PRESS ROOM

“That reads like something that would be distributed by a Saudi foreign agent,” said Ben Freeman, who monitors foreign influence at the Center for International Policy. “Thousands of civilians had already been killed in Yemen, and we knew that MBS was the architect of that war. It’s hard for me to understand how CAP could support someone so oppressive and a regime with absolutely egregious human rights issues.”

On average, foreign military sales under Trump amounted to $57.5 billion per year, versus an average of $53.9 billion per year for the eight years under his predecessor Barack Obama, in 2020 dollars, according to Bill Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy think tank. Sales averaged about 6% more per year under Trump, Hartung said.

Peace and Social Justice

Writ­ers Mandy Smith­berg­er and William Har­tung dis­cussed last year, ​“There are at least 10 sep­a­rate pots of mon­ey ded­i­cat­ed to fight­ing wars, prepar­ing for yet more wars, and deal­ing with the con­se­quences of wars already fought.” As a result, the cost of war eas­i­ly exceeds $1 tril­lion per year, Smith­berg­er and Har­tung conclude.

The worst president in U.S. history and the worst Cabinet in U.S. history will soon be succeeded by Joe Biden and the promise of the best and most effective Cabinet in recent time. Biden’s success will ultimately be determined by the political posture of Senator Mitch McConnell, but the initial appointments to his administration point to a strategy designed for political success.

Some 80 antiwar and human rights groups are calling on Biden to immediately end military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, as he promised during the campaign.

Among their demands: “End all war-related U.S. logistical support, targeting assistance, spare parts transfers, and intel to the Saudi-led coalition” and “stop all sales of weapons to members of the Saudi-led coalition that could be used in the war and encourage U.S. allies and other countries to do the same.”

Dr. Ben Freeman, the Director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy (CIP), stops by the podcast to discuss his own intellectual and professional journey, his work on foreign funding and influence inside the United States, the oft-misunderstood role and defense-industry links American think tanks, why we should ever keep an eye on Saudi machinations, and the related prospects for Biden transition team—with more than a few quips and inside jokes along the way.

While industry will cheer the [foreign arms sales] total, William Hartung of the Center for International Policy warned that the total may be questionable.

“It is important to note that this is a vastly inflated figure if one is looking for statistics on sales that are actually likely to eventuate in contracts and deliveries,” according to Hartung. “There are many steps along the way in which an authorized sale can be sidetracked, including, for example, changes in demand and economic capacity on the part of potential customers.

“The truth is we do not have reliable figures from the Pentagon or the State Department on how much weaponry the United States delivers each year, and what items have been delivered to what countries. Without this information, it is difficult to fully assess the impact of U.S. arms exports.”

“It’s clear that the U.S. counterterrorism plan for Africa in the wake of 9/11 is a foreign policy failure,” said Temi Ibirogba, the Program and Research Associate for the Africa Program at the Center for International Policy. “These trends mean we need to think about racism within U.S. foreign policy. American exceptionalism has caused the U.S. to believe that their involvement in arming and supporting local security forces is what Africa needs.”

It is essential, Ibirogba told VICE World News, to replace the counterterrorism security model with one rooted in holistic peacebuilding measures. “What is needed is a human security approach that addresses the multidimensional root causes of issues,” she said. “One that focuses on investing in African nations’s infrastructures, health care systems, mental health services, social welfare programs, businesses and more, rather than investing in their militaries and police forces who are guilty of gross human rights violations.”

The appointee to National Security Advisor has a history of casual evasion of responsibility for his role in a series of disastrous foreign policy adventures.

Over the years, [the Center for American Progress] has assembled a list of heavy-hitting donors not just in the United States, but abroad as well. Among foreign donors CAP has taken money from is the United Arab Emirates – a country known for its poor human rights record.

Between 2014 and 2018, CAP received between $1.5 million and $3 million from the UAE, according to a report from Center for International Policy, a foreign policy research thank tank. But early last year, the group said it was no longer accepting UAE’s money.

Bill Astore, a retired Lieutenant Colonel (USAF), professor of history, one of TomDispatch’s regular contributors, and a senior fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network, stops by the podcast to discuss his career in the Air Force as an engineering officer, his family history of military service, the inherent problems in the American ideals of exceptionalism and hero worship, and the powerful, but often forgotten anti-war history of George McGovern.