Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

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

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 11 Feb 2023 15:18
  • 2 Shares
5 Min Read

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.

  • x
  • Former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller (Reuters)
    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.

Related News

'Israel' faces massive economic fallout from its war on Iran

Japan cancels US security talks over defense spending demands

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." 

Read more: US lawmakers warn State Department over Afghanistan

  • Defense budget
  • US troops in Iraq
  • US troops in Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan
  • Iraq
  • US
  • US Troops

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS