IS THE U.S.PREPARING FOR WORLD WAR III?
VENICE, May 13, 2010 - If anyone still harbored hopes of a more peaceful global future Washington’s latest
defense budget left no doubt the United States retains its insatiable appetite for mini-wars which are then peddled to
the rest of the world as an integral part of Pax Americana.
With no serious enemy in sight – apart from ubiquitous terrorists - the U.S. has constantly to find new
foes to justify its one thousand military bases abroad which together host 400,000 U.S. military
personnel.
This huge deployment and the race to develop new ‘smart’ weapons and systems capable to pulverize
enemies more efficiently and more speedily has prompted President Obama (he is the guy who campaigned as a
dove) to post America’s largest ever defense budget. The budget stands at $680 billion but is twice that amount
if the rest of the defense spending is annexed, expenses like the 16 intelligence agencies, the Home Guard and the
fabrication and experimentation of new weapons.
The result is as shocking as the budget increase: Today the U.S. is home to 4.5 per cent of the world’s
population but spends more on wars and war preparations then the rest of the world together.
By creating paranoia about terrorism and rogue nations like North Korea, Iran, Somalia and Yemen, the Pentagon
has launched a domestic arms race that one could compare to a build-up for World War III because it projects the
impression the homeland is under siege.
The driving commercial component of this arms race is the unholy alliance between politics and
business. For example a 20-member panel elaborated the defense needs of the U.S. and based the
current budget proposal on these requirements. But eleven of those panel members are employed in
the defense industry and are unlikely to propose budget cuts or defense slow-downs.
(The powerful defense industry has its tentacles even into small, battling nations like bankrupt Greece. As part of its
European bail-out the Greeks had to accept conditions that included honoring contracts to buy an arsenal of
weapons from France and submarines from Germany. Those who will pay for this unnecessary hardware –
apparently to keep the Turks at bay - are Greek workers whose wages have been cut by as much as 30 per cent.)
Back in the United States bad news is always sweetened with concessions, mostly camouflaged and meaningless.
This time it was the April signing in Prague of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. The treaty cuts
nuclear warheads to 1,550 on both sides. This is no more then a band aid since it still leaves in circulation
ten times the number of warheads required to obliterate the planet.
Washington’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) continues to placate peaceniks with the claim that the long-range
U.S. goal is a "nuclear-free" world. Yet the Pentagon retains what it boasts to be ‘hair-trigger’ nuclear launch
readiness and intends to back up its nuclear option with what is described as a ‘devastating conventional
deterrent’ capable to strike any target in the world within an hour.
To some this may sound like war-mongering to others the sad reaction of a nation that has frightened
itself into a state of panic.
Ends
Uli Schmetzer a former foreign correspondent is
Author of: ‘Times of Terror’ and ‘Gaza’ (both
available on Amazon.com)
VENICE, May 13, 2010 - If anyone still harbored hopes of a more peaceful global future Washington’s latest
defense budget left no doubt the United States retains its insatiable appetite for mini-wars which are then peddled to
the rest of the world as an integral part of Pax Americana.
With no serious enemy in sight – apart from ubiquitous terrorists - the U.S. has constantly to find new
foes to justify its one thousand military bases abroad which together host 400,000 U.S. military
personnel.
This huge deployment and the race to develop new ‘smart’ weapons and systems capable to pulverize
enemies more efficiently and more speedily has prompted President Obama (he is the guy who campaigned as a
dove) to post America’s largest ever defense budget. The budget stands at $680 billion but is twice that amount
if the rest of the defense spending is annexed, expenses like the 16 intelligence agencies, the Home Guard and the
fabrication and experimentation of new weapons.
The result is as shocking as the budget increase: Today the U.S. is home to 4.5 per cent of the world’s
population but spends more on wars and war preparations then the rest of the world together.
By creating paranoia about terrorism and rogue nations like North Korea, Iran, Somalia and Yemen, the Pentagon
has launched a domestic arms race that one could compare to a build-up for World War III because it projects the
impression the homeland is under siege.
The driving commercial component of this arms race is the unholy alliance between politics and
business. For example a 20-member panel elaborated the defense needs of the U.S. and based the
current budget proposal on these requirements. But eleven of those panel members are employed in
the defense industry and are unlikely to propose budget cuts or defense slow-downs.
(The powerful defense industry has its tentacles even into small, battling nations like bankrupt Greece. As part of its
European bail-out the Greeks had to accept conditions that included honoring contracts to buy an arsenal of
weapons from France and submarines from Germany. Those who will pay for this unnecessary hardware –
apparently to keep the Turks at bay - are Greek workers whose wages have been cut by as much as 30 per cent.)
Back in the United States bad news is always sweetened with concessions, mostly camouflaged and meaningless.
This time it was the April signing in Prague of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. The treaty cuts
nuclear warheads to 1,550 on both sides. This is no more then a band aid since it still leaves in circulation
ten times the number of warheads required to obliterate the planet.
Washington’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) continues to placate peaceniks with the claim that the long-range
U.S. goal is a "nuclear-free" world. Yet the Pentagon retains what it boasts to be ‘hair-trigger’ nuclear launch
readiness and intends to back up its nuclear option with what is described as a ‘devastating conventional
deterrent’ capable to strike any target in the world within an hour.
To some this may sound like war-mongering to others the sad reaction of a nation that has frightened
itself into a state of panic.
Ends
Uli Schmetzer a former foreign correspondent is
Author of: ‘Times of Terror’ and ‘Gaza’ (both
available on Amazon.com)