Former official advises Washington "to cut military spending by half"

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Feb 2023 15:18
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Former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller focuses in his memoir on the double standards in the US military and how much was lost over a lie in the Iraq war.

Former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller (Reuters)

Chris Miller, the US' former acting secretary of defense, has dropped a bombshell when he pointed fingers at the "military-industrial complex", and urged politicians to "dramatically" reduce the Pentagon's budget, and cease demonizing China.

In an interview with CBS, Miller tersely stated, “We have created an entire enterprise that focuses economically on creating a crisis to justify outrageously high defense spending.”

The 'American war machine'

Miller stressed that with the military-industrial complex turning into a "hydra-headed monster" and the US having "virtually no brakes on the American war machine," it has become clear that it is necessary "to starve the beast to make people come out of their cubby holes and start thinking creatively."

The former acting Defense Secretary has also decried the regular saber-rattling that has come to dominate popular US political discourse about the alleged military danger emanating from China.

Miller believed that “by constantly harping on the fact that the Chinese are the greatest threat to America and what not,” Washington’s political class is giving China’s leadership the “opportunity” to “have an enemy that they can focus their people's anger and attention on.”

Defense budget and double standards

It is worth noting that Miller urged Washington, in his new memoir, to cut Defense Department spending by 40% to 50% so that it would be closer to pre-9/11 spending levels, given that the US is no longer waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

The top US official acknowledged that much of his dissatisfaction with the US military's direction appears to derive from the double standards he says have been revealed in the aftermath of the bloody US invasions in the Middle East.

“The more I thought, the more I was horrified,” Miller wrote.

“We invaded a sovereign nation, killed and maimed a lot of Iraqis, and lost some of the greatest American patriots to ever live — all for a goddamned lie,” he confessed.

Earlier this week, Miller revealed in an interview with The Hill that what bothers him the most is how “our young soldiers see the hypocrisy” in the system. On that note, he explained how it is possible for a soldier to get thrown out of their position for making a mistake on a supply request, per se, while “there’s the people who lose wars and end up advancing on to other positions of power and wealth.”

This theme of double standards is a recurring issue for Miller, as he frequently reaffirms his opinion that a country was war-torn and many men were lost over a lie in Iraq.

“The recognition that so many sacrifices were ultimately made in the service of a lie, as in Iraq, or to further a delusion, as in the neoconservatives’ utopian fantasy of a democratic Middle East… It still makes my blood boil, and it probably will until the day I die,” the memoir read.

However, Miller was also clear in his writing that there appeared to be no real incentive in Washington to decrease its defense spending.

Chris Miller during the invasion of Afghanistan

Chris Miller was a company commander with the 5th Special Forces Group, according to Military.com, and he played a key role in directing the first covert operation of the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Jason Amerine, a former member of the Miller's unit, said that the commander had a critical role in deciding how the first deployment took place.

"Chris basically got 5th Group into the war," Amerine, who has become a Future of War Fellow at the New America think tank, said according to Military.com.

Amerine explained "In 2001, as we prepared for Afghanistan, there really was no coherent plan initially, and big disagreements between special operations, CIA and the White House. Basically, Chris Miller volunteered 5th Group to become the [Joint Special Operations Task Force] -- to become JSOTF North and spearhead the invasion of Afghanistan."

State Department avoids question on breaking rules by invading Iraq

It is worth noting that in July of 2022, the US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price blatantly dodged a question on whether his country violated the rules-based international order through its invasion of Iraq under the Bush administration in 2003.

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of Baghdad possessing weapons of mass destruction, though none were found in its arsenal. The claims were made by the CIA.

"We can go down the historical rabbit hole, but I will try, and we'll try and finish up here," Price told a press briefing upon being asked about the war on Iraq.

The question came after Price said, "The rules-based international order is agnostic as to the country behind it, and it applies equally to the United States as it does to any other country."