Welcome to The Now

  Keeping in mind that... Despite appearance, the United States is operating along the tenants of the Policy Papers . The endgame is still regime change in Iran, destabilize Russia and isolate China. That said, the POTUS has always been more prone to following his own thoughts than any playbook. Question is, is he more likely to delegate such things to others as long as they make him look good, or will his ego and impatience derail and sabotage the process? Also, if what Larry Johnson says is accurate, this current White House may be isolated in their respected silos to coordinate properly. If too many Departments are more focused on personal gain than the (can't believe I'm saying this) collective good of the Administration, how much can actually be accomplished?

 

 

  Question: how do you win a war that supposedly must be won at all costs, when your supplier cares more about profit than victory? If you are the Pentagon:  you pay the money .

 

 

 Via the Associated Press : News organizations including The New York Times, The Associated Press and the conservative Newsmax television network said Monday they will not sign a Defense Department document about its new press rules, making it likely the Trump administration will evict their reporters from the Pentagon. Those outlets say the policy threatens to punish them for routine news gathering protected by the First Amendment. The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Reuters on Monday also publicly joined the group that says it will not be signing. AP confirmed Monday afternoon that it would not sign. “Reuters is bound by its commitment to accurate, impartial and independent news,” the agency said in a statement. “We also steadfastly believe in the press protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution, the unrestricted flow of information and journalism that serves the public interest without fear or favor. The Pentagon’s new restrictions erode these fundamental values.” Defense S...

 

 

 

It's been mentioned over and over again that the Pentagon is bad at managing money, which explains (in part) their inability to pass an audit in last year .  This year's no different : The Pentagon just failed its audit — again. For the sixth time in a row, the agency that accounts for half the money Congress approves each year can’t figure out what it did with all that money. For a brief recap, the Pentagon has never passed an audit. Until 2018, it had never even completed one. Since then, the Pentagon has done an audit every year and given itself a participation prize each time. Yet despite this year’s triumphant press release — titled “DOD Makes Incremental Progress Towards Clean Audit” — it has failed every time. In its most recent audit, the Pentagon was able to account for just half of its $3.8 trillion in assets (including equipment, facilities, etc). That means $1.9 trillion is unaccounted for — more than the entire budget Congress agreed to for the current fiscal yea...

Here's Kyle Kulinski going over how CNN is covering Pentagon corruption: And here's Lee Camp going over how MSNBC is covering corruption: Now of course they have different approaches, but the story of the Pentagon being shady beyond all belief is still there.

 I will say this: the Pentagon seems more worried about the leak than any of their failed audits.

Keep in mind that this is the same group who think that giving railroad workers seven days sick leave was too costly and also fretted that allowing them to strike would have cost the economy $2 billion/day and therefore not worth it:

  When the military admits something , it means that they don't care that you know: (CNN)The Pentagon announced Monday that the US has sent anti-radar missiles for Ukrainian aircraft to target Russian radar systems, marking the first time the Defense Department has acknowledged sending the previously undisclosed missile to Ukraine. Colin Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, said at a press briefing that the US had sent "a number" of the missiles without specifying how many the US has provided or when they were sent. Kahl did not explicitly say what type of anti-radiation missile was sent. A defense official told CNN the type of missile sent was the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) . Produced by Raytheon, HARMs have a range in excess of 30 miles, according to the US Air Force, making them one of the longer-range weapons the US has provided to Ukraine. The missiles can be used to target Russian anti-aircraft radar systems, such as the S-400, which...

In 2018 , the US Congress approved $639 billion in military spending. On January 9, 2019 , Forbes ran a story titled: " Holding U.S. Treasurys? Beware: Uncle Sam Can't Account for $21 Trillion " which involved the Departments of Defense and Housing and Urban Development. In 2019 , the US Congress approved $686.1 billion for the Department of Defense.  On January 23, 2020 , Yahoo posted a story from the Financial Times titled, " The Pentagon's $35 Trillion Accounting Black Hole ," which described the situation as a " persistent lack of internal financial controls at the Pentagon ."  In 2020 , the US Congress approved $714 billion for defense spending.  On May 19, 2021 , NPR published a story titled, " The Pentagon Has Never Passed An Audit. Some Senators Want to Change That ," which reminds us the the Pentagon's "first-ever independent financial audit" was in 2017 and that "the department has never detailed its asset...

What's worse is that the Pentagon can't seem to get a handle on it .

Progress : WASHINGTON – Defense and congressional officials say news organizations will be allowed to photograph the homecomings of America's war dead under a new Pentagon policy. The officials say Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to allow photos of flag-draped caskets at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, if the families of fallen troops agree. The emerging policy mirrors one at Arlington National Cemetery, in which families largely decide whether they want media coverage. Combine this with Obama's pledge to put the cost of war back on the books, and we're seeing how his Administration plans on tackling the issue: by letting the American People know what's really going on.