As Grenada's government considers the Trump administration's request to set up a military radar base on the island to monitor nearby Venezuela, calls for authorities and islanders to reject the move and allow Grenada to avoid an impending war are beginning to emerge. Leading the charge for the Dickon Mitchell administration to politely say no to the base at the Maurice Bishop International Airport comes from no less influential regional labor leader and ex-senate president Chester Humphrey.
U.S. Central Command is reportedly establishing a "civil-military coordination center" in Israel, staffed with hundreds of troops, to monitor the newly implemented ceasefire in Gaza, U.S. officials have said. U.S. outlets have reported that the military is slated to send 200 troops to Israel for the effort, with some having already been sent. The troops are there, officials said, primarily to provide "security" support and to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The U.S. military is considered to be the premier fighting force of the world. It has 2.1-2.3 million personnel and 4,800 sites (the majority are in the U.S.; overseas sites number roughly 750 across 80 countries). Add to that an annual budget of more than $700 billion and you have a force to be reckoned with. However, not all weapons used by the military are brand new. They tend to hold on to some of the best weapons and use them for a long time.
The recently released budget documents offer new insight into the extent of the US military's defense of Israel and also the weapons that American forces used during their extensive bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities in June. One document requests $498.265 million in funding to replace the US Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptors that were "expended in support of Israel."
Ares Industries, a new American defense startup company, claims to be developing novel defense technologies. In particular, the company says they are developing prototypes for a new class of anti-ship cruise missiles, with the goal of creating missiles that are both smaller and cheaper. Instead of missiles costing $3 million to produce, Ares Industries is looking to produce missiles at just $300,000. Should the U.S. ever enter into a war with China, Ares Industries sees these weapons as essential,
The device that took off in Texas, called the Roadrunner, was made by the Silicon Valley defense startup Anduril. By Pentagon standards, the Roadrunner is cheap (around a hundred thousand dollars apiece), and, if it fails to strike its target, it returns to base, ready to try again.
For the first time in my life, in his last administration, the president called that into question. I was horrified. That sort of opens a door to a terrible miscalculation by Moscow that maybe the U.S. would not be so committed.
