William Hartung
William D. Hartung is the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. He is the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex (Nation Books, 2011). He is the co-editor of Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War (Paradigm Press, 2008).
Articles by this author
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Views Tuesday, July 16, 2019 Merger Mania: The Military-Industrial Complex on Steroids When, in his farewell address in 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the “unwarranted influence” wielded by the “military-industrial complex,” he could never have dreamed of an arms-making corporation of the size and political clout of Lockheed Martin. In a good year, it... Read more |
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Views Thursday, May 16, 2019 It’s Time to Stop Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia The Senate’s failure to override President Trump’s veto of its effort to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen is not the end of the story. A way can and must be found to stop U.S. assistance in refueling, targeting, and other activities that bolster the Saudi/United Arab Emirats... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, May 07, 2019 Boondoggle, Inc: Making Sense of the $1.25 Trillion National Security State Budget In its latest budget request, the Trump administration is asking for a near-record $750 billion for the Pentagon and related defense activities, an astonishing figure by any measure. If passed by Congress, it will, in fact, be one of the largest military budgets in American history, topping peak... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, January 29, 2019 Our Man From Boeing: The Pentagon's Revolving Door Spins Fast The way personnel spin through Washington’s infamous revolving door between the Pentagon and the arms industry is nothing new. That door, however, is moving ever faster with the appointment of Patrick Shanahan , who spent 30 years at Boeing, the Pentagon’s second largest contractor , as the Trump... Read more |
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Views Thursday, November 01, 2018 Pentagon Socialism Given his erratic behavior, from daily Twitter eruptions to upping his tally of lies by the hour, it’s hard to think of Donald Trump as a man with a plan. But in at least one area -- reshaping the economy to serve the needs of the military-industrial complex -- he's (gasp!) a socialist in the... Read more |
!["Regardless of what ultimately happened to [journalist Jamal] Khashoggi," writes Hartung, "continuing U.S. arms sales and military support to Saudi Arabia under current circumstances is immoral."](https://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_small_thumb/public/views-article/thumbs/shutterstock_716915866.jpg?itok=ic7QCN2y) |
Views Monday, October 15, 2018 Jobs Are No Excuse for Arming a Murderous Regime If the Saudi government is indeed behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi there should be consequences—political, military, economic, and reputational. Unfortunately, President Trump begs to differ. His reaction to questions about whether the United States would cut off arms sales to Saudi... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Trump's Space Force: To Boldly Go... Nowhere! On June 18th, President Trump announced that he was directing the Pentagon to develop a new branch of the U.S. military, a “Space Force” that would give the U.S. “dominance” in that realm. It would be, he said -- and here he used a classic phrase from the Jim Crow era of racial segregation -- “... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, September 19, 2018 Congress Can Help End the Suffering in Yemen The Saudi intervention in Yemen—carried out with U.S support—ranks alongside the war in Syria as the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Without concerted action by Congress, things will get worse before they get better. The people of Yemen have already been subjected to unimaginable suffering... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, August 14, 2018 Donald Trump, Gunrunner for Hire American weapons makers have dominated the global arms trade for decades. In any given year, they’ve accounted for somewhere between one-third and more than one-half the value of all international weapons sales. It’s hard to imagine things getting much worse -- or better, if you happen to be an... Read more |
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Views Monday, July 02, 2018 Trump's "Infrastructure" Plan? Weaponized Keynesianism and a Pumped Up War Budget Other than shouting about building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, one of Donald Trump’s most frequently proclaimed promises on the 2016 campaign trail was the launching of a half-trillion-dollar plan to repair America’s crumbling infrastructure (employing large numbers of workers in the process... Read more |