I never really thought I'd see the day when the Senate actually votes against a Pentagon budget, but it happened. The Senate voted 50-46 to block debate on the 2027 NDAA because of the enormous topline of over a trillion dollars and because of Trump's war on Iran. Organizing the anti-war movement has meant pouring our entire lives into changing people's minds. It's finally seeing some success, and that is thanks to you and the tireless efforts of all of our amazing volunteers in D.C!
Just two weeks ago, I wrote to you about our campaign to Cut the Pentagon budget, and I am so thrilled I already get to write to you to say we are moving in the right direction. This isn't the end, but we are getting way, way closer to stopping this thing.
The bill will stay in the Senate while they figure out how to pass a budget. So, there's time to lower that topline and stop this thing in its tracks.
Write to your Senators and tell them to slash the Pentagon budget!
News & Analysis
👉🏼 Senate Democrats object to the NDAA amendment that would effectively merge the U.S. and Israeli Militaries. The provision managed to slip under the radar until last week, when a group of Senate Democrats, including Chris Van Hollen and Bernie Sanders, issued an appeal to their colleagues, citing this amendment as a reason to block the NDAA from moving forward. If implemented, the amendment would have established an extremely dangerous intersection of imperial powers that would have furthered war, surveillance, and genocide. Benjamin Netanyahu has been relentlessly pushing for the amendment to pass, saying this would shift the U.S-Israeli relationship from "aid to a partnership." The proposed merger was a clear, calculated act to push back against the increasingly popular argument that the U.S. aids Israel too much, as they would be merged into one holistic entity.
👉🏼 It is now being estimated that the war of attrition against Iran has cost the U.S. over 100 billion dollars. In turn, the Pentagon has begun to complain that they are running out of money. This is yet another example of how useless wars that kill innocent people do nothing but spread more corruption in the world, depleting resources that could instead be distributed to social services that actually help U.S. citizens.
Some of the CODEPINK team at the People's Conference for Palestine!
I don't have a ton to say other than what I've already shared with you. I was really happy to see this news, and it feels like a culmination of so much of the work CODEPINK has been doing since I was in diapers. In a few weeks, I will be celebrating my sixth anniversary with the CODEPINK team. When I look back and see how much life I've lived since then and how many incredible people I've been able to meet, I can't help but feel like I owe it all to you! Especially finally seeing a massive vote against war spending when I've spent the last six years working with you all to achieve something like this, I am filled with gratitude. Thank you for staying with us even when the fight felt impossible, when our ideas weren't popular, and when the war machine felt immovable.
Things are really starting to shift, and I can feel it, and I hope you can too. Thank you for an amazing six years!
Towards Liberation,
Featured Article
How the Pentagon Makes Us Poorer
By: Danaka, CODEPINK
"Yet the person who lost SNAP and the farmer who lost their income alike will be asked to foot the bill for the $1.5 trillion war budget. This is Robin Hood in reverse. Worse still, the weapons those taxes buy are often to use to kill children like ours in Gaza and Iran."
Further Reading
👉🏼 Read "US Senate Democrats block defence bill over Iran war, Israel integration."
👉🏼 Read "Iran war could be as much as 100 billion."
👉🏼 Read "The U.S. Military Is Almost Out of Money (Or So They Say)."
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