reported:

While the White House insists the event is a tribute to the armed forces, it follows stark escalations in Los Angeles following the president’s deployment of National Guard and Marines to support police trying to contain anti-ICE protests, which are entering their second week.

Speaking to Michael Barbaro, host of New York Times’ The Daily podcast, the outlet’s Pentagon correspondent Helene Cooper warned that many officials were anxious.

“There’s a very real possibility of the president now presiding over this parade Saturday night, showcasing the US military’s most fearsome weapons and most fearsome soldiers,” Barbaro said. “And the message in that context, in the context of what’s going on in LA, may feel more intended or as intended for a domestic audience than as impressing or intimidating our foreign adversaries.”

Cooper replied: “They’re very worried about that, and especially in the former uniform world where these are retired army officials, retired Marine generals, I’ve been on the phone with. They’re really worried about this image.”

She continued: “They are also worried about a potential Tiananmen Square moment where you have a protester standing in front of a tank. That is not what America is supposed to look like. And this is another one of those potential scary things that we could see on Saturday.”

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Tech giants including Oracle, Lockheed Martin quietly fund Trump’s military parade

President Trump’s military parade this weekend is expected to be a costly display of pomp and circumstance – and it’s being bankrolled by some major Big Tech giants. 

Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Coinbase and Amazon have recently donated to America250, the nonprofit raising funds for the nation’s semiquincentennial anniversary, the organization said.

“Many of these sponsors will support the upcoming grand military parade being held in Washington, DC, on Saturday, June 14, to celebrate the US Army’s 250th birthday,” America250 said in a press release this week.

Oracle confirmed it is sponsoring Saturday’s parade, as did Exiger, an AI-powered supply chain management company, and Lockheed Martin, which called it a “momentous occasion.”

Palantir, Coinbase and Amazon did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

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Whistleblower claims Lockheed Martin eliminated whites from bonuses – ‘and they wrote it all down’

A whistleblower has come forward claiming America’s largest defense contractor has been awarding bonuses based on skin color rather than merit.

The whistleblower told right-wing DEI expert Christopher Rufo that they were preparing year-end bonus recommendations for Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics division in 2022 when they were told their “comp adder” list contained too many white people.

“I got a call from [human resources director] La Wanda [Moorer] last night regarding diversity stats on comp adder,” top Lockheed Martin official Santiago Bulnes wrote to the whistleblower in an email, according to a report published by Rufo at City Journal.

“They took a run at getting your few approved and we’re told that we need to fit in the box. I asked her to send you the list of diversity names to simplify the task of finding the best in the group,” he added.

Afterward, other officials in Lockheed’s human resources department reportedly told the whistleblower to add over a dozen minorities to the “comp adder” list and remove an equal number of white people, never mind whether or not the people deserved to be on the list or not.

The whistleblower was reportedly outraged that Lockheed was requiring managers like them to reward bonuses “on the basis of their [employees’] skin color alone and contrary to documented performance.”

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Executives from Meta, Palantir, OpenAI Join Army Innovation Corps Dubbed ‘Detachment 201’

Top executives from Silicon Valley giants Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI are trading their corporate suits for military uniforms as they join a newly formed Army Reserve unit focused on upgrading military technology.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in an unprecedented collaboration between the U.S. military and the tech industry, a group of Silicon Valley executives are set to be sworn in as officers in the Army Reserve on Friday. The inaugural cohort of this new innovation corps, dubbed Detachment 201, includes Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir; Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, CTO of Meta Platforms; Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer at OpenAI; and Bob McGrew, a former OpenAI executive.

The tech recruits will serve around 120 hours a year, focusing on projects that leverage their expertise in AI, data analysis, and other cutting-edge technologies to enhance the Army’s capabilities. Their mission is to help the military prepare for future conflicts, which are expected to heavily rely on ground robots, drones, sensor networks, and AI-powered coordination systems.

Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff, emphasized the importance of this collaboration, stating, “We need to go faster, and that’s exactly what we are doing here.” The program marks a significant shift in the relationship between the Pentagon and the tech industry, which was once hesitant to work on defense-related projects.

The tech reservists will enjoy some unique accommodations, such as the flexibility to work remotely and asynchronously, and will be exempt from basic training. They will hold the rank of lieutenant colonel due to their private-sector status and will be deployed based on their specialized skills, making it unlikely for them to find themselves in combat situations.

Instead, the executives will work on projects that teach soldiers how to use AI-powered systems or utilize health data to improve fitness. They will also advise the service on acquiring more commercial technology and help the Defense Department recruit other high-tech talent. To avoid conflicts of interest, the recruits will not work on projects involving their employers and will be firewalled from sharing information or participating in projects that could provide financial gain to themselves or their companies.

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