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Mandy Smithberger

Mandy Smithberger is the director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Project On Government Oversight.

Truthout
Jan 29, 2019
Latest from Mandy Smithberger
President Joe Biden speaks alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a visit to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on February 10, 2021.
Op-Ed
War & Peace

Biden’s First Pentagon Budget Is One of the Highest Since World War II. Why?

Initiatives on rebuilding domestic infrastructure and combating climate change would do far more to keep people safe.
by
Mandy Smithberger &
William D. Hartung,
TomDispatch
June 29, 2021
Truthout
President Joe Biden, center, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, right center, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, right, tours the Pentagon on February 10, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Op-Ed
War & Peace

In the Middle of a Pandemic, We Shouldn’t Be Funding a New Cold War With China

The U.S. is in a crisis of the first order. Focusing on the wrong threats is the last thing we can afford now.
by
Mandy Smithberger,
TomDispatch
March 2, 2021
Truthout
Members of the National Guard arrive at the U.S. Capitol on January 12, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Op-Ed
War & Peace

More Military Influence and Spending Has Not and Will Not Make Us Safer

As the Biden years begin, it’s time to give some serious thought to how to demilitarize our democracy.
by
Mandy Smithberger &
William D. Hartung,
TomDispatch
January 28, 2021
Truthout
soldiers fire a gun
News Analysis
War & Peace

The Pentagon Continues to Profit at Taxpayers’ Expense During Pandemic

It’s time to reduce the defense budget and put more resources into the real crisis at hand.
by
Mandy Smithberger,
TomDispatch
May 4, 2020
Truthout
A tank is backlit by the setting sun
News Analysis
War & Peace

Actual National Security Budget Is Nearly Twice as Much as Announced Budget

At $1.21 trillion, the actual national security budget is almost twice the size of the announced Pentagon budget.
by
Mandy Smithberger,
TomDispatch
March 2, 2020
Truthout
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon conducts aerial refueling out of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, August 19, 2019.
News Analysis
War & Peace

The Military-Industrial Complex Gets Away With Murder in Contract After Contract

Congress recently passed, and President Trump approved, one of the largest Pentagon budgets ever.
by
Mandy Smithberger,
TomDispatch
January 21, 2020
Truthout
U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks during the joint press conference with Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford on August 28, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia.
News Analysis
War & Peace

Beware of Defense Secretaries Pledging Reform

Until profit motives are removed, it will be impossible to reform the Pentagon.
by
William D. Hartung &
Mandy Smithberger,
TomDispatch
September 26, 2019
Truthout
The military gravy train is running full speed ahead.
News Analysis
War & Peace

The US Is Spending $1.25 Trillion Annually on War

The military gravy train is running full speed ahead.
by
William D. Hartung &
Mandy Smithberger,
TomDispatch
May 7, 2019
Truthout
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan attends a cabinet meeting at the White House, January 2, 2019, in Washington, DC.
Op-Ed
War & Peace

Has the Arms Industry Captured Trump’s Pentagon?

Patrick Shanahan, who spent 30 years at Boeing, is the Trump administration’s acting secretary of defense.
by
Mandy Smithberger &
William D. Hartung,
TomDispatch
January 29, 2019
Truthout

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