Adam Weinstein

Reporter

I'm Mother Jones' national security reporter, specializing in civil-military relations, budgeting, and nuclear policy. As a Navy vet and ex-Iraq contractor, I'm committed to articulating all things martial—good, bad, and weird—to new audiences.

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Adam Weinstein is Mother Jones' national security reporter, having previously served the magazine as its copy editor. Before that, he worked at the Wall Street Journal, the Village Voice, and the Tallahassee Democrat. He's written for the New York Times, New York magazine, GQ, and Newsweek. A Navy veteran, two-day Jeopardy champion and ex-political scientist, he also did a recession-fueled stint as a military contractor in Iraq. For more about Adam and his writing, click here.

The $1.45 Trillion Fighter Jet—and the Florida Deficit Hawks Who Love It

One of the Pentagon's most-criticized expenditures is warmly welcomed in tea partier Rick Scott's Sunshine State.

—By Adam Weinstein

| Wed May. 23, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

The F-35 fighter jet's first missile floated wide. The second found its target, and an explosion brought the bogey down. "Yes! Got him! Woo!" exclaimed the pilot, Jennifer Carroll, a 52-year-old former Navy officer and airplane mechanic.

But it's Carroll's current job—lieutenant governor of Florida—that explains why her simulator flight was being closely watched by about two dozen members of the Florida League of Defense Contractors at an industry gathering in Tallahassee on a drizzly morning in mid-February.

Next, with a technician from Lockheed Martin furiously pointing at indicators and whispering commands over her shoulder, Carroll nosed the simulator down to take on a ground target. "Three, two, one…blam!" she exclaimed, to laughter. "Osama, you're gone!" Virtual mission accomplished.

Carroll's real aim at the gathering was to affirm that she and her boss, Gov. Rick Scott, stood ready to wage battle alongside the assembled business owners, lobbyists, and retired military types to guarantee that Florida's economy will continue to benefit from a steady infusion of defense dollars; one study from 2010 pegged military spending in Florida at $30 billion.

[Read the full article]

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Is Congress Really Authorizing US Propaganda at Home?

Progressives are worked up over a new "brainwashing" law for misguided reasons.

—By Adam Weinstein

| Tue May. 22, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Prepare for an incoming transmission: Flickr/Steven HegerLate last Friday, Buzzfeed reporter and Rolling Stone contributor Michael Hastings broke what looked like a big scoop: Congress was quietly planning to lift a 64-year-old law preventing the US government from using propaganda on its own citizenry. Before the House passed its defense budget bill Friday afternoon, Hastings reported, a bipartisan group of congressmen tacked on an amendment that would "essentially neutralize" a set of time-tested guidelines "that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own government's misinformation campaigns."

Progressive thinkers balked at the news: Mideast expert Juan Cole decried the amendment as "the creeping fascism of American politics…by our representatives, who apparently have never read a book on Germany in the 1930s-1940s or on the Soviet Union in the Stalin period." On civil libertarian Jonathan Turley's site, guest blogger Elaine Magliaro asked: "How about some propaganda for the people paid for by the people being propagandized?"

But the outcry in this case seems misguided. For starters, the proposed law doesn't permit the spread of any information that isn't already available to the American public. Moreover, the amendment could conceivably bring more of the government's overseas information operations into the sunlight, a good thing.

[Read the full article]

Influential Ex-General: Cut US Nukes Now

—By Adam Weinstein

| Fri May. 18, 2012 6:00 AM PDT

Gen. James Cartwright in 2009, with then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates: National GuardWhen it comes to national security, James "Hoss" Cartwright is probably worth listening to. The four-star Marine general capped off 40 years in uniform with a stint as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retiring last August. Now Cartwright is weighing in on the size of America's nuclear arsenal, and not in the way you might expect: He wants the United States to slash its nuclear stockpile by more than 80 percent.

"The world has changed, but the current arsenal carries the baggage of the cold war," Cartwright told the New York Times on Wednesday. "There is the baggage of significant numbers in reserve. There is the baggage of a nuclear stockpile beyond our needs. What is it we're really trying to deter? Our current arsenal does not address the threats of the 21st century."

Cartwright was promoting a report by the disarmament policy group Global Zero, also released Wednesday, that proposes the US reduce its nuclear arsenal to 900 warheads. (In its most recent count, the US claimed to posssess 5,113 nuclear warheads.) The report was endorsed by Cartwright, former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, a retired NATO general, an ambassador, and an ex-arms negotiator. "For the United States, deterring and defeating aggression in today's world depends a great deal less on projecting nuclear offensive threat and a great deal more on the skilled exercise of all the instruments of power, both 'soft' and 'hard,'" the report states.

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

PHOTOS: New Evidence Released in Trayvon Martin Case

—By Adam Weinstein

| Thu May. 17, 2012 5:29 PM PDT

Trayvon Martin died of a single gunshot to the heart, and had traces of marijuana in his blood and a single scratch on one knuckle when he died, according to a trove of new evidence released by the state of Florida Thursday night. According to the documents, the Sanford police believed that the teen's death was "ultimately avoidable," if his killer, George Zimmerman, had "remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement" on that fateful night in February.

The evidence includes hundreds of pages of documents and photographs gathered by Florida Special Prosecutor Angela Corey and shared earlier this week with the attorneys of Zimmerman as part of the discovery process in his trial for second-degree murder. Zimmerman admitted to shooting the 17-year-old Martin in February, but has claimed that he killed the unarmed, hoodie-wearing African American teen in self-defense.

Corey's office made the evidence available to reporters online Thursday night, and highlights quickly emerged on social media. The evidence included these photos:

The gun George Zimmerman used to kill Trayvon: a 9mm Kel-Tec PF9 double-action pistol: State of Florida

A cellphone found at the crime scene, believed to be Trayvon Martin's: State of Florida

Photo of George Zimmerman after the shooting: State of Florida Photo of George Zimmerman the night of the shooting: State of Florida

Cuts on Zimmerman's head the night of the shooting: State of FloridaAnd then there's the first known picture of Zimmerman from on the scene of the shooting. According to the New York Times: "The police took only one photo at the scene of any of Mr. Zimmerman’s injuries — a full-face picture of him that showed a bloodied nose—before paramedics tended to him…It was shot on a department cellphone camera and was not downloaded for a few days, an oversight by the officer who took it."

The first on-scene photo of Zimmerman, which wasn't recovered from a police officer's cellphone until days after the killing: State of Florida Photo of Zimmerman recovered from a police officer's cellphone days after the killing: State of Florida

Details from the newly released collection of documents quickly emerged on Twitter late Thursday, as journalists pored through the documents:

https://twitter.com/search/%2523Trayvon">#Trayvon was shot through the heart by https://twitter.com/search/%2523Zimmerman">#Zimmerman, according to autopsy http://bit.ly/KpJSOy">bit.ly/KpJSOy
— OSTrayvonMartin (@OSTrayvonMartin) May 17, 2012

The things https://twitter.com/search/%2523TrayvonMartin">#TrayvonMartin carried: red "711" lighter; $40.15; pack of https://twitter.com/search/%2523Skittles">#Skittles; headphones and a photo button
— Russell Goldman (@GoldmanRussell) May 17, 2012

Cops reported witness heard #GeorgeZimmerman yell "help me" 14 times in 38 seconds while allegedly battered by #TrayvonMartin
— Russell Goldman (@GoldmanRussell) May 17, 2012

Document: Forensic audio analysts couldn't tell if cries for help came from Trayvon or Zimmerman - scr.bi/JW5Ye1
— Matthew Keys (@ProducerMatthew) May 17, 2012

Police: When Tracy Martin first heard the cries for help on the 911 tape, he said it was NOT Trayvon's voice.

— Frances Robles (@RoblesHerald) May 17, 2012

One witness was adamant: there was no fighting when the gunshot rang out.
— Frances Robles (@RoblesHerald) May 17, 2012

Cutcher told cops: "I know they were not physically fighting at the time that gun went off when we heardshot and the kid hit the ground."
— Frances Robles (@RoblesHerald) May 17, 2012

Trayvon had blood stains on his shirt -- blood from both him and Zimmerman. #trayvon
— Frances Robles (@RoblesHerald) May 17, 2012

Why Mitt Romney Is No Fan of Breastfeeding

When it comes to moms and their babies, Romney has been hungry to suckle at the corporate teat.

—By Adam Weinstein

| Thu May. 17, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Breastfeeding is having another moment. Thanks to Time magazine's creepy cover pic of young mom Jamie Lynne Grumet nursing her three-year-old son, the nation has once again gone tits-up over how mothers opt to feed their young. The choice is not an easy one: As previous Mother Jones parents will attest, there's an enormous emotional and physical cost to breastfeeding. On the other hand, mother's milk doesn't contain secret toxic chemicals, put babies at increased risk for diabetes and asthma, or enrich already-bloated pharmaceutical companies to the tune of $8 billion a year.

One person doesn't seem very conflicted about favoring formula, though: Mitt Romney. As Massachusetts governor, he took steps friendly to Big Pharma that helped push pre-fab formulas on new moms. Romney's pro-corporate, anti-mammary agenda could now have implications as he struggles to convince a key constituency of female voters that he's got their interests at heart.

Romney's role goes back to early 2006, when Massachusetts' Public Health Council tried to ban so-called baby swag bags, totes full of free supplies that were given to new mothers as they left their delivery hospitals. Formula manufacturers had stuffed the bags with samples and coupons; the panel worried that the moms would see that as a hospital endorsement of less-healthy formulas and would influence the moms to miss out on the medical and financial benefits of breastfeeding.

A marketer funded by the "International Formula Council" also worked on Romney's presidential campaign.

"The marketing of infant formula undermines the initiative to nurse," Phyllis Cudmore, a council member, told the Boston Globe. "I don't think there's any place in a hospital for corporate America trying to influence a vulnerable population." A pediatric expert at Boston University's medical school added: ''The commercial stuff like gift bags—it's like Pepsi-Cola in the schools." (Statistics show three-fourths of moms start out nursing their kids, but fewer than half are still breastfeeding after six months.)

Romney was having none of it, decrying the swag ban as "the heavy arm of government" squeezing dear ol' ma. "I think that the mother should have the right to decide whether she is going to use infant formula or breast-feed," he said in a press conference. "And allowing her to make that decision is best [done] by letting her have the formula, and if she wants to use it, fine."

By May 2006, Romney had removed three anti-swag council members, including Cudmore, and added new ones who permanently reversed the ban. Shortly thereafter, in early June, Romney's administration proudly announced that Massachusetts had beaten out three other states to get a $660 million facility for pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb—parent company to the manufacturer of Enfamil, one of the country's biggest-selling infant formulas.

[Read the full article]

National Guard Confirms Identity of Alleged Neo-Nazi Soldier

—By Adam Weinstein

| Fri May. 11, 2012 11:13 AM PDT

Flickr/JasonSansone

Mother Jones has confirmed that a soldier in the Missouri National Guard, an Iraq war veteran, is being sought for allegedly joining and training a paramilitary white supremacist group that was preparing for a coming "race war" in the United States. A spokeswoman confirmed that the soldier in question is Spec. Ryan Riley, a member of Company A, 1/138th Infantry Regiment based in Boonville, Missouri. "We are conducting an internal investigation," said the spokeswoman, Maj. Tammy Spicer.

Mother Jones first reported the allegations against Riley on Wednesday, which were detailed in an affidavit against Marcus Faella, an alleged ringleader of the neo-Nazi American Front. Faella and at least a dozen other suspects were arrested in a joint FBI terrorism investigation this week alleging that the group members had trained with weapons at their Central Florida compound and planned a series of violent hate crimes. According to the affidavit, Riley—a "patched" member of the American Front's Missouri gang—traveled to Florida to train the group in military tactics:

Riley's identity was first guessed at by milblogger Jonn Lilyea, who found a Missouri-based "Ryan T. Riley" in Army Knowledge Online, the service's internet training portal for soldiers. Spicer confirmed Riley's identity to Mother Jones in an email Friday afternoon. Riley served eight years in the Army (an unusually long time for someone of such a junior rank), joined the Missouri National Guard in May 2011, and deployed to Korea in 2004-05 and Iraq in 2006-07, according to the military.

Spicer wouldn't comment directly on the National Guard's interactions with law enforcement or on Riley's current status in the service, but added the Army was looking into the matter. "The facts outlined in the affidavit are being investigated pursuant to military protocol," she said. "Appropriate disciplinary and personnel action will be taken at the conclusion of the investigation, consistent with military regulations and procedures."

Representatives of the FBI, which is leading the criminal investigation, declined to comment this week about Riley or his alleged role in the neo-Nazi terror ring. But a Central Florida sheriff's deputy who helped serve arrest warrants against the other group members told Mother Jones on Wednesday that Riley had "not been caught yet." We will continue to post updates as the investigation unfolds.

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USS Freedom, Navy's $600M Showcase Ship, Springs Some Leaks

—By Adam Weinstein

| Fri May. 11, 2012 12:05 AM PDT

USS Freedom, gathering rust: US Navy/Ken Mierzejewski

Note to future admirals and members of Congress: If you're going to name a ship Freedom, you'd better make darn sure it's seaworthy. According to an internal report, the US Navy's latest greatest toy, the USS Freedom, poses a "high risk" to fail sea trials, can't pass half the basic standards for a warship, and has been called a "no-go" by a senior inspector.

Proponents have long defended the Freedom, commissioned in 2008 as the first in a new class of 55 "Littoral Combat Ships" designed for missions close to shore. It's supposed to be a cost-effective, flexible fleet. "As we continue serial production, we're reducing costs and building these high-quality ships faster," Joe North, VP of Freedom-builder Lockheed Martin, said this week. A 2010 Congressional Budget Office report (PDF) predicted the ships could cost as much as $626 million apiece—assuming everything went smoothly.

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

US Soldier Trained Neo-Nazis in Florida for "Race War"

—By Adam Weinstein

| Wed May. 9, 2012 12:53 PM PDT

Flickr/JasonSansone

The 10 members of a Florida-based neo-Nazi militant group arrested last week received training in close-quarters combat and other Army-approved tactics from a member of the US Army National Guard, according to court filings.

The co-conspirators, alleged to be members of the violent white-power American Front, face felony charges for hate crimes, paramilitary training, and preparing for a coming "race war" against blacks, Jews, and immigrants at a fortified compound in the marshlands of St. Cloud, Florida, just south of the amusement-park haven of Orlando. A short paragraph buried in the group's arrest affidavit shows a disturbing link between the Florida gang and a US military employee:

Who is Ryan Riley, and how has he been able to lead the life of both a trained American soldier and a card-carrying neo-Nazi? I've reached out to the Missouri National Guard and the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, who booked the Florida conspirators, for comment. Both said they'd get back to me and I'll add an update as soon as they do.

On the phone, the Guard's public affairs officer sounded surprised by the allegations, as if she hadn't heard them before. An Osceola County deputy involved in the case declined to comment about Riley in detail because the investigation—a cooperative effort with state authorities and the FBI—was still open, he said. Riley has "not been caught yet," he said.

We've reported before on military members joining Oathkeepers, a "patriot" group full of tin-foil hat theories and anti-government plans. And many of the nation's most infamous political criminals and terrorists—from Lee Harvey Oswald to Timothy McVeigh to Nidal Malik Hasan—were veterans. But it would be unfair to the majority of conscientious service members to overstate a link between military service and violent radicalism. As conservative military blogger Jonn Lilyea points out, "One guy in the Missouri National Guard doesn't a conspiracy make."

On the other hand, one active soldier with alleged terrorist connections—domestic or otherwise—is one too many. If Riley is in fact using his military know-how to prepare for war with American blacks and Jews, it's fair to ask what the military can do to keep guys like him out of uniform.

Editor's Note: We removed the image originally published with this post; on Wednesday afternoon it had been available for use on Flickr under a Creative Commons license, but its author since changed the license and asked that we no longer use it.

Read the full arrest affidavit:

American Front White Supremacist's Arrest Affidavit (PDF)American Front White Supremacist's Arrest Affidavit (Text)

Meet the Astroturfer Planning to Swift Boat Obama

"Yes, it's the swift boating of the president," says the founder of a dark-money group claiming to speak for ticked-off Navy SEALs.

—By Adam Weinstein

| Fri May. 4, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Veterans for a Strong America describes itself "a grassroots action organization committed to ensuring that America remains a strong nation by advancing liberty, safeguarding freedom and opposing tyranny." Founded in 2010, the ostensibly nonpartisan group kept a low profile until earlier this week, when it posted a splashy online ad that uses statements from President Barack Obama to suggest that the commander-in-chief boasted about his role in killing Osama bin Laden, dishonoring America's military in the process.

"Heroes don't politicize their acts of valor," the ad declares amid shots of American soldiers and quotes criticizing Obama's "shameless" and "despicable" attempt to claim credit for bin Laden's death. Not all of those quotes are in context: The video flashes "Obama Spikes the bin Laden Football," a headline from a post in which Mother Jones' Kevin Drum wrote that the bin Laden raid proved Obama's "leadership."

Karl Rove praised the ad on Twitter, calling it "powerful," and it rapidly burned up the right-wing blogs. "The swift boating of Obama has begun," The Atlantic announced. "One thing that's clear from this advertisement, if more current and former SEALs decided to come out of the woodwork in opposition to Obama, it could do real damage to him."

Joel Arends, Veterans for a Strong America's founder, chairman, and sole staffer, tells me he's proud of his organization's viral video, even if it's characterized as swift boating. "Yes, it's the swift boating of the president, in the sense of using what's perceived to be his greatest strength and making it his greatest weakness."

The 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign featured some ex-sailors (though none had been shipmates of Sen. John Kerry), but for now the VFSA does not have any actual Navy SEALs speaking on its behalf. Arend says he's working on recruiting disgruntled current and recent commandos. "I've been in touch with a number of Navy SEALs and special operators. There is discontent, I believe, among them about Obama's excessive celebration," he says. "We're gonna be rolling some of those folks out soon."

It's impossible to know how many of America's 22 million veterans are actually represented by VFSA's political activities. "We don't pretend to speak for all veterans," Arends says. There is no doubt that Arends, a decorated Iraq War vet and longtime Army Reserve and National Guard member, cares deeply about his comrades in arms. But there's little evidence that VFSA is more than a dark-money group with connections to the Republican Party, the tea party group Americans for Prosperity, and Islamophobic activists.

[Read the full article]

Obama Wants to Send Our Guns Overseas

—By Adam Weinstein

| Thu May. 3, 2012 11:52 AM PDT

(Yeah, yeah, we know it's a Glock.) ZORIN DENU/Flickr

Barack Obama's stealth war on guns continues apace: The White House is currently working to ease restrictions on exports of guns and other American-made weaponry, a move that could be a boon for domestic gunmakers.

The Department of Homeland Security has reservations about the rule changes, stating in a memo that they could make it harder "to prevent or deter the illegal export/transfer of lethal items such as advanced firearms to criminal groups, terrorist organizations or enemy combatants." Gunmakers, however, are pleased as punch. "Our industry supports the White House Export Control Reform Initiative," a lawyer for the firearms manufacturers' lobby group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told the Washington Post.

How is the National Rifle Association going to spin this? The 4-million-member pro-gun group has put an electoral target on Obama's back, but it also needs to do right by arms manufacturers like Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Ruger, which have given the NRA as much as $39 million since 2005, according to the Violence Policy Center (PDF).

[Read more in the MoJo blog]