Making War No More
JUN 22, 2026
An argument the Trump administration is using to justify massive increases in war spending is that the U.S. military is short on munitions. What a surprise! After the Iran War, attacks on Yemen and Somalia, supplying Israel with all sorts of air defense missiles as well as bombs and who knows what else (some of it is classified), the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, and so on, it’s no wonder munitions are in short supply.
Bottles of nips may be in short supply after an alcoholic raids a hotel minibar. Is it wise to resupply it while the drinker is still there, intoxicated, begging for more?
Fascinating to me are the lack of moral arguments against America’s orgy of murderous weapons. The Bible says “Thou shalt not kill.” Killing is immoral and a crime unless as a last resort in self-defense. When our nation goes to war, it is also supposed to be in self-defense to uphold our Constitution and our highest ideals.
We always hear about a shared Judeo-Christian tradition—there’s a moral imperative here that demands fewer swords and more ploughshares. A God-given mandate to make war no more. To be peacemakers, not warfighters.
America, the shining city on a hill, should celebrate the sanctity of life rather than building more weapons to destroy life. But today’s America is much more akin to a heavily armed garrison-state, bristling with weapons, with satellite garrisons around the world.
Anyhow, Professor David Vine served as point man for a point paper on the unwisdom of using a shortage of munitions as leverage to justify more orgiastic Pentagon spending. It’s available online and I’ve pasted it below:
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Not Another Nickel for Bombs and War: Why the “Munitions Shortfall” Is No Reason to Boost the Pentagon Budget
★ Buying more weapons now would reward Trump for using tens of thousands of missiles, bombs, and interceptors in his reckless, illegal war of choice in Iran and would encourage more endless war and more out-of-control Pentagon spending.
★ The Pentagon is sitting on nearly $118 billion in unobligated reconciliation funds, including more than $44 billion for procurement, as of April, according to the Senate Budget Committee. Before Congress provides another dollar for munitions, it should ensure the Pentagon spends what it already has.
★ The Pentagon’s current budget is already far too large. It could easily buy additional bombs and missiles by canceling unnecessary weapons contracts, including Trump’s Golden Dome, the Trump-class destroyer, the Sentinel ICBM, and the F-35.
★ Even without replacing a single weapon, the U.S. military remains the world’s most powerful and fully capable of defending the country. We shouldn’t be preparing for war with China or any other nation. We should be pursuing diplomacy, arms control, and international cooperation to end endless wars and avoid new ones.
★ The wars in Iran and Ukraine show that the U.S. should prioritize inexpensive drones and remote technologies, not costly legacy systems that pad contractor profits.
★ Voting for a $1.15 trillion Pentagon budget is a vote for Trump’s full $1.5 trillion war budget since Republicans can pass the additional $350 billion in reconciliation funds on their own.
★ A $1.15 trillion Pentagon budget, alone, is a 28% increase over last year. A $1.5 trillion budget would be the largest in U.S. history.
★ Enough is enough. Congress should reject demands for a bigger Pentagon budget, including to buy more bombs and missiles. We should be cutting the Pentagon budget, not fueling more endless war.
More Background: For two decades or more, the U.S. has faced a persistent munitions shortfall. The services have long favored costly platforms like F-35s and destroyers over munitions, which are routinely placed at the bottom of funding priority lists. This was well‑known before Trump launched his illegal war of choice against Iran. Trump’s own advisors warned him that going to war with Iran while the U.S. had low munitions stockpiles would be reckless. In other words, today’s shortfall is not a surprise—rather it’s the direct result of long‑standing U.S. policy choices.
Bracing Views 
The country is suffering from a chronic condition, MMD – Multiple Munitions Deficiency. Vast infusions necessary to stem, if not reverse.
“Fascinating to me are the lack of moral arguments against America’s orgy of murderous weapons. The Bible says ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Killing is immoral and a crime unless as a last resort in self-defense.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967: “[T]he greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government.”
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“We always hear about a shared Judeo-Christian tradition—there’s a moral imperative here that demands fewer swords and more ploughshares.”
Verse 1 from “Onward Christian Soldiers”:
“Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See His banner go!”
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“The Pentagon is sitting on nearly $118 billion in unobligated reconciliation funds, including more than $44 billion for procurement, as of April, according to the Senate Budget Committee.”
The annual Infrastructure Report Card from the American Society of Civil engineers gives the “Schools” category a grade of “D+” https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/schools-infrastructure/. A section from its summary report reads:
“The annual funding gap to reach a state of good repair for the nation’s public schools has grown from $60 billion in 2016 to $85 billion in 2021. Critical needs at school buildings include water upgrades to remove lead and installation of cooling systems amid increasing temperatures. A 2021 study estimated that 13,700 additional schools must add air conditioning, representing more than $40 billion in investment needs.”
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Maybe this was when America was great, though Irving Berlin most likely at pains now:
“From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.”
My home sweet home.
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The Pentagon has not passed an audit for many years. They should not receive another taxpayer dollar until they can show exactly where all the money goes.
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Whatever money does not make it into corporate shareholder bank accounts, and actually produces weapons, is used for war crimes; not for defense. The Trump regime’s re-branding of the Department of DEFENSE to the Department of WAR is not a mistake and not a joke. Where the money goes is secondary to unjustifiable slaughter.
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This is a list of the top 10 countries with their estimated number of overseas military bases, in ascending order. (Take note of Iran, Russia and China whom the US government claims to be military threats).
United Arab Emirates: 3 to 4 bases (overseas presences located in Yemen and Somaliland).
Saudi Arabia: ~2 to 3 installations (including agreements in regions like the Horn of Africa).
Iran: 3 to 4 outposts (primarily active in Syria and Lebanon).
India: ~2 to 6 facilities (focused in the Indian Ocean, such as in Mauritius and Oman).
China: 3 to 4 major facilities (most notably in Djibouti, with emerging outposts).
France: 10 to 15 installations (primarily in Africa and its overseas territories).
Russia: ~35 bases in 11 countries (mostly in former Soviet states, Syria, and Africa).
Turkey (Türkiye): ~131 bases in 9 countries (heavily concentrated in the Middle East and Africa).
United Kingdom: ~118 bases in 38 countries.
United States: ~750–860 bases located in ~80–95 host countries.
FROM A PLANET-WIDE POINT OF VIEW, it is clear who is the military pariah (along with it’s many proxies, several of whom are in the above list).
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“Fascinating to me are the lack of moral arguments…”. Thank you Bill. Unless and until we start seeing and feeling with our hearts, with compassion, with some semblance of moral and ethical integrity, NOTHING will change. Period, end of story.
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The Department of Defense is the legal name of the U.S. military department. In September 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating “Department of War” as a secondary title. This is most obviously a more honest, and more terrifying, title. Not only should the budget not be increased, any institution with this purpose and intention should be abolished and it’s proponents imprisoned.
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