Discurso de alerta do presidente Eisenhower sobre os riscos do complexo militar industrial

My fellow Americans:

Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor. This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen. Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all. Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation. My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years. In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward. So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

---

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

---

Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology-global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle-with liberty at stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research-these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs-balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage-balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between action of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.

---

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peace time, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United State corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system-ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

---

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we-you and I, and our government-must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

---

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war-as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years-I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

---

So-in this my last good night to you as your President-I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find somethings worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I-my fellow citizens-need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation’s great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing inspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Biden talks energy, Russia with South Africa’s Ramaphosa

By Trevor Hunnicutt

^{U.S. President Joe Biden greets South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 16, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein}

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday discussed relations with Russia in a White House meeting with South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, who has resisted joining Washington’s campaign against Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

Biden, who has led an international coalition to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the near-seven month war in Ukraine, wants South Africa’s help in efforts that include forcing Moscow to sell its oil at below-market rates. read more

After a jovial greeting before the press, the two leaders spoke privately in the Oval Office for more than an hour on topics that included trade, climate and energy, the White House said.

They committed to addressing several of “the world’s most urgent challenges over which we both share concern, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its negative consequences for food security in Africa,” the White House said.

Biden also announced $45 million in funding for an $8.5 multinational venture aimed at accelerating the phasing out of coal-fired power generation in South Africa.

The additional U.S. funding for the Just Energy Transition Partnership comes at time when declining natural gas and oil exports from Russia and Ukraine have boosted South African coal and set back decarbonization goals for one of the world’s most carbon-intensive economies. read more

In recent weeks, Biden and his aides have been ramping up engagements with African countries as they cast a wary eye on investments and diplomacy by rivals Russia and China on the continent. read more

Ramaphosa has resisted calls to directly criticize Russia, instead opposing the use of force generally. In March, he blamed NATO’s eastward expansion for instability and said the conflict should be solved through United Nations mediation rather than Western-led sanctions that hurt “bystander countries.” read more

South Africa was one of 17 African countries to abstain from the U.N. vote condemning Russia’s assault.

“Our position on this is respected, it is known and recognized,” Ramaphosa told reporters after the meeting. “Clearly the conflict has to be resolved. Our view is that it can best be resolved through dialogue and negotiations.”

Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) party, which has governed South Africa since white minority rule ended in 1994, had strong ties to the former Soviet Union, which trained and supported anti-apartheid activists.

However, South Africa still enjoys a high level of diplomatic clout among Russia’s rivals in the West relative to its economic size since its peaceful transition to democracy.

Last month, during a visit to South Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would not dictate Africa’s choices, after pledging to “do things differently,” following former President Donald Trump’s insulting remarks about African countries. read more

A bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in April would boost U.S. efforts to counter Russian influence in Africa.

“We have expressed our discomfort and our opposition,” Ramaphosa said in a video uploaded to Twitter. “We should not be told by anyone who we associate with and we should never be put in positions where we have to choose who our friends are.”

Africans often resent being a theater for competition between China, Russia and the Western order. The Ukraine war exacerbated the longstanding rivalry over Africa’s natural resources, trade and security ties.

War and inflation have pressured South Africa, where half of the population lived below the poverty line even before the war dried up Russia and Ukraine’s grain and fertilizer exports.

Biden is due to host more leaders from the continent in December, when ANC members will also decide whether to keep Ramaphosa as their party leader. read more

Fonte: https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-set-talk-ukraine-russia-with-safricas-ramaphosa-2022-09-16/

Most land mine use by US military banned, except for Korea

By CHRIS MEGERIAN

^{FILE – An international sign warning about mines hangs beside a minefield at Bagram Air Base on, March 22, 2002. The White House announced Tuesday a new policy curtailing the use of anti-personnel land mines by the U.S. military, reversing a more permissive stance that was enacted by former President Donald Trump. Under the policy, such explosives will still be allowed to defend South Korea against a potential attack by North Korea, but otherwise they will be banned. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)}

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday that it would restrict the use of anti-personnel land mines by the U.S. military, aligning the country’s policy more closely with an international treaty banning the deadly explosives.

The announcement reverses a more permissive stance by then-President Donald Trump, and it concludes a review that has lasted for more than a year. Bonnie Jenkins, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control and international security, said the new policy fulfills “a commitment that President Biden made as a candidate,” when he described Trump’s decision as “reckless.”

Anti-personnel land mines are buried underground or scattered on the surface, and they can pose a lethal threat to civilians long after combat has ended.

Under the new policy, the U.S. will restrict the use of these explosives outside of its efforts to help defend South Korea from a potential North Korean invasion. Although the U.S. does not currently have any minefields deployed there, Washington has pledged support for Seoul’s defense, which includes anti-personnel mines.

The U.S. has a stockpile of 3 million anti-personnel land mines. Under the new policy, any that aren’t needed to protect South Korea will be destroyed. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a question about whether any will be discarded.

The exception regarding the Korean Peninsula, which was also in place during President Barack Obama’s administration, leaves the U.S. short of full compliance with the Ottawa Convention, the 1997 treaty intended to eliminate anti-personnel land mines.

The announcement comes as Russia deploys such mines during its invasion of Ukraine.

“The world has once again witnessed the devastating impact that anti-personnel landmines can have in the context of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine, where Russian forces’ use of these and other munitions have caused extensive harm to civilians and civilian objects,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Fonte: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-land-mines-government-and-politics-5fd33b609ba1818b7186817dbc76f1e0

March For Our Lives: Tens of thousands rally for stricter US gun laws

^REUTERS

Thousands of protesters are gathering across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Texas.

Gun safety group March For Our Lives – founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting – said some 450 rallies were planned for Saturday.

It said it would not let politicians “sit back” as people continue to die.

US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to “pass common sense gun safety legislation”.

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

That attack, and another days earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US.

^REUTERS

March For Our Lives (MFOL) said political leaders’ inaction was killing Americans.

“We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die,” Trevon Bosley, a MFOL board member, said in a statement.

Among other policies, MFOL has called for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.

Rallies are being held in cities including Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The first MFOL protest was held days after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, in which 14 students and three adults were killed. Organisers say it was the largest gun safety rally in one day in US history, and thousands of students across the country left their classrooms to join the demonstrations.

Mr Biden, a Democrat who this month urged Congress to ban assault weapons, expand background checks and implement other gun control measures, said he supported Saturday’s protests.

“Today, young people around the country once again march with @AMarch4OurLives to call on Congress to pass common sense gun safety legislation, supported by the majority of Americans and gun owners,” he tweeted.

“I join them by repeating my call to Congress: do something.”

In recent weeks, a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators have vowed to hammer out a gun control deal, though they have yet to reach an agreement.

Their effort is focused on relatively modest changes, such as incentivising states to pass “red flag” laws that allow authorities to keep guns from individuals deemed a danger to others.

This week the US House of Representatives voted through a series of measures regulating the sale of guns.

But Republican opposition in the Senate means the bill has little chance of entering law.

Fonte: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61772039

Analysis: Subtle shift in U.S. rhetoric suggests new Iran approach

By Arshad Mohammed and John Irish

^{Iran’s and U.S.’ flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration}

May 24 (Reuters) – A subtle shift in official U.S. statements suggests Washington believes reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is better than the alternatives despite the advances in Iran’s nuclear program, diplomatic and other sources said.

For months, the Biden administration argued there would soon come a point where the non-proliferation benefits of a revived deal – its ability to limit Iran’s headway toward a nuclear bomb – would be outweighed by the progress of Iran’s atomic program.

“You can’t revive a dead corpse,” Rob Malley, the lead U.S. negotiator, said on Oct. 25. read more

Under the agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and struck by Iran and six major powers, Tehran limited its nuclear program to make it harder for it to get a bomb in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

Tehran has long said its program is for peaceful purposes.

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the accord in 2018 and reimposed harsh U.S. sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating the nuclear limits a year later. U.S. President Joe Biden has tried to revive the pact through indirect talks in Vienna, so far without success.

On Feb. 28, two weeks before the talks unraveled, State Department spokesman Ned Price said: “We will need to have additional clarity in the coming days given that we are at this decisive … moment, knowing that Tehran’s nuclear advancements will soon render the non-proliferation benefits that the JCPOA conveyed essentially meaningless.”

Others have used various analogies to describe the urgency, saying the runway was limited, the clock ticking and the window closing.

U.S. INTERESTS

However, Price and other U.S. officials have since put less emphasis on time running out and more on their only reviving the deal if it were in the U.S. national security interest.

“We’re going to test the proposition of a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA for as long as doing so remains in our interests,” Price said on April 26. “As long as the non-proliferation benefits that a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA brings is better than what we have now, that will likely be an outcome that’s in our interest.”

The phrase about reviving the deal only if it was in the U.S. national interest has been used before, including by Price on Jan. 4, but its renewed emphasis and the diminished stress on time dwindling is a shift.

“That’s a profound rewriting of the non-proliferation standard,” said one source familiar with the matter.

“What he is basically saying is that it’s not (a question of) whether or not it is providing us benefits equal to the previous JCPOA experience. It’s just saying that it’s better than today. And ‘better than today’ is a looser standard.”

Dennis Ross, a former U.S. diplomat who handled Iran policy for the Obama White House for two years, concurred.

“The formulation is now ‘it’s still in our national security interest to have this’ given the alternatives,” Ross said.

“This is an agreement where the breakout time will not be what it once was, because of the advances in the program, but this is still better than the alternatives available to us,” he said. “That’s the essence of where they are.”

Breakout time is how long it would take Iran to acquire the fissile material for one bomb if it decided to. The accord stretched this to about a year but it is now down to weeks, U.S. officials say.

The State Department has not provided a response addressing Reuters questions.

OPTIONS

Despite talk of “Plan B” options to address Iran’s nuclear program if the deal cannot be revived, there are few good ones. read more

Ross said alternatives include intensified economic pressure on Iran as well as U.S. or Israeli military action to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. None appeals to Washington, so it is still trying to revive the deal.

“Plan B is basically what plan A was,” Ross said.

Ross argued Washington now believes restoring some of the deal’s limits, such as its 3.67% cap on the purity to which Iran can enrich uranium and the a 202.8-kg limit on its enriched uranium stock, was better than the alternative.

According to a March 3 International Atomic Energy Agency report, Iran was enriching uranium to 60% purity and its stock of enriched uranium stood at 3.2 tonnes. read more

Talks broke down in March largely because of Tehran’s demand Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from a U.S. terrorism list and the U.S. refusal to do so, arguing that this was outside the scope of reviving the deal.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief on May 13 said he believed EU envoy, Enrique Mora, who coordinates the talks, made enough progress on a visit to Tehran that week to restart discussions. read more

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the visit was a chance to explore settling the remaining issues. “A good and reliable agreement is within reach if the United States makes a political decision and adheres to its commitments,” he said.

After Mora’s visit a European diplomatic source said neither side had committed to resume talks and finding a compromise on the IRGC remained improbable, if not impossible.

“The Americans were very vocal two months ago saying time is running out and we have to get a deal,” said this source. “But since March … they don’t seem to be in a hurry anymore.”

A Western diplomatic source said whether reviving the deal was worthwhile was ultimately a political decision.

“This is a political judgment,” this source said. “The deal has already lost its core benefits, but you can always argue that there are some things that make it more beneficial than nothing.”

Fonte: https://www.reuters.com/world/subtle-shift-us-rhetoric-suggests-new-iran-approach-2022-05-24/

Amazon sell-off ends dismal month for US shares

^REUTERS

US markets ended April in a deep funk, as investors turned their backs on once-favoured technology companies amid concerns about the economy.

A sell-off in Amazon shares, after the firm reported a fall in online sales, helped drive the Nasdaq index down more than 4% on Friday.

April was the worst month for the tech-heavy index since the 2008 financial crisis, with a 13% fall.

But the market downturn is not limited to tech stocks.

The wider S&P 500 logged it largest one-day decline since June 2020. It is down almost 14% since the start of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5% in April and has dropped about 9% since January.

Markets – often considered a predictor of future economic health – have been jittery as a economic threats have mounted.

Inflation is raging at a multi-decade high in the US and elsewhere, driven by higher energy prices and the war in Ukraine.

Key supply chains have been affected both by the war, and by the on-going impact of the Covid pandemic, especially in China where lockdowns are still being used to limit the spread of the virus.

Apple has already warned that it expects a big hit to its business due to disruption in China.

And Amazon, which profited from the pandemic boom in demand for home deliveries, has found that effect is now beginning to fade.

On Friday Amazon shares dropped 14%, after it reported sliding online sales and its first quarterly loss since 2015. Shares in smaller online shopping site Etsy fell more than 8%.

“Market participants are nervous to begin with, so there is a quick trigger when it comes to these names when there’s any uncertainty,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta.

“When assumptions about these companies’ growth fail to materialize, then there’s definitely a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ mentality.”

While consumer spending – the main driver of the US economy – has held up so far, there are growing worries that rising prices will make shoppers more careful, and could prompt a slowdown.

Earlier this week, the US reported its economy contracted by 0.4% in the first three months of the year. The European Union said Friday it had seen just 0.2% growth in the first quarter.

Fonte: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61279988

Ukraine seeks heavy weapons from U.S. at Kyiv talks, Zelenskiy says

By Natalia Zinets

^{Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a news conference at a metro station, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 23, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanic}

KYIV, April 23 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine hoped to secure heavy weapons at talks with the U.S. secretaries of state and defence in Kyiv on Sunday, supplies that he said were vital for Ukraine to eventually retake Russian-occupied territory.

The Ukrainian leader warned that Kyiv would quit talks with Moscow if Russia destroyed “our people” surrounded in the war-torn city of Mariupol or staged referendums to create more breakaway republics on newly-occupied Ukrainian soil.

At one point in an emotional news conference, he said that he thought Russia could use a nuclear weapon, but that he did not want to believe that Moscow would.

He said that it was absolutely vital for Ukraine to obtain more weapons.

“As soon as we have (more weapons), as soon as there are enough of them, believe me, we will immediately retake this or that territory, which is temporarily occupied,” he told reporters.

He used his news conference held in Kyiv’s metro system to announce the imminent arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for talks on Sunday.

“Tomorrow we will discuss this exact list of weapons that are essential for us and the pace of deliveries,” he said. “We expect this. We would like to have … powerful heavy weapons.”

He fought back tears at one point saying that he shared the pain of every Ukrainian who had lost children in Russia’s war and that Saturday’s missile strikes had killed eight people in the city of Odesa, including a three-month-old child.

He said that Saturday had been one of the most difficult days yet for Ukrainian forces encircled in Mariupol and that Kyiv had offered Moscow every possible kind of exchange deal to secure their release.

Ukrainian forces are holed up at a steel works in the city of Mariupol.

Fonte: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-seeks-heavy-weapons-us-kyiv-talks-zelenskiy-2022-04-23/