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Written by Julian Macfarlane, Tokyo based investigative journalist, author, geopolitical and defense analyst
Proxy wars or gang wars?
As I wrote in my last article— WWIII: Biden’s War—the US is on a collision course with destiny, an empire in decline, a nation divided. Joseph Biden’s dementia is matched by that of his political culture.
US industry has hollowed out. Russia and China by contrast are rising, and with them BRICS and other countries outside the G7, which increasingly has little to sell but “narratives”.
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The graph shows the trend to 2015, with the major drop-off beginning in 2011, which coincidentally is when the US war on the world began. Things have gotten worse and worse.
As of today, what does the US make? Really only war, of course. And weapons.
The US is like the Mafia, and the G7 and NATO a cartel — a supra-criminal organization that survives through violence and global protection rackets, extortion, bribery, and of course that Casino of Casinos— the American Stock Market. Biden is Pablo Escobar with a facelift—and arguably less concern for the poor.
The country that got its start stealing from Native Americans and Mexicans moved on to stealing from the rest of the world. From simple imperialism it moved on to neoliberalism. Now, however, the country that once welcomed the poor and downtrodden to exploit in its factories and fields, is increasingly living on borrowed money – and also on borrowed time. There are fewer factories and fields. The Statue of Liberty’s torch has been moved to a museum which you need to pay to enter. ICE has become the symbol of America.
The original Italian Mafia didn’t much care about ideologies, nor did its later iterations. Neither does the US Government. Duopoly confounds the intent of the founders of the Republic. “Bipartisanship” means political promiscuity. Joe who sleeps with both the Left and the Right, as does the rest of the political class. Trump at least paid his whores.
As with the Mafia in the Godfather, the US has its Dons and “made men”.
You find them in politics, in both parties, the Media, the military industrial complex, the State Department, the CIA, the Pentagon, Big Business. This “Deep State” is not really deep just muddy and polluted and full of creepy-crawlies. Just deep enough to drown you if your face is pushed into it. Not that you drown physically of course – just intellectually and spiritually.
Like most mafias, this political gang of thugs in thousand-dollar suits pretends to protect the “people,” and occasionally makes little shows of doing so—but in the end it is all about money. Greed. greed. greed.
There are those who serve their country sincerely. But that’s not the generals— military or otherwise—it’s those in command. Those who call the shots, without ever risking getting shot.
The Pentagon is the Paradigm.
“It is not true the Pentagon has no strategy. It has a strategy, and once you understand what that strategy is, everything the Pentagon does makes sense. The strategy is, don’t interrupt the money flow, add to it.”
John Boyd—the greatest military strategist of the 20th Century— and the least understood.
The Pentagon, of course, is the right arm of the American Military Industrial Media Information Complex. When General Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, retires, he will be “made”, if he isn’t already. “Made” means money.
There is no better illustration of how this corrupt and closed self-sustaining system operates than the defeat of the amendment voted on by the Senate on July 19th. Both parties made clear that they wanted the American “forever” wars to continue.
Statement of Purpose: To express the sense of Congress that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty does not supersede the constitutional requirement that Congress declare war before the United States engages in war.
This amendment would have restored the Constitutional right of Congress to declare war — or prevent it — which would seem a no-brainer — but the Politcos saw this as the thin edge of a contrarian wedge, limiting the power of entrenched interests inside and outside the State to carry out neoliberal, neocolonial adventurism worldwide. Currently, the US has no less 41 “national emergencies” in force by executive order worldwide. They all play to neoliberal, neocolonial strategies.
So much for congressional oversight. So much for morals in government.
Yeah, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren voted against the amendment; therefore, against the Constitution— and against the principles they claim to stand for. Both Vermont and Massachusetts depend on the Defense Industry. As Janet Yellen says war good for business. And what’s good for business is good for re-election.
The Cartel that we call our government gets what it wants.
Maybe that’s why only 40% or Americans trust the Government compared to close to 90% of Chinese. Then again Americans and Chinese have different perceptions of their cultures and different priorities. We may not trust the Government or the media — but we trust Business — and therefore the billionaires which own both us, along with the Media and Government. The Chinese don’t trust Business, which is owned or at least controlled by the Government— which is owned by the people.
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New Wars
Right now, what the Governmental/ Business cartel wants is war, war, war.
Wars are a product. We need to sell them. That is what we have the media for—PR and advertising. Bargains! F16s! Patriot Missiles! Abrams tanks!
And F35s on convenient monthly installments.
Like any product, we need the newest thing, with all the upgrades, 4K, 8K…whatever. Who cares if it doesn’t really work.
The war in Ukraine is not going the US’s way— and not yielding the kind of dividends it had hoped for back in 2014 – namely control of the Ukraine’s vast natural resources. Of course, it has been profitable for the MIC and media anyway— and continues to be—but it’s getting old.
Old is not good. Unless you are Joe, I guess. And you can afford a face lift.
The MIC has cleared out a lot of out-dated inventory, most recently, ageing cluster munitions and maybe soon geriatric F16s, which allows more requests for new super-expensive big-ticket tech, like the F35 or 6th Gen fighter or 6th Gen Bomber to protect American “democracy” from…well…democracy, like the kind Jefferson envisaged.
NGAD fighter. Cost $24 billion in development in 2023 alone
Our godfathers in power are greedy. And smart. Al Capone is gone. Replaced by Bill and Jeff who don’t kill anyone directly — and a few others who are less visible but no less powerful.
You will notice that the media is talking less and less about the war in Ukraine.
Religion is not the opiate of the masses as Marx said. The Mafia peddles drugs not just to make money but to make people more exploitable. Ditto: our Government for whom the drug of choice in the West is the media. The public has been high on the Ukraine— but the hangover is setting in.
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What’s the solution? Hair of the dog, of course.
For the rest of the article, please click here to go to Substack Newsletter News Forensics, which also has a voiceover. Subscription is free.
cine sare in romania sa apere statul corupt creat? cine merge la luptă sa apere stabilitatea pensiilor fara contributivitate? cine vrea sa moară sa apere bugetarii îmbuibați ai româniei? eu nu.
native americans have been struggling for 500 years against diseased minds. supposed “people” incapable of respecting their own surroundings. imagine the situation today.
central banks west and east alike are the deep state and mafia cartel to the globe and those who “$”erve them!…