Yet More Madness from the Pentagon
SEP 21, 2026
Last week, the Secretary of the Air Force announced the U.S. has weapons in space. As Ken Klippenstein has noted, the announcement was in effect a bid for more mega-billions for the U.S. Space Force. Here’s a helpful chart, courtesy of Klippenstein:
Greater than 120%: now that’s a budget increase!
Zealots and opportunists are ruling us. The zealots actually believe that America’s security is best attained through full-spectrum dominance, including space dominance. The opportunists don’t care one way or the other–they’re just pursuing the golden flow of money emanating in a steady stream from the Trump administration in the cause of that dominance.
Greed and bellicosity are the fundamental problems. These men (I’d wager they’re all men) define everything in terms of conflict and dominance. They are Klingons, proudly so, without a Klingon sense of honor. To mix movie references, they are imperial stormtroopers seeking their own Death Star wonder weapons.
Space should be a realm for exploration and inspiration, a place for humans to grow further in knowledge and wisdom. These morally impoverished souls are ruining space even as they poison the earth.
Again, it’s not just about space weapons. It’s a major money- and power play by America’s youngest service, the U.S. Space Force, complete with proposed fascistic uniforms for its “guardians” based on the movie “Starship Troopers.”
There just wasn’t enough money/influence for U.S. Space Force in its primary mission of defense and deterrence, so now it’s all about war fighting and weapons. That’s where the real money is at, and the Space Force wants a bigger slice of the fiscal pie, irrespective of the risk of a war in space.
We’re clearly entering a new “space race,” not a quest as in the 1960s to put a man on the Moon to upstage the Soviets, but one where the U.S. attempts to occupy and dominate space while projecting power, i.e. killing people, from orbit. U.S. weapons in space will provoke other countries like Russia and China to respond in kind; the proliferation of weapons, some likely controlled by AI, will greatly increase the likelihood of major disruptions in vital satellite communications here on earth–and that may be the least of our problems if satellites monitoring nuclear forces are disrupted.
Pete Hegseth’s “Department of War” is creating an escalatory dynamic that makes a war in space much more likely and the U.S. far less safe–yet another “war of choice” inflicted on the world. As the saying goes, it’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake, a most grievous one for humanity.
Bracing Views 
The October issue of The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs has an article “Israeli Politicians Focus on Foreign Threats, Ignoring Spiralling Debt.” Note these parallels with just a few word substitutions that easily extend to this country, with the added foreboding of a near-consummated intertwining of “Pete Hegseth’s ‘Department of War’” and the IDF and where that will lead.
“But the focus on war and the perceived existential threat to Israel [the United States] from those opponents masks that few of the most prominent contenders in October’s [November’s] election are discussing the astronomical cost of the country’s multiple conflicts, and how they plan to deal with it.”
“That has all contributed to Israel’s [America’s] national debt soaring.”
“There isn’t really much of an understanding of how debt works, or even the massive costs of servicing that debt. Instead, politicians assume voters are just far more interested in hearing the typical jingoism and deliver that.’”
“Israel’s [America’s] debt has been swollen by the government’s military campaigns and is being repaid by a treasury under increasing strain.”
“While tax collection hit a record… in 2025… the cost of defense and the cost of servicing Israel’s [America’s] debt are rising faster still.”
“’As a result of the war it [the national debt] has been climbing, and the higher defense spending that is planned implies it will carry on growing unless we see higher taxes or cuts in civilian spending,’ said a professor of economics. “It’s unsustainable,” he said, adding that, despite the overall growth in the economy, politicians would need to increase taxes to meet the cost of maintaining the debt.
“Despite the staggering cost of its wars, the Israeli [American] economy is nonetheless expected to grow at 3.5 percent this year, with much of that attributable to Israel’s [America’s] cutting-edge tech sector, especially investments in cybersecurity and its defense sector…” [You may recall my previous mentioning of several categories of the of the Infrastructure Report Card for 2025 of the American Society of Civil Engineers getting a grade of “D”.]
A cutting edge hi-tech sector, of course with AI focusing on surveillance and “defense,” comprising an increasing slice of the economy. Nothing of any human or productive relevance, just spying and killing. Such are the present and future eras.
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