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William J. Astore

William J. Astore, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and professor of history, is a senior fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network, an organization of critical veteran military and national security professionals. His personal substack is Bracing Views.

The Pentagon logo and an American flag are lit up in the briefing room of Pentagon in Arlington, VA. (Getty Images/Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Beyond the right’s “woke” slurs, what would a “progressive” U.S. military really look like?

William J. Astore
Men In Military Uniforms Standing (Getty Images / Michael Davis / EyeEm)

“The greatest fighting force in human history”: The perpetual wars you aren’t supposed to notice

William J. Astore
The Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. (AFP via Getty Images)

Ex-military officer: DOD budget shows vast power of the military-industrial-congressional complex

William J. Astore
Elizabeth Warren; Bernie Sanders (Getty/AP/Photo Montage by Salon)

POW nation: When will America free itself from war?

William J. Astore
Former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 2006.

Reclaiming American idealism

William J. Astore
Donald Trump holding the Bible (Getty Images/Salon)

America’s dark side in the age of Trump

William J. Astore
Police confront demonstrators as Black Lives Matter supporters demonstrate | Protesters hold their fists in the air during the protest against racism following the Black Lives Matter movement (John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency/Ying Tang/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

Killing democracy in America: The military-industrial complex as a cytokine storm

William J. Astore
Police in riot gear stand near Centennial Olympic Park during rioting and protests in Atlanta (JOHN AMIS/AFP via Getty Images)

“Light ’em up”: Warrior-cops are the law — and above the law — as violence grips America

William J. Astore
In this Tuesday, April 12, 2016 photo, musician "Deacon" John Moore holds his guitar in New Orleans. At 74, he remembers a time when America was headed in the right direction, when everything seemed to be coming together. It was in the 1960s, when black people like himself were seeing an end to racial segregation; when women were gaining equality; when politicians were taking a stand to end poverty despite the turmoil of protests over the Vietnam War. "Those were the best years," said Moore. "And then they were destroyed right before my very eyes when they assassinated all of our leaders. Robert Kennedy. John Kennedy. Martin Luther King. Malcom X. All of our leaders. And, you know, that was the end of hope. We had no more hope." (AP Photo/Jay Reeves) (AP)

Living through coronavirus hard times

William J. Astore
(Getty/John Moore)

The paradox of America’s endless wars

William J. Astore
(Getty/DWPhoto)

American exceptionalism is killing the planet

William J. Astore
(AP/Jean-Marc Bouju)

Killing me softly with militarism

William J. Astore
FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, file photo, an F-35 jet arrives at its new operational base at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. Shares of Lockheed Martin fell Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, as President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that making F-35 fighter planes is too costly and that he will cut "billions" in costs for military purchases. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) (AP)

The ultra-costly, underwhelming F-35 fighter

William J. Astore
(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

In wars and weapons we trust

William J. Astore
(Getty/AP/Salon)

The riptide of American militarism

William J. Astore
(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

The American cult of bombing and endless war

William J. Astore
(Getty/Joe Raedle/Chris Hondros)

How the Pentagon took ownership of Donald Trump

William J. Astore
In this May 2004 photo, a group gathers around a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) weapon, on display at the Air Force Armament Museum on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Fla. U.S. forces in Afghanistan struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, April 13, 2017, with a GBU-43B, the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said. (Mark Kulaw/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP) (AP)

Whose blood, whose treasure?

William J. Astore
FILE - In this March 7, 2017 file photo, Iraqi federal policemen open the road towards the government complex as Iraqi security forces advance during fighting against Islamic State militants in Dawasa neighborhood in western Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File) (AP)

The U.S. military’s lost wars: Overfunded, overhyped and always over there

William J. Astore
US Army soldiers investigate the site of an explosion, January 18, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq (Getty/Mario Tama)

Why American leaders persist in waging losing wars

William J. Astore
Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider (U.S. Air Force Artist Rendering)

The Air Force’s strange love for the new B-21 bomber

William J. Astore
FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2017 file photo, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford greets Defense Secretary Jimn Mattis at the Pentagon. A new military strategy to meet President Donald Trump’s demand “to obliterate” the Islamic State group is likely to deepen U.S. military involvement in Syria, possibly with more ground troops, even as the current U.S. approach in Iraq appears to be working and will require fewer changes. Dunford said Feb. 23 that the strategy will take aim not just at the Islamic State but at al-Qaida and other extremist organizations in the Middle East and beyond whose goal is to attack the United States. He emphasized that it would not rest mainly on military might. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) (AP)

Our enemy, ourselves

William J. Astore
In this May 2004 photo, a group gathers around a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) weapon, on display at the Air Force Armament Museum on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Fla. U.S. forces in Afghanistan struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, April 13, 2017, with a GBU-43B, the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said. (Mark Kulaw/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP) (AP)

The American military uncontained

William J. Astore
The end of the world (Shutterstock)

Preparing for doomsday

William J. Astore
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