In an age when U.S. power can be projected through private mercenary armies and unmanned Predator drones, the U.S. military need no longer rely on massive, conventional ground forces to pursue its imperial agenda, a fact President Barack Obama is now acknowledging. But make no mistake: while the tactics may be changing, the U.S. taxpayer – and poor foreigners abroad – will still be saddled with overblown military budgets and militaristic policies.

Speaking January 5 alongside his Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the president announced a shift in strategy for the American military, one that emphasizes aerial campaigns and proxy wars as opposed to “long-term nation-building with large military footprints.” This, to some pundits and politicians, is considered a tectonic shift.

Indeed, the way some on the left tell it, the strategy marks a radical departure from the imperial status quo. “Obama just repudiated the past decade of forever war policy,” gushed Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings, calling the new strategy a “[s]lap in the face to the generals.”

Conservative hawks, meanwhile, predictably declared that the sky is falling. “This is a lead from behind strategy for a left-behind America,” cried hyperventilating California Republican Buck McKeon, chairman the House Armed Services Committee. “This strategy ensures American decline in exchange for more failed domestic programs.” In McKeon’s world, feeding the war machine is preferable to feeding poor people.

Unfortunately, though, rather than renouncing empire and endless war, Obama’s stated strategy for the military going forward just reaffirms the U.S. commitment to both. Rather than renouncing the last decade of war, it states that the bloody and disastrous occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan – gently termed “extended operations” – were pursued “to bring stability to those countries.”

And Leon Panetta assured the American public that even with the changes, the U.S. would still be able to fight two major wars at the same time—and win. And Obama assured America’s military contractors and coffin makers that their lifeline – U.S. taxpayers’ money – would still be funneled their way in obscene bucket loads.

“Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow,” the president told reporters, “but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow.” In fact, he added with a touch of pride, it “will still be larger than it was toward the end of the Bush administration,” totaling more than $700 billion a year and accounting for about half of the average American’s income tax. So much for the Pentagon’s budget being slashed – like we were promised – the way lawmakers are trying to cut those “failed domestic programs.”

The U.S. could cut its military spending in half tomorrow and still spend more than three times as much as its next nearest rival, China. That’s because China, instead of waging wars of choice around the world, prefers projecting its might by investing in its own country. On the other hand, the U.S. under the leadership of Obama is beefing up its military presence in China’s backyard, more interested in projecting its dwindling power than rebuilding its economy.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower once noted that every dollar going to the military is a dollar that can’t be used to provide food and shelter for those in need. Today’s obscene amount of military spending isn’t necessary if the administration wished to pursue the quaint goal of simply defending the country from invasion. Maintaining “the best-trained, best-equipped military in history,” as Obama says is his goal? That’s a different story – for a different purpose. Indeed, as Madeline Albright observed, possessing that kind of military might is no fun if you don’t get to use it, as Obama has with gusto in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Uganda.

The truth is that the Obama administration’s “new” strategy is more of the same—a reaffirmation of the U.S. government’s commitment to militarism for the all the usual reasons: to promote American hegemony and, by extension, the interests of politically connected capital. And U.S. officials aren’t shy about that.

Indeed, throughout the strategy document the ostensible purpose for having a military — to provide national security — repeatedly takes a backseat to promoting the economic interests of the U.S. elite that profits from empire. Repositioning U.S. forces “toward the Asia-Pacific region,” for instance – including the stationing of American soldiers in that hotbed of violent extremism, Australia – is cast not just as a means of ensuring peace and stability, but guaranteeing “the free flow of commerce.” Maintaining a global empire of bases from Europe to Okinawa isn’t necessary for self-defense, but according to Obama, ensuring – with guns – “the prosperity that flows from an open and free international economic system.”

Of course, that economic considerations shape U.S. foreign policy is nothing new. More than 25 years ago, President Jimmy Carter – that Jimmy Carter – declared in a State of the Union address that U.S. military force would be employed in the Persian Gulf, not for the cause of peace, freedom and apple pie, but to ensure “the free movement of Middle East oil.” And so it goes.

Far from affecting change, Obama is ensuring continuity. “U.S. policy will emphasize Gulf security,” states his new military strategy, in order to “prevent Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon capability and counter its destabilizing policies” — as if it’s Iran that has been destabilizing the region. And as Obama publicly proclaims his support for “political and economic reform” in the Middle East, just like every other U.S. president he not-so-privately backs their oppressors from Bahrain to Yemen and signs off on the biggest weapons deal in history to that bastion of democracy, Saudi Arabia.

Obama can talk all he wants about turning the page on a decade of war and occupation, but so long as he continues to fight wars and military occupy countries on the other side of the globe, talk is all it is. The facts, sadly, are this: since taking office Obama doubled the number of troops in Afghanistan; he fought to extend the U.S. occupation in Iraq– and partially succeeded; he dramatically expanded the use of killer drones from Pakistan to Somalia; and he requested military budgets that would make George W. Bush blush. If you want to see what his military strategy really is, forget what’s said at press conferences and in turgidly written Pentagon press releases. Just look at the record.

Charles Davis has covered Capitol Hill for public radio and the international news wire Inter Press Service. More of his work may be found on his website.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace and GlobalExchange.

Do you remember the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act? It’s a nasty piece of legislation which allows for indefinite detention, without a trial, of anyone suspected of aiding terrorists anywhere in the world—including US citizens.

The House of Representatives passed the revised version of the NDAA last week. The Senate passed this final version of the NDAA today. Although President Obama initially indicated he would veto the legislation, a veto seems less likely now that certain provisions have been added—namely, a guarantee that the power to decide who should be imprisoned indefinitely without trial should be granted to the President, not Congress. In other words, Obama is not opposed to the 2012 NDAA’s blatantly unconstitutional disregard for human rights, so much as hairsplitting over which branch of government should have the authority to violate said human rights. This should come as no surprise, since as Glenn Greenwald points out, indefinite detention without trial has been a feature of the so-called War on Terror from the very beginning.

Nevertheless, CODEPINK believes that the 2012 NDAA is bad news indeed. The wording is very unclear: while the 2012 NDAA allows the US to detain people “under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities,” it does not define what “hostilities” are, and it does not indicate what needs to happen for us to have reached an “end” to said hostilities. This is not just an issue of semantics; indeed, the vagueness of this language creates a framework that reaches its logical and sinister conclusion in the remarks of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who called the United States of America “part of the battlefield” in the so-called War on Terror.

The 2012 NDAA effectively leaves the door wide open for human rights abuses so egregious that if they were to take place almost anywhere else in the world (Iran, for instance, or North Korea—or Afghanistan and Iraq for that matter), Congress would, at the very least, pretend to express outrage.  Within the United States, however, passing legislation that has the potential to turn a democracy into a police state of Orwellian proportions is presented not only as acceptable, but necessary, all in the name of “national security.”

We must continue to speak out against war, militarism, violence, and the US government’s latest attacks on our movement and our rights.

Last weekend, I attended an organizing meeting of the New Priorities Network, which is working to build deep connections locally and nationally between labor, economic justice, racial justice, religious, and peace organizations. We know our work will last longer than any election cycle or war, and we are committed to breaking down the barriers between our movements for justice and peace. Right now, we’re focused on four core priorities: end the wars / cut the military budget, tax the rich & corporations, create jobs, and save social services (education, housing, the Women, Infant, Child (WIC) program that provides vital maternal health and food subsidies to low-income families, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Environmental Protection Agency and a host of other domestic programs that are the social safety net here in the U.S.). These four priorities are not our only concerns, and we know they can only be sustained by building a new economy based on renewable energy.

Earlier this week, I observed the Rebuild the Dream Conference. In the past, CODEPINK has disrupted this annual event hosted by the Campaign for America’s Future because of their refusal to acknowledge that ending the wars is a vital part of building a secure America. This year, the conference included ending the wars as part of their platform for change and provided space for Nelini Stamp, an organizer with the Working Families Party, who has participated in Occupy Wall Street since Sept 17, to address the plenary about the Occupy Together movement. Our Make Out Not War stickers were the most sought after and people were really receptive to receiving information about Occupy DC at Freedom Plaza, which began yesterday.

My week in DC culminated on the first day of Occupy DC. Preparing for the day, I met Ann Wright, one of the courageous foreign service officers who resigned when the U.S. declared war on Iraq. Ann’s story is particularly inspiring to me, as I left college with the goal of becoming a career diplomat. I am so grateful I never got off the list of eligible hires, since my true calling is to be a citizen diplomat.

First I helped give away over one thousand CODEPINK stickers, including the highly sought after Make Out Not War stickers. Then, a thousand of us created a human 99% which was photographed from the top of a nearby hotel with the Washington Monument in the background. (I’m in the lower left corner of the nine near the percent sign.) We marched in the streets of DC, stopping at the Chamber of Commerce to hand in resumes from the jobless and under-employed among us, since they claim to be job creators.

Our day was capped off with a concert and a Skype call with our brothers and sisters in the Afghan Youth Peace Movement in Afghanistan. While I listened from the side of Freedom Plaza, a gentleman approached and asked if I spoke Arabic. Unfortunately, I do not. Thankfully he is multi-lingual and we were able to chat in English.

Jamel Bettaieb is one of the leaders of the Tunisian uprising and is the head of the largest trade union in Tunisian. He is in DC to share the story of his people with our leaders – from the White House to Freedom Plaza. Jamel reminded me that we Arabs and Jews are cousins. For centuries, we have lived peacefully side-by-side in the Middle East with our Christian cousins. It is the political class that creates conflict, not our ethnic our religious differences. Regardless of country, there is something about the power of ruling that corrupts people. Some pundits say the American Autumn is nothing like the Arab Spring, since we have no dictator to overthrow. But when Jamel spoke about the high rate of unemployment among college-educated Tunisians, and the continuing lack of economic growth in his country, I knew I had made a friend fighting the same global system of injustice. Whether the 1% calls themselves democratic representatives, corporate overlords, or dictators the effect is the same on the 99%. Jamel is staying in DC for a two-month fellowship and he let me know that he’s got a real hankering for a good Kosher meal. Did you know that the Muslim and Jewish dietary laws are basically identical? Unfortunately, I’m on my way home to celebrate Yom Kippur with my fiancé, but I’m sure my sister CODEPINKers will find him a Kosher meal real soon.

Watch Medea’s interview on #OccupyWallStreet with Oz House Alt News:

LA CODEPINK was present yesterday at both Obama LA fundraisers to challenge him to immediately end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bring all troops and contractors home and ensure real human security by creating jobs and ensuring access to healthcare, education, housing and food. Check out the CBS LA coverage of his appearance, featuring a quote from me around the minute mark.

CODEPINK NYC Coordinator Melanie Butler was interviewed on KPFA’s Letters and Politics program today. Listen to it online.

His speech has gotten attention from across the media spectrum. According to Rachel Maddow, the mainstream press unfairly focused on the critical points in his speech. Black commentators have had mixed reactions to his demand to “stop complainin’.” ColorLines points out that the CBC has been working on job creation longer than the American Jobs Act has been in existence. African-American author Karen Hunter claims the AP’s transcription of the speech is “inherently racist” because it was published as spoken, with dropped g’s. Tavis Smiley was particularly incensed, asking Representative Sheila Jackson Lee if Obama would dare to tell Jews, Latinos, or any other constituency to stop complaining.

Personally, I agree with Smiley’s criticism. And as a fan of Zora Neale Hurston, I reject the idea that transcribing speech as it is said is “inherently racist.” I agree that we need to get moving.

But here’s the thing – until the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are ended, until all troops and war profiteers come home, until all people have the right to marry and all gender identities are accepted, until everyone has food to eat, a home to live in, free education, universal, single-payer healthcare, until nuclear power and nuclear weapons are abolished, until our infrastructure is rebuilt and the water and power industries are fully regulated, until significant money is spent on research in renewable, sustainable energy, I will march on. And I wont waste a minute of my time or a dime of money on political campaigns. We need to continue occupying Wall Street, challenging Obama at every public appearance he makes, and gathering in Freedom Plaza. Politicians wont hand us change. Just as the New Deal was forged because of the demands of people in the streets, just as Civil Rights laws were enacted because people refused to condone racism, we must continue to challenge the empire. Will you join me in telling Obama to Make Jobs, Not War?

On the positive side, the White House guarantees an official response to any petition that reaches 5,000 signatures within 30 days. The site launched yesterday and I immediately put up a petition for the U.S. to immediately withdraw all troops and contractors from Afghanistan and Iraq. The petition doesn’t have a lot of signatures yet. One reason is that it does not show up when you “view all petitions” or when you “search petitions by topic.” No explanation given why the anti-war petition doesn’t show up, but perhaps we can build momentum without their promotional help. Will you sign the petition today?

As if it wasn’t bad enough that they’re censoring the use of their petition site, in order to participate in this new process you must register for an account on whitehouse.gov And, some people have been unable to connect to the government server housing this petition site. They want petition creators to share a shortened URL (the anti-war petition is http://wh.gov/g07 ) but it can be an extremely slow process to get there.

Perhaps by next week, they’ll have the technical glitches worked out. In the meantime, join us in demanding an immediate end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Below is the full text of the petition:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: immediately end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and bring all troops and contractors home.

The Afghanistan War is already the longest in U.S. history and neither Americans nor Afghans are safer today than we were ten years ago. Our military presence has propped up a corrupt government full of war lords and drug lords.

In Iraq, our military continues to inflame ethnic tension and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

CODEPINK: Women for Peace and people throughout the United States demand an immediate end to the wars. All troops and contractors must return to the United States and funds should be re-directed to life-affirming activities. Make Jobs, Not War – it’s as simple as that.

Please take the time to sign our petition and review the other available petitions.

And if you haven’t done so already, send Obama an email telling him you agree the government should make jobs, but it should also end the wars.