Dressed in green military fatigues and a blue garrison cap, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, a spokesperson for Niger’s ruling junta, took to local television last month to criticize the United States and sever the long-standing military partnership between the two countries. “The government of Niger, taking into account the aspirations and interests of its people, revokes, with immediate effect, the agreement concerning the status of United States military personnel and civilian Defense Department employees,” he said, insisting that their 12-year-old security pact violated Niger’s constitution. More

In fiscal year 2023, the Pentagon received $858 billion for the preparation of war. This doesn’t include hidden costs for intelligence services, veterans’ benefits, Homeland Security, or the Department of Energy which oversees the nation’s nuclear arsenal. All totaled, over $1 trillion a year is allotted for warmaking. One way to register resistance to this profligate spending on warmaking is that of renowned peace activist and Catholic priest Philip Berrigan.  During the Vietnam war, Phil initiated the destruction of U.S. military draft files in Baltimore and Catonsville, Maryland to save the lives of both Vietnamese and Americans, actions for which he received lengthy prison sentences. More