“Shock and Audit” – MoJo dissects the defense budget so you don’t have to

Today’s recommended reading:  “Shock and Audit“, a series in Mother Jones magazine — “MoJo dissects the Defense Budget so that you don’t have to.”

1. The Hidden Defense Budget
2. Operation Overrun
3. Where’s My Flying Tank?
4. The Axis of Pork
5. Mission Impossible

For more information about the Defense Death Spiral see Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information:

Our goal is to transform U.S. national security strategy to meet the missions and threats of the 21st century. Recognizing that security includes economic as well as military strength, the project considers both the fiscal and strategic implications of defense programs and promotes informed oversight of Pentagon activities. The Straus Military Reform Project provides analysis and fosters debate on the uses, strategy, doctrine and forces of the U.S. military and its role in the wider national security structure. It provides a forum for discussion and encourages the free expression of all views.

More information on the FM site about this topic appears below the fold.

Afterword

If you are new to this site, please glance at the archives below. You may find answers to your questions in these.

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For more information from the FM site

To read other articles about these things, see the FM reference page on the right side menu bar.  Of esp interest these days:

• About America’s national defence strategy and machinery
• About Iraq & Sub-continent Wars – my articles
• About Iraq & Sub-continent Wars – studies & reports

Posts about America’s military machinery:

1. Another cycle down the Defense Death Spiral, 30 January 2008
2. A neverending story: DoD’s attempts to stop cooking the books, 2 May 2008
3. Stratfor: “The U.S. Air Force and the Next War”, 13 June 2008
4. A lesson in war-mongering: “Maritime Strategy in an Age of Blood and Belief”, 8 July 2008
5. The foundation of America’s empire: our chain of bases around the world, 8 September 2008
6. No coins, no COIN, 6 October 2008
7. America’s Defense Meltdown, now avilable for free download, 20 November 2008
8. “What’s wrong with the US military?”, an interview with Winslow Wheeler, 10 December 2008
9. The economic Death Spiral of the Pentagon, 7 February 2009
10. Troops without proper equipment in 2004, troops without proper equipment in 2009 – where’s the outrage?, 20 May 2009