Tag: military industrial complex

Denmark’s Parliament Approves Legislation Authorizing US Military Bases on Danish Soil, as Trump Eyes Greenland Annexation

The Danish have caved and will allow US bases in their territory.

When US President Donald J. Trump expressed his desire to gain control of the island of Greenland, it took most by surprise, and generated a panic in the kingdom of Denmark.

While the former colony and present semi-autonomous territory has belonged to the Danish for centuries, the geopolitical situation may cause a historical shift.

Greenland is located between North America and Europe, making it vital for monitoring Russian military activities, particularly ballistic missile threats and naval movements through the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) gap.

The U.S. already operates Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland for missile defense and space surveillance under a 1951 defense agreement with Denmark.

It provides access to the Arctic Ocean and emerging shipping routes, made accessible by melting ice, with a vital role in tracking Russian and Chinese naval activities.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” — Donald Trump, statement on Truth Social, December 2024.

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The Nuremberg Code And The Vaccine Mandate For Service Members

The Nuremberg Trials were an attempt to bring justice to the Nazis for some of the most reprehensible criminal acts of World War II. One subset of those trials was known as “The Doctors’ Trial,” so named because it prosecuted some 23 distinguished medical scientists and physicians charged with murder and unspeakable torture through medical experimentation on concentration camp prisoners.

One of the most important outcomes of that trial—aside from meting out justice to the medical monsters—was the establishment of the Nuremberg Code, which offered a 10-point statement outlining proper limits on human experimentation moving forward. It proclaimed that such experimentation is justified only when the participation is voluntary, when the results benefit society, and when it is conducted in accord with basic principles that “satisfy moral, ethical, and legal concepts.” It memorialized what most decent people would have thought was already common sense and practice for a civilized society.

Notwithstanding the proscriptions of the Nuremberg Code, the Department of Defense authorized the use of unlicensed medications in the first Gulf War. Specifically, DoD obtained informed consent waivers from the FDA to allow the involuntary administration of unlicensed medications as a prophylactic against potential Iraqi chemical and biological weapons.

These medications were postulated by some medical professionals as a cause of so-called Gulf War Syndrome. In light of this, Congress passed a specific prohibition on the use of unlicensed medications on Service Members without their informed consent. The statute, codified at 10 USC §1107, requires informed consent from a Service Member before the administration of an unlicensed medication. Only the president can waive this requirement by ordering a waiver of informed consent in certain exigencies.

The statute got its first test when a federal court shut down DoD’s involuntary anthrax vaccination program in 2004 after a judge determined the anthrax vaccine had not been properly licensed by the FDA for use in a military context.

But nearly 20 years later, our country again flirted with violation of this statute and the Code as it mandated experimental COVID-19 vaccines for our Service Members. That injustice has yet to be fully addressed. Over 8,000 active-duty Service Members were involuntarily separated after failing to receive a religious exemption or other accommodation from the vaccine mandate and then refused to get vaccinated after being ordered to do so.

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Pentagon redirects missile components from Kiev to own forces – WSJ

The Pentagon has redirected key missile components originally intended for Ukraine’s air defense to American forces in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a confidential notification sent to Congress last week. The move comes as US President Donald Trump has been winding down support for Ukraine since entering office. 

According to the WSJ, the move concerns proximity fuzes used in ground-based Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) – a guided rocket system that Ukraine has reportedly been using for the past several years to shoot down drones. The fuzes were acquired under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative under former US President Joe Biden. Although funding for the initiative has already been spent, previously approved shipments are still scheduled to arrive in Ukraine later this year and the next.

However, the WSJ has claimed that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the transfer of the fuzes via an internal memo last month, designating it as a “Secretary of Defense Identified Urgent Issue.” The decision was reportedly communicated to the Senate Armed Services Committee, although the Pentagon has declined to comment publicly.

Citing anonymous sources and internal documents, the WSJ said the US Air Force intends to use the reallocated fuzes in rockets mounted on F-16 and F-15E fighter jets. The redirection was permitted under an emergency military spending bill passed last year.

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Army surveillance balloons spotted over Tucson raise privacy concerns from advocates

The U.S. Army and a private company are flying high-altitude surveillance balloons over the Tucson area, raising concerns among privacy advocates. 

Multiple high-altitude balloons have been spotted over the Tucson and Sierra Vista area for more than a week, with one balloon in particular staying over the area longer than any of the others. That balloon, with the registration number N257TH, has made headlines in the past. 

The balloon is owned by South Dakota aerospace company Aerostar, and in 2023 was mistaken for a Chinese spy balloon. The balloon is actually part of Aerostar’s “Thunderhead” balloon system, which has been doing multiple tests with the military and other contractors across the nation and around the globe. 

“It is a technology that should not and constitutionally cannot be applied to the American people,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Arizona Mirror. “Even testing for eventual overseas use in legitimate combat theaters raises a lot of questions about what kind of data is being collected.”

Aerostar would not answer specific questions about what type of testing was being done. The company referred additional questions to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army, neither of which responded to multiple requests for comment. 

Aerostar confirmed that the flights were not connected to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol or Department of Homeland Security programs, “however high-altitude balloons would be ideal for that type of mission,” Aerostar Culture and Communications Director Anastasia Quanbeck said in an email to the Mirror. 

“By leveraging directional wind patterns at high altitudes, Aerostar’s Thunderhead Balloon Systems offer groundbreaking capabilities for navigation and persistence over areas of interest,” she said. “Aerostar Thunderhead Balloon Systems are capable of supporting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, as well as extending communications across wide distances, environmental monitoring, earth observation, and scientific research.” 

Quanbeck said she was not able to discuss the work the company does with the DOD or the Army. 

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UK pledges 100,000 new drones for Kiev

he UK has pledged to supply 100,000 new drones to Ukraine by April 2026, in addition to the 10,000 UAVs it sent last year. The announcement coincides with Britain’s newly unveiled Strategic Defense Review, which proposes steps to rearm its military in light of what it paints as a threat posed by Russia.

London has allocated £350 million ($470 million) from its £4.5 billion Ukraine military package to fund new drone deliveries to Kiev, according to a government statement on Wednesday. UK Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to detail the initiative at the upcoming Ukraine contact group meeting in Brussels.

“Ukraine’s Armed Forces have demonstrated the effectiveness of drone warfare,” London stated, admitting that Kiev’s demand for UAVs has provided a boost to the UK’s economy.

It also unveiled plans to use Ukraine’s drone experience to train its own military. In order to “learn the lessons from Ukraine,” the UK would allocate over £4 billion for autonomous systems and drones for its armed forces.

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EXPOSED: Institute for the Study of War is Disinformation Factory Funded by Military Complex

The “non-profit” Institute for the Study of War (ISW) launders defense contractor cash into war-justifying disinformation, journalist and founder of Crowdsource the Truth Jason Goodman tells Sputnik, commenting on ISW’s Ukraine conflict coverage.

What Does ISW Say?

Reporting Ukrainian weakness is just Russian “disinformation”

Hit Russia harder and surge military production. Why? Because Russia seeks to “destroy NATO”.

Who Funds ISW?

Weapons-maker General Dynamics

Defense tech firm Avantus (now QinetiQ)

Global defense & intel contractor CACI International and many others

“[ISW] collected over $9 million in revenue [in 2023] alone — nearly all of it from undisclosed donors — and paid [founder] Kimberly Kagan herself over a quarter million dollars to peddle war escalation narratives under the banner of ‘trusted analysis’,” Goodman says.

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Expect Trump’s Military Parade to Cost More Than the Army Says

President Donald Trump boasted on Monday that his hosting of a military parade in Washington, D.C., next month to honor the Army’s 250th anniversary — coincidentally the same date as his 79th birthday — was an act of divine intervention.

“We’re going to have a big, big celebration, as you know, 250 years,” he said during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery. “Can you imagine? I missed that four years, and now look what I have, I have everything. Amazing the way things work out. God did that.”

The massive military parade and related festivities planned for June 14 will cost an estimated $25 to $45 million, according to the Army. This is likely a significant underestimate due to many expenses that are unaccounted for – or will be billed later, such as damages to local infrastructure caused by armored vehicles. Members of Congress are already expressing outrage at what they see as a gross misuse of funds.

“Trump squandering $45 million in taxpayer dollars on a military parade for his birthday is the epitome of government waste,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “If the Trump Administration truly cared about celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Army, they would honor past and present soldiers and reinstate the thousands of veterans who they fired from the federal workforce — not throw away millions on an extravagant parade.”

The purpose of the parade is also seemingly up for interpretation. The White House now says the parade is a celebration of the Army’s semiquincentennial after, last month, denying reports that a parade would be held on the president’s birthday. Trump, for his part, has offered shifting explanations, stating that the parade is a celebration of Flag Day, the military writ large, or tanks and other weaponry.

The current plan, nonetheless, involves a martial spectacle reminiscent of the Soviet Union or North Korea in the heart of America’s capital, with armored vehicles rolling down Constitution Avenue. It is slated to involve more than 100 vehicles, including 28 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 28 Stryker armored personnel carriers, 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, four M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, as well as military relics like World War II-era Sherman tanks, a B-25 bomber, and a P-51 Mustang single-seat fighter plane, according to Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith. She added that the parade will also feature 34 horses, two mules, one wagon, and one dog.

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Waste of the Day: Military Owns 100+ Golf Courses

That may be an underestimate. The golf courses have been in watchdogs’ crosshairs for decades, with Sen. William Proxmire (D-WI) calling out the Pentagon in 1975 for spending $14 million per year maintaining 300 golf courses. The number of courses has seemingly fallen since, but the Pentagon has also removed some from its lists or listed separate courses as one facility.

Maintenance costs vary. One Army golf course in Virginia costs around $1 million per year to operate and spent $406,000 replacing golf carts in 2021. MIC.com reported in 2012 that a “very conservative estimate” of annual costs for all the golf courses is $140 million.  

The golf courses are banned from receiving money from Congress and are supposed to fund themselves with membership fees, private donations and other sources of revenue. Still, it’s fair to wonder why private donations to the military help pay for golf instead of actual warfighting capabilities.

There are also ways around the rules. The Government Accountability Office found in 1996 that 40% of military golf courses were losing money and using taxpayer funds to cover their losses.

The U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington D.C. is technically not part of the DOD, and for years its golf course operated using taxpayer money and 50-cent deductions from military paychecks.

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Fury as top military schools are caught in secret underground plots to usurp Trump’s orders

Top military schools have faced a swift backlash after using underground means to discuss books and topics banned by the Trump administration.

Cadets and staff at the US Naval Academy have been creating non-governmental emails to chat about the banned ideas, including the likes of critical race theory.

The president has cracked down on what made up the curriculum at the school, with faculty saying they run their research through an AI tool screen their findings.

Words that are flagged include ‘barrier’, ‘Black’, ‘allyship’, ‘cultural differences’ and ‘The Gulf of Mexico‘. 

Professors have been told to teach that ‘America and its founding documents remains the most powerful force for good in human history’ after a memo Pete Hegseth. 

One unnamed professor told the Washington Post: ‘We at the Naval Academy are here to prepare young officers to command.

‘They need to know what we have learned from our study of politics and history and literature and languages.

‘We are failing them and we are failing in our jobs if we suppress some things we know are true and we parrot other things we know are false.’ 

They also said that students are feeling conflicted about the possibility of being deployed under the current White House. 

One professor said they had advised cadets to serve until they receive an order that they feel might be illegal. 

He told them if that point comes to ‘reject it rather than compromise yourself’. 

Graham Parsons, a former professor of philosophy at West Point Military Academy, left his position earlier this month in protest over the changes to the curriculum. 

He said that the entire US armed forces have been left up in arms over Trump’s reversal of DEI initiatives and social justice programs. 

Parsons told the outlet: ‘It’s a feeling of real whiplash. We used to raise the possibility in the military and beyond, there are still real structural problems with racism and sexism. That would not fly now.’ 

He stood down from his post after writing a scathing opinion piece for The New York Times. 

In it, he said: ‘I cannot tolerate these changes, which prevent me from doing my job responsibly. I am ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form.’

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Another Layer of Nuance to the UFO Mystery: Baffling Otherworldly Encounters with Military Naval Vessels

Whereas many people might imagine a scene over a quiet country road, or possibly from the balcony of a high-rise apartment building in a metropolis-like city, or even from a moving aircraft, the fact is there are many sightings on record that occur over the seas, oceans, and other vast water networks of our planet. Although actual statistics differ, it is widely agreed that more than half of all UFO sightings occur over or near water. With this in mind, we might imagine that many of the ships and submarines, particularly military ones, would have encountered these otherworldly vehicles – and we would be right.

As usual, we will not have the time to explore every case; in fact, we only have time and space to scratch the surface of such encounters here, which could fill up entire volumes in their own right, and those are just the sightings from the modern UFO age. We will, though, explore some of the most interesting and detailed UFO encounters that have involved naval vessels in various stretches of water around the planet.

Without a doubt, one of the strangest and thought-provoking of these marine encounters was relayed in the book Military Encounters with Extraterrestrials: The Real War of the Worlds by Frank Joseph, and occurred in the late 1980s when the Cold War, albeit reduced in tensions, was still very much unfolding. According to the report, which came through an anonymous crew member of the US Navy submarine, the USS Memphis, the incident occurred ahead of a NASA space shuttle launch, with the submarine patrolling the waters around the launch site ahead of the mission.

On this particular night – October 24th going into October 25th, 1989 – the USS Memphis was around 150 miles off the coast of Florida, cruising at a depth of around 500 feet. While the mission had been completely textbook so far, on this particular evening, they were experiencing all manner of problems with their electronics. As the witness recalled, the crew quickly realized the “ship was malfunctioning…the tanks were blowing” and the “navigations ability and communication (were) totally lost!” Eventually, an order was given to bring the submarine to a stop so the crew could assess what was happening. However, moments later, the controls in the reactor began to malfunction, and orders were issued to shut it down, switch to diesel engines, and surface immediately.

As soon as the vessel broke the surface of the water, the witness made his way to his watch station. He looked out and could see that the night sky was now glowing “red like a neon sign” as heavy rain came down from above. Then, only moments after first looking out, he noticed a “large, inverted V-shaped” object moving on the port (left-hand) side of the submarine. The witness turned to the executive officer who was with him, who told him to remain at his post while he informed the captain. Several moments later, the captain arrived at the watch station.

By this point, using a laser range finder, they had determined that their vessel was around 600 feet from the nearest point of the strange craft, which was approximately 650 feet from their location. Moreover, they estimated that the furthest point of the object was around 3500 feet from them, suggesting that it was, in total, around half a mile wide.

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