The Sustainability of the War Economy?

December 17th, 2008 Posted by

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Eugene Jarecki

Eugene Jarecki

Today’s show focuses on the intersection between sustainability and war — sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Eugene Jarecki, author of The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril, certainly thinks so. Jarecki explains to CWR Co-Host Francesca Rheannon how the mission of the military, to protect and defend the United States, gets subordinated to the enrichment of military contractors.

CWR News Analysis:

Hunter Lovins

Hunter Lovins

Natural Capitalism Solutions Founder Hunter Lovins analyzes the sustainability of the military, focusing on the 2007 US Army Sustainability Report released in September 2008.

CWR ViewPoint :

Linda Bilmes

Linda Bilmes

Harvard Professor Linda Bilmes, co-author with Joseph Stiglitz of The Three Trillion Dollar War, discusses her blog post this week about the report issued by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. She says it calls the US reconstruction effort in Iraq “a massive, unmitigated fiasco and waste of taxpayer money.”

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2 Responses to “The Sustainability of the War Economy?”

  1. Erik Hoffner says:
    January 8, 2009 at 3:15 pm

    Great conversation. Really interesting to consider, that if we are going to have a military, how should it operate so that it isn’t as destructive as it might be. War can never be sustainable, of course.

    Erik, Orion Grassroots Network

  2. Bill says:
    January 8, 2009 at 4:42 pm

    Thanks Erik. And thanks for the Gristmill blog post today focusing on this show!

    “What’s red, not green, and black all over?
    A mild reminder in the Gaza chaos that war is not green”

    http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/1/6/174457/1288