Source: TomDispatch
by William J Astore
“My fellow Americans, my critical voice has finally been heard inside the Oval Office. No, not my voice against the $1.7 trillion this country is planning to spend on new nuclear weapons. No, not my call to cut the Pentagon budget in half. No, not my imprecations against militarism in America. It was a quip of mine that the Department of Defense (DoD) should return to its roots as the War Department, since the U.S. hasn’t known a moment’s peace since before the 9/11 attacks, locked as it’s been into a permanent state of global war, whether against ‘terror’ or for its imperial agendas (or both). A rebranded Department of War, President Trump recently suggested, simply sounds tougher (and more Trumpian) than ‘defense.’ As is his wont, he blurted out a hard truth as he stated that America must have an offensive military.” (09/16/25)