War re Ukraine: Thread

[grarpamp]

Jon Stewart Skewers Military-Industrial Complex: Lost Wars & 'Pentagon
Got A Raise'

In a rare interview Jon Stewart skewered the military-industrial
complex and Washington policymakers behind the last two decades of
failed wars in the Middle East.

The well-known comedian pressed former US Army General and CIA
Director David Petraeus in particular on the fact that repeat
failures, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, have only led to the
Pentagon receiving a "raise".

    "It looks to me like we lost 20 years in Afghanistan, 20 years in
Iraq, and the Pentagon got a raise," Stewart said on “The Problem with
Jon Stewart."

Petraeus while on the defensive admitted that the decades of
'nation-building' in the Middle East "tempered enthusiasm" among the
population for interventionist action abroad.

But Stewart pressed him further on the constant record-breaking
defense budgets of the past years and this year's.

    "They got 50 billion more dollars than they even asked for," he
said in reference to the Defense Department getting approved for an
additional $58 billion beyond what it even requested.

Petraeus then claimed it is all necessary due to "a return of great
power rivalries and the need to transform the force" - an particularly
China. "Look, if we don’t do it, someone else will," Petraeus said.

Watch the tense exchange below:

    Has our military industry given us a complex? We ask Gen. David
Petraeus. to talk about what, if anything, we have learned from our
often cavalier approach to foreign policy. Watch the full interview in
our latest episode, “The Military Industrial Excess,” on @appletvplus.
pic.twitter.com/VONLIGyFyL
    — The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) March 10, 2023