By Eric Margolis
“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.
Now 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
Statehouse, 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.” -
General Dwight D Eisenhower -
Farewell address 1961
January 20, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
Congress just passed a near
trillion dollar military budget at a time when the
United States faces no evident state threats at home
or abroad. Ike was right.
Illustrating Ike’s prescient warning, Brown
University’s respected Watson Institute just
released a major study which found that the
so-called ‘wars on terror’ in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Syria and Pakistan have cost US taxpayers $6.4
trillion since they began in 2001.
The extensive study found that over 800,000
people have died as a result of these military
operations, a third of them civilians. An additional
21 million civilians have been displaced by US
military operations. According to the Pentagon,
these US wars have so far cost each American
taxpayer $7,623 – and that’s a very conservative
estimate.
Most of this money has been quietly added to the
US national debt of over $23 trillion. Wars on
credit hide the true cost and pain from the public.
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Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
|
As General Eisenhower warned, military spending
has engulfed the nation. A trillion annual military
budget represents just about half the world’s
military expenditures. The Pentagon, which I’ve
visited numerous times, is bustling with activity as
if the nation was on a permanent war footing.
The combined US intelligence budget of some $80
billion is larger than Russia’s total military
budget of $63 billion. US troops, warplanes and
naval vessels are stationed around the globe,
including, most lately, across Africa. And yet every
day the media trumpets new ‘threats’ to the US.
Trump is sending more troops to the Mideast while
claiming he wants to reduce America’s powerful
military footprint there. Our military is always in
search of new missions. These operations generate
promotions and pay raises, new equipment and a
reason for being.
Back in the day, the Republican Party of General
Eisenhower was a centrist conservative’s party with
a broad world view, dedicated to lower taxes and
somewhat smaller government. It was led by the
Rockefellers and educated Easterners with a broad
world view and respect for tradition.
Today’s Republican Party is a collection of rural
interests from flyover country, handmaidens of the
military industrial complex and, most important,
militant evangelical Christians who see the world
through the spectrum of the Old Testament. Israel’s
far right has come to dominate American evangelists
by selling them a bill of goods about the End of
Days and the Messiah’s return. Many of these rubes
see Trump as a quasi-religious figure.
Mix the religious cultists – about 25% of the US
population – with the farm and Israel lobbies and
the mighty military industrial complex and no wonder
the United States has veered off into the deep
waters of irrationality and crusading ardor. The US
can still afford such bizarre behavior thanks to its
riches, magic green dollar, endless supply of credit
and a poorly educated, apathetic public too besotted
by sports and TV sitcoms to understand what’s going
on abroad.
All the war party needs is a steady supply of
foreign villains (preferably Muslims) who can be
occasionally bombed back to the early Islamic age.
Americans have largely forgotten George W. Bush’s
lurid claims that Iraqi drones of death were poised
to shower poisons on the sleeping nation. Even the
Soviets never ventured so deep into the sea of
absurdity.
The military industrial complex does not care to
endanger its gold-plated F-35 stealth aircraft and
$13 billion apiece aircraft carriers in a real war
against real powers. Instead, the war party likes
little wars against weak opponents who can barely
shoot back. State-run TV networks thrill to such
minor scraps with fancy headlines and martial music.
Think of the glorious little wars against Panama,
Grenada, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and
Libya. Iran looks next.
The more I listen to his words, the more I like
Ike.
Eric S. Margolis
is an award-winning, internationally syndicated
columnist. His articles have appeared in the New
York Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los
Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the
Khaleej Times, Nation – Pakistan, Hurriyet, –
Turkey, Sun Times Malaysia and other news sites in
Asia.
ericmargolis.com
Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2020
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