The trillion dollar war.., p.33
The Trillion Dollar War Machine, page 33
24. “USAF Senior Leaders Visit Mariana Islands on ACE Trip,” US Air Force, April 5, 2024, www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3732110/usaf-senior-leaders-visit-mariana-islands-on-ace-trip.
25. Brad Lendon, “US Air Force to Reclaim Pacific Airfield That Launched Atomic Bombings as It Looks to Counter China,” CNN, December 22, 2023.
26. Dan Grazier, “A Rational China-Oriented Military Strategy,” Project on Government Oversight, June 8, 2023, www.pogo.org/reports/a-rational-china-oriented-military-strategy.
27. “Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia,” Military Installations, US Department of Defense, accessed January 25, 2024, https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/navy-support-facility-diego-garcia.
28. Michael McDevitt, “America’s Interest in Diego Garcia,” War on the Rocks, June 8, 2020.
29. “‘That’s When the Nightmare Started’: UK and US Forced Displacement of the Chagossians and Ongoing Colonial Crimes,” Human Rights Watch, February 15, 2023, www.hrw.org/report/2023/02/15/thats-when-nightmare-started/uk-and-us-forced-displacement-chagossians-and.
30. David Vine, “The Truth About Diego Garcia,” TomDispatch.com, June 14, 2015, https://tomdispatch.com/david-vine-the-forgotten-costs-of-war-in-the-middle-east.
31. David Vine, “The US Base at Diego Garcia Holds a Dirty Secret,” Inkstick, February 16, 2023.
32. David Vine, Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2011), 55‒59.
33. “UK, US Expelled Islanders 50 Years Ago, a Crime Against Humanity,” Human Rights Watch, February 15, 2023, www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/15/uk-us-expelled-islanders-50-years-ago-crime-against-humanity.
34. “‘That’s When the Nightmare Started.’”
35. “NSF Diego Garcia,” US Naval Forces Japan, 2025, https://cnrj.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NSF-Diego-Garcia/About/About-Diego-Garcia.
36. Norman Solomon, “The Most Important U.S. Air Force Base You’ve Never Heard Of,” Nation, July 7, 2016.
37. Solomon, “The Most Important U.S. Air Force Base.”
38. “U.S. Air Forces in Europe—Air Forces in Africa,” United States Air Force, accessed January 26, 2024, www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/609838/us-air-forces-in-europe-air-forces-africa.
39. Kathleen Schuster, “The Germans Taking on the U.S. Military,” DW.com, September 9, 2017, www.dw.com/en/ramstein-air-base-anti-drone-protests-the-germans-taking-on-the-us-military/a-40432117.
40. Jacob Knutson, “Where U.S. Troops Are Stationed in the Middle East,” Axios, October 31, 2023.
41. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980 (vol. 1, Foundations of Foreign Policy—Document 138, Address by President Carter on the State of the Union Before a Joint Session of Congress), United States Department of State, January 23, 1980, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v01/d138.
42. Jessica Purkiss and Jack Serle, “Obama’s Covert Drone War in Numbers: Ten Times More Strikes Than Bush,” Bureau of Investigative Journalism, January 17, 2017, www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-17/obamas-covert-drone-war-in-numbers-ten-times-more-strikes-than-bush.
43. Jo Becker and Scott Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Tests Obama’s Principles,” New York Times, May 29, 2012.
44. Micah Zenko, “Obama’s Final Drone Strike Data,” Council on Foreign Relations, January 20, 2017, www.cfr.org/blog/obamas-final-drone-strike-data.
45. Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List.’”
46. Charles J. Dunlap, “Body Counts Are Terrible Way for the Public to Assess U.S. Counter-Terror Operations,” Just Security, March 18, 2019.
47. Letta Taylor, “How Obama’s Drone Rules Enabled Trump,” Just Security, September 26, 2017.
48. Azmat Khan, “The Human Toll of America’s Air Wars,” New York Times, December 19, 2021.
49. Purkiss and Serle, “Obama’s Covert Drone War.”
50. Imogen Piper and Joe Dyke, “Tens of Thousands of Civilians Likely Killed by U.S. in ‘Forever Wars,’” Air Wars, September 6, 2021, https://airwars.org/investigations/tens-of-thousands-of-civilians-likely-killed-by-us-in-forever-wars; Peter Beaumont, “U.S. Air Wars Killed 22,000 Civilians Since 9/11, Analysis Says,” Guardian, September 7, 2021.
51. Azmat Khan, “Hidden Pentagon Records Reveal Patterns of Failure in Deadly Air Strikes,” New York Times, December 18, 2021.
52. Charlie Savage, “Biden Rules Tighten Limits on Drone Strikes,” New York Times, July 1, 2023.
53. AJLabs, “The Human Toll of Israel’s War on Gaza—by the Numbers,” Al Jazeera, January 15, 2025; Linda Bilmes et al., “United States Spending on Israel’s Military Operations and Related U.S. Operations in the Region, October 7, 2023–September 30, 2024,” Costs of War, October 7, 2024, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2024/USspendingIsrael; https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/liveblog/2025/5/29/live-israel-bombs-gaza-kindergarten-sheltering-displaced-people-killing-7; https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2024/IndirectDeathsGaza.
54. Jonathan Guyer, “A Biden Envoy to the Pacific Had Major Conflicts of Interest,” Jacobin, April 2024.
55. Guyer, “Biden Envoy to the Pacific.”
56. Heritage Foundation, “Renewing America’s Compacts in the Pacific: A Conversation with Ambassador Joseph Y. Yun,” YouTube, July 20, 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwoEK475Pdw.
57. Guyer, “Biden Envoy to the Pacific.”
58. “Space Fence,” Lockheed Martin, 2018, www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/space-fence.html.
59. Guyer, “Biden Envoy to the Pacific.”
60. Guyer.
61. Steve Walsh, “Navy Bribery Scandal Still Unfolding 8 Years After the Arrest of ‘Fat Leonard,’” KPBS Public Media, October 14, 2021, www.kpbs.org/news/local/2021/10/14/navy-bribery-scandal-still-unfolding-8-years-after-the-arrest-of-fat-leonard.
62. Sam LaGrone, “9 More Indicted in ‘Fat Leonard’ Investigation; Retired Admiral Arrested at Home,” USNI News, March 14, 2017, https://news.usni.org/2017/03/14/9-indicted-fat-leonard-investigation-retired-admiral-arrested-home.
63. Blake Herzinger, “Fat Leonard Cost the U.S. Navy More Than Money,” Foreign Policy, October 24, 2022.
64. Andrew Dyer, “More Felony Convictions Overturned as ‘Fat Leonard’ Case Unravels,” KPBS Public Media, May 21, 2024, www.kpbs.org/news/military/2024/05/21/more-felony-convictions-overturned-as-fat-leonard-case-unravels.
65. Joshua Goodman and Eric Tucker, “From Fugitive to Shackled Prisoner, ‘Fat Leonard’ Lands Back in US Court and Could Face More Charges,” Associated Press, December 21, 2023.
66. Edward Helmore, “Whiskey, Kobe Beef and Suckling Pig: Inside the ‘Fat Leonard’ Navy Bribery Scandal,” Guardian, September 11, 2022.
67. Robert Faturechi et al., “Disaster in the Pacific,” ProPublica, February 11, 2019.
68. Eric Lipton, “The Pentagon Saw a Warship Boondoggle: Congress Saw Jobs,” New York Times, February 13, 2023.
69. Lipton, “Pentagon Saw a Warship Boondoggle.”
70. Roger Wicker, “Senator Wicker Unveils Major Defense Investment Plan,” May 29, 2024, www.wicker.senate.gov/2024/5/senator-wicker-unveils-major-defense-investment-plan.
Chapter 7: How the War Machine’s Lobbyists Win in Washington
1. Joaquin Sapien, “How the Navy Spent Billions on Failed Littoral Combat Ship Program,” ProPublica, April 25, 2024.
2. Spencer Ackerman, “Navy’s $670 Million Fighting Ship Is ‘Not Expected to Be Survivable,’ Pentagon Says,” Wired, January 15, 2013.
3. David Axe, “The US Navy Is in the Thick of the Red Sea Fight. But There’s One Warship Class That’s Missing,” Telegraph, January 25, 2024.
4. Dan Grazier, “Why Do Air Force Planes Need $10,000 Toilet Seat Covers?,” Project on Government Oversight, June 15, 2018, www.pogo.org/analysis/why-do-air-force-planes-need-10000-toilet-seat-covers.
5. POGO’s whistleblower resources can be found here: www.pogo.org/whistleblower-resources.
6. Ben Freeman, “POGO Releases Navy Documents Showing Problems with the Littoral Combat Ship,” Project on Government Oversight, April 23, 2012, www.pogo.org/policy-letters/pogo-releases-navy-documents-showing-problems-with-the-littoral-combat-ship.
7. “Lockheed Martin Annual Lobbying Totals, 1998‒2024,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/orgs/lockheed-martin/lobbying?id=d000000104.
8. “General Dynamics Annual Lobbying Totals, 1998‒2024,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/orgs/general-dynamics/lobbying?id=D000000165; “Austal Ltd. Annual Lobbying Totals, 1998‒2024,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000074338.
9. “Innovative Federal Strategies (IFS) LD-1 Disclosure Form,” January 15, 2013, https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/31765304-2e46-43c0-b827-7d1d305357a0/print.
10. Stephen Semler interview with Ben Freeman, December 15, 2023.
11. Sapien, “How the Navy Spent Billions.”
12. Sapien.
13. “F-35 Domestic Impact Final,” Ceros.com, February 2024, accessed February 16, 2025, https://view.ceros.com/lockheed-martin/f35-domestic-impact/p/1.
14. Joe Gould, “New Report Clashes with Trump’s Job Growth Claims from Saudi Arms Sales,” Defense News, August 19, 2022.
15. “The 10-Year Trajectory of DC-Area Home Prices in 4 Charts,” UrbanTurf, February 16, 2024, https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_10-year_trajectory_of_dc-area_home_prices_in_4_charts/23165; “Consumer Price Index Historical Tables for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: Mid-Atlantic Information Office: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 10, 2022, https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/data/consumerpriceindexhistorical_washingtondc_table.htm; Dan Burrows and Donna LeValley, “The 10 Most Expensive Cities to Live in the U.S.,” Kiplinger, February 3, 2025; Eric R. Petersen, “Staff Pay, Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, FY2001‒FY2023,” Congressional Research Service, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44324.
16. Lee Fang, “When a Congressman Becomes a Lobbyist, He Gets a 1,452 Percent Raise (on Average),” Nation, March 14, 2012.
17. “Defense Lobbying,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 12, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?cycle=2024&ind=D; https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?cycle=2024&ind=D accessed May 30, 2025.
18. “Defense Lobbying.”
19. Semler interview.
20. “U.S. House of Representatives Staffers 2024, by Age,” Statista, July 5, 2024, www.statista.com/statistics/1454870/house-representatives-staffers-age-us.
21. “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024,” Public Law 118–31, United States Congress, December 22, 2023, www.congress.gov/118/plaws/publ31/PLAW-118publ31.pdf.
22. Jared Serbu, “Defense Industrial Base Loses Thousands More Firms, Mainly Because DoD Is a Tough Customer,” Federal News Network, February 10, 2023.
23. “Defense Recipients, 2024 Campaign Cycle,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary?cycle=2024&ind=D.
24. “Cost of Election, 1990‒2024,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/cost-of-election.
25. “Rep. Ken Calvert Summary Page,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/ken-calvert/summary?cid=N00007099.
26. “Rep. Mike Rogers Summary Page,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/mike-d-rogers/summary?cid=N00024759.
27. All details taken directly from the Department of Justice indictment: “United States of America vs. Robert P. Burke, Yongchul Kim and Meghan Messenger,” US Department of Justice, May 30, 2024, www.justice.gov/usao-dc/media/1353911/dl.
28. Konstantin Toropin, “Rare Criminal Trial of a 4-Star Admiral Heats Up with Allegations of Lies, Affairs and Competing Stories,” Military.com, July 25, 2024.
29. Craig Whitlock, Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy (Simon and Schuster, 2024), 6‒8.
30. “Lobbying Data Summary,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying.
31. “Former Members of Congress,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/revolving-door/former-members-of-congress.
32. Lawrence Lessig, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It (Twelve, 2015), 274.
33. Hailey Fuchs, “Drain the Swamp? This Guy’s Trying to Fill It,” Politico, October 15, 2021.
34. “Defense Lobbying Annual Totals, 1998‒2024,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?cycle=2024&ind=D; https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying?cycle=2024&ind=D accessed May 30, 2025.
35. Elizabeth Warren, “Pentagon Alchemy: How Defense Officials Pass Through the Revolving Door and Peddle Brass for Gold,” Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren, April 2023, www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/DoD%20Revolving%20Door%20Report.pdf.
36. Jordi Blanes Vidal et al., “Revolving Door Lobbyists,” American Economic Review 102, no. 7 (2012): 3731–3748.
37. “Post-Government Employment Restrictions: DOD Could Further Enhance Its Compliance Efforts Related to Former Employees Working for Defense Contractors,” US Government Accountability Office, September 9, 2021, www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-104311.
38. William D. Hartung, “March of the Four-Stars: The Role of Retired Generals and Admirals in the Arms Industry,” Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, January 11, 2024, https://quincyinst.org/research/march-of-the-four-stars-the-role-of-retired-generals-and-admirals-in-the-arms-industry.
39. “Rep. Buck McKeon Summary Page,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/buck-mckeon/summary?cid=N00006882.
40. Lee Fang, “D.C. Lobbyist Aids Rep. McKeon’s Wife,” Salon, January 30, 2012.
41. “McKeon Group LLC Lobbying Disclosure Form,” March 24, 2015, https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/31765304-2e46-43c0-b827-7d1d305357a0/print; “McKeon Group LLC Lobbying Disclosure Form,” March 24, 2015, https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/1dfe046d-61d8-4a62-b67f-109ace2a484b/print.
42. “McKeon Group LLC Lobbying Disclosure Form,” June 16, 2016, https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/51e68b26-ccde-4e17-97ef-4b84e10a58d8/print; “McKeon Group LLC Lobbying Disclosure Form,” February 23, 2016, https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/0a28b683-481d-41a4-aade-cd698fe004ba/print; “McKeon Group LLC Lobbying Disclosure Form,” April 5, 2016, https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/2cb4d32a-d31b-4dba-b270-28141f03ae11/print.
43. “Buck McKeon Short Form Registration Statement,” US Department of Justice National Security Division—FARA Registration Unit, November 16, 2016, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6391-Short-Form-20161116-2.pdf.
44. “McKeon Group Registrants—Saudi Arabia,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/fara/registrants/D000074510?cycle=2023.
45. “Lobbying Firm Profile: McKeon Group,” OpenSecrets, accessed February 11, 2025, www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/summary?cycle=2023&id=D000074510.
46. “Lockheed Martin in Saudi Arabia,” Lockheed Martin, accessed February 11, 2025, www.lockheedmartin.com/en-sa/index.html#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%20expressed,and%20programs%20with%20Lockheed%20Martin.
47. “The McKeon Group,” US Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act Supplemental Statement, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6391-Supplemental-Statement-20181230-4.pdf.
48. United States Senate, Roll Call Vote, 115th Congress, 2nd Session, “On the Motion to Discharge” (Motion to Discharge S. J. Res 54), www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=2&vote=00250; Joe Gould, “Senate Passes Resolution to End US Support of Saudi Arabia in Yemen, 54-46,” Defense News, August 19, 2022.
49. Ben Freeman, “The Saudi Lobby in 2018,” Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, Center for International Policy, April 2019, https://issuu.com/arableaks/docs/saudi_lobby_in_2018_-cfip.
50. Eli Clifton, “Norm Coleman Oversees GOP Congressional War Chest, Then Lobbies on Saudi Arabia’s Behalf,” Intercept, September 22, 2022.
51. Mike Stone, “Exclusive: Qatar Makes Formal Request for F-35 Jets—Sources,” Reuters, October 7, 2020.
52. “U.S. Congress: Don’t Meet with Nadeam Elshami—or Any Other Lobbyist Representing Abusive Middle East Governments,” DAWN, October 11, 2022, https://dawnmena.org/u-s-congress-dont-meet-with-nadeam-elshami-or-any-other-lobbyist-representing-abusive-middle-east-governments.
53. Cassandra Stimpson and Ben Freeman, “Japan’s Influence in America,” Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, Center for International Policy, November 2020, https://3ba8a190-62da-4c98-86d2-893079d87083.usrfiles.com/ugd/3ba8a1_7803e3925ccf4282a68ee9b310e2515b.pdf.
54. “Why the U.S. Drawing Down in Africa Is Troublesome,” US Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act Informational Material, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6700-Informational-Materials-20210625-11.pdf.
55. “This is former Senator David Vitter…,” US Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act Informational Material, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6170-Informational-Materials-20200311-326.pdf.
56. “The State of Qatar: A Reliable Security and Economic Partner to the United States,” US Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act Informational Material, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/7112-Informational-Materials-20230426-1.pdf.
57. “The Gallagher Group,” US Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act Supplemental Statement, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/7046-Supplemental-Statement-20220630-1 .pdf; “The Gallagher Group,” US Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act Informational Material, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/7046-Supplemental-Statement-20221229-2.pdf.
58. Mark Heeter, “Army Establishes Permanent Garrison in Poland,” United States Army, March 21, 2023, www.army.mil/article/265027/army_establishes_permanent_garrison_in_poland.
