Monday, July 9, 2018

The Pentagon's Evolving Mission

A Trump Administration era change to the United States Department of Defense website provides us with an interesting insight into the minds that control the world's most powerful global police force.

On every page of the Department's website you will find this new mission statement located at the bottom left-hand corner of the webpage:


However, on the Department's "About" webpage, you find the original DoD mission as shown here:


Interestingly enough, the old and new missions even show up on the same "About" webpage, noting that the page has not been updated since January 27, 2017:


These two mission statements bear repeating:

New mission:

"The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide a lethal Joint Force to defend the security of our country and sustain American influence abroad."

Old mission:

"The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country."

Note the difference?  It is no longer the job of the Department of Defense to "deter war", a rather ominous approach to protecting the American homeland and Washington's global reach.

Thanks to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, here's the same Department of Defense "About" webpage from December 2012 under the Obama Administration:


Here's the Department of Defense "About" page from December 2001 showing the Department's mission under the Bush II Administration when the DoD's web presence was called "DefenseLINK":


Lastly, here's the Department of Defense "About" page from February 1999 showing the Department's mission under the Clinton Administration:


Given October 2017 memorandum from Defense Secretary James Mattis to all Department of Defense staff:



...and, in particular, this quote:

"We are a Department of war"

...we shouldn't be terribly surprised that the mission of the Department of Defense has become less "kindly" and more lethal to anyone who dares to threaten the security of the United States and its control over the world.

1 comment:

  1. Well done! A great post noting a less than subtle change.

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