Pentagon Death Numbers
Plus: Troy Jackson's race, City Without Children, the DEA and cocaine, the FDA and peptides, and more...
Pentagon
Trump Can't Just Pretend Iran War Casualties Don't Count
However the government chooses to list war casualties, it doesn't change the fact that Americans are dead because of the administration's choices.
Congress Wants To Keep Funding a Pentagon That Won't Account for Its Spending
The only federal agency that has never passed an audit could soon get another $60 billion, even as it buries reports on the spiraling costs of its programs.
As U.S. Starts 'New' Iran War, Lawmakers Want Answers About Deadly Elementary School Strike
A Tomahawk missile struck an Iranian school and reportedly killed over 100 children in February.
The Debate Over Israel Aid Is Coming. Congress Wants To Future-Proof the Relationship First.
The Israeli government is willing to phase out U.S. financial grants. But Mike Rogers and Tom Cotton want to lock in other forms of aid—without a debate in Congress.
The Draft Is Unpopular. Registration Becomes Automatic in December Anyway.
The federal government will now dig through databases to register 18-year-olds for conscription.
Trump's Self-Promotion Is Always Shameless and Sometimes Illegal
The president tramples the rule of law in his rush to glorify himself.
The Least Surprising Headline Ever: 'Blowing Up Boats Hasn't Slowed Cocaine Traffic to U.S.'
After nine months of murdering suspected cocaine smugglers, the Trump administration has no evidence that the strategy is working as advertised.
How to Make Sure AI Doesn't Spy on Us or Kill Innocent People
If we want powerful AI systems to respect liberty, now is the time to train them to be more libertarian.
The New York Times Sues Pentagon Over 'Retaliatory' Escort Requirement
The Pentagon instituted its new press rules in the fall, prompting a months-long legal battle over the First Amendment.
The U.S. Government's Shifting Excuses for Bombing a School in Iran
The Trump administration has come up with contradictory reasons to avoid admitting to an obvious, terrible mistake.
Trump's 'Golden Dome' Estimated To Cost $1.2 Trillion, New Report Reveals
The project’s critics have compared it to Reagan’s failed “Star Wars” initiative.
Pete Hegseth Can't Explain Why America Needs a $1.5 Trillion Military Budget
Sen. Mark Kelly says it "feels like that number was just kind of pulled out of thin air."
How Much Has the Iran War Actually Cost? A Lot More Than $25 Billion.
Direct military costs have exceeded $70 billion by one estimate, and Americans have paid more than $37 billion in higher energy costs since the war began.
D.C. Circuit Seems Disinclined To Let Pete Hegseth Punish a Senator for His Speech
The defense secretary argues that military retirees like Sen. Mark Kelly are not allowed to say things he unilaterally deems "prejudicial to good order and discipline."
AI Companies Learn the Word No
Some of the people building AI have started acting like it might be dangerous.
Allowing Censorship of Military Retirees Like Sen. Mark Kelly Would Set a Chilling and Dangerous Precedent
To justify punishing a legislator for his speech, a FIRE brief notes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth relies on a Supreme Court precedent that is clearly inapposite.
Pete Hegseth Wants the D.C. Circuit To Let Him Punish a Senator for Criticizing Him
The defense secretary's asserted authority to control the speech of retired military officers "would chill public participation by veterans," a brief supporting Mark Kelly warns.
FBI Goes After Whistleblower Who Helped Unmask the 'Fort Bragg Cartel'
The feds have arrested an Army staffer who spoke to a journalist for a book about special operations. The journalist says it's retaliation for exposing corruption.
Trump's Call for a $1.5 Trillion Military Budget Is Irresponsible, Wasteful, and Unrealistic
The proposal is "an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars and would make Americans less, not more, safe." Thankfully, Congress is unlikely to adopt it.
Government Actions Against Anthropic Are 'Classic First Amendment Retaliation'
Plus: the Facebook verdicts, porn star chatbots, facial recognition gone awry, drag queen regulation, and more…
10 Boats, 10,000 Troops
Plus: a pause on power plant bombing, an executive order to fund the TSA, a tentative plan to end the DHS shutdown, and more…
'What Are the Goals?' Some Republicans Questioning $200 Billion for Iran War.
With the Pentagon's track record, lawmakers are right to be skeptical.
Same Lies, New War: Trump and the Iraq Playbook
Unfortunately, Trump's war in Iran is every bit as shortsighted—and illegal—as the one in Iraq that he once called "a big, fat mistake."
$200 Billion War?Â
Plus: boots on the ground, The Bachelorette cancels season, Meta reverses itself on virtual reality, and more...
War Rations
Plus: Pete Hegseth spends millions on lobster tail and rib-eye steak, oil prices go for another roller-coaster ride, no inflation increase, and more...
Trump's War With Iran Is Unjustified and Unpopular
Plus: Congress is reluctant to assert its war powers, the Pentagon brands Anthropic a national security threat, and a listener asks whether regime change is ever morally defensible.
The Goalposts of the Iran War Keep Shifting
Trump and his team can’t get their story straight on why they started this war, how long they plan to fight it, and whether they'll put boots on the ground.
Anthropic CEO Refuses Pentagon Demands To Remove Safeguards on Military AI
Dario Amodei penned a public letter explaining the danger of the Defense Department's request to remove certain constraints from Claude, and refusing them outright.
Pentagon to Anthropic: If You Won't Let Us Use Your AI for Mass Surveillance or Autonomous Weapons, Expect Punishment
Pete Hegseth has threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to force Anthropic to come around.
Trump's Blatantly Unconstitutional Attempt To Punish His Congressional Critics Hits 2 Roadblocks
A grand jury and a federal judge rejected the president’s vendetta against legislators who produced a video about the duty to refuse unlawful military orders.
A Federal Judge Explains Why Trump Can't Jail Legislators for Producing a Video That Offended Him
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon notes that Sen. Mark Kelly's comments about unlawful military orders were "unquestionably protected" by the First Amendment.
A Grand Jury Rejects Trump's Attempt To Prosecute 6 Legislators for Saying Something He Did Not Like
The president was offended by a video reminding military personnel of their duty to disobey unlawful orders.
The Insurrection Act, Which Trump Keeps Threatening To Invoke, Is Alarmingly Vague and Broad
The antiquated statute arguably allows the president to deploy the military in response to nearly any form of domestic disorder.
Eric Trump Congratulates His Father for a Drop in Fentanyl Deaths That Happened Before He Took Office
The president's son also claims destroying cocaine boats somehow reduces fentanyl overdoses, echoing his father's confusion.
The DOJ Thinks Cocaine Couriers Are Not Worth Prosecuting. Trump Thinks They Deserve To Die.
Even as the president blows up drug boats, the government routinely declines to pursue charges against smugglers nabbed by the Coast Guard.
Trump's Designation of Fentanyl As a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' Is a Drug-Fueled Delusion
The executive order does not accomplish much in practical terms, but it jibes with the president's conflation of drug trafficking with violent aggression.
Hegseth Won't Let Us See a Video That Might Undermine Support for Trump's Bloodthirsty Anti-Drug Strategy
The defense secretary claims the video, which shows a second strike that killed two floundering survivors, would compromise "sources and methods."
Congress Gives the Military $8 Billion More Than It Asked for
The version of the NDAA passed by the House is larger than the administration’s budget request.
Trump's Word Games Can't Conceal the Murderous Reality of His Anti-Drug Strategy
Calling suspected cocaine smugglers "combatants" does not justify summarily executing them.
Trump Is Still Claiming He Saves '25,000 American Lives' When He Blows Up a Suspected Drug Boat
So far, by the president's reckoning, he has prevented 650,000 U.S. drug deaths—eight times the number recorded last year.
Hegseth Mulls Releasing a Video That Illustrates the Brutality of Trump's Murderous Anti-Drug Strategy
The footage shows what happened to the survivors of the September 2 attack that inaugurated the president's deadly campaign against suspected drug boats.
Boat Strike Inquiry
Plus: Hep B vaccines, national parks nonsense, Trump involvement in Netflix deal, and more...
The 'Threat' That Supposedly Justified Killing 2 Boat Attack Survivors Was Entirely Speculative
The commander who ordered a second missile strike worried that the helpless men he killed might be able to salvage cocaine from the smoldering wreck.
Boat Attack Commander Says He Had To Kill 2 Survivors Because They Were Still Trying To Smuggle Cocaine
Adm. Frank M. Murphy reportedly told lawmakers a controversial second strike was necessary because drugs on the burning vessel remained a threat.
Rand Paul Bashes Pete Hegseth Over Boat Bombings: 'He Was Lying…or He's Incompetent'
Paul says Hegseth misled Congress about deadly strikes on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean.
Hegseth's 'Fog of War' Is No Excuse for Summarily Executing Suspected Drug Smugglers
Regardless of what the defense secretary knew or said about the September 2 boat attack, the forces he commands are routinely committing murder in the guise of self-defense.
The Law of War Was Not Designed for Trump's Bogus 'Armed Conflict' With Drug Smugglers
Instead of asking whether a particular boat attack went too far, Congress should ask how the summary execution of criminal suspects became the new normal.
