Gerard: “It’s the biggest business we have going, employs more people, carries more political weight.”

Too bad the tide doesn’t roll back… the tide of profits from the already deep pockets to the ones being emptied out. 

Taxes never do it, nor legislation.

Nor a revolution. 

A revolution; simply replaces the faces and names of those tempted to subject the masses for gain; simply replaces the helmsmen, not the direction of the vessel.

Some folks just want to be left alone within their particular sphere of influence and influences… for it has been diminished since mass media programming has taken the airwaves.

Says Pfaff:  “Therefore, one must ask what good it does to have colossal military forces, when—whatever damage they do to the people they attack—they don’t change anyone’s mind or beliefs. Or, to the extent that they do, it is to create even more hatred—not of “America’s freedoms” but of the United States of America itself.”  What good it does?

See Pentagon annual expenditures in total profits to Raytheon, Lockheed, and other arms makers, to all
private contractors, oil companies, total profits of makers of army maintenance services and supplies, including troop food, clothing and shelter, hospital and medical expenses, rescue efforts, transportation costs, plus all oil, gas and electricity used by equipment, and used to sustain 790 bases worldwide.
Add to this total pension funds, and on top of that the costs of maintaining a huge worldwide surveillance system (including our own citizens here at home). Add up the total number of jobs keeping how many people employed—the real secret when there aren’t enough other jobs.

That’s the sum of it. It’s the biggest business we have going, employs more people, carries more political weight.  And so,  American political morality and security, friendly relations, freedom of speech and press be danmed—until enough citizens get fed up and turn things around.

Keep breathing. It’ll happen even though you don’t know how it’ll happen.  It’s simply too out-of-balance to be sustained much longer. Hope the change will be peaceful even if you don’t believe that’s possible.

Great observation bernium!!!!

History reads this very explanation which you clearly put into words.

Equitable?

Only a good idea to those gaining from the agreement, not those already having everything minus a capital labor force… for empire doesn’t stand without slaves / minions / duped democracy supporting the system of sifting.

America just hasn’t figured out the empire thing.Back in the good ol’ Roman days you just moved in, killed the bulk of the population and either enslaved or relocated all the survivors to some far flung corners of the empire where they could not regroup and cause problems. For repeat offenders, like the Carthaginians, well, we know what happened there! Colonialism as practiced by the Europeans isn’t really practical these days as most nations now find it distasteful to be unwillingly a part of the exploiter as was noted during our own not so long ago revolution. That leaves what we’re doing now which is the establishment of puppet regimes all over the place that never seem to be able to play along with the program for any length of time forcing us to constantly stick our nose back in until everybody gets sick of the whole mess and just quits, thus our current dilema. Why don’t we just leave the rest of the world alone and deal with them on an equitable basis? What, can’t do that? Why that would be against everything that neoliberal economic theory and capitalism is all about! After all isn’t the whole point of the competitive free market the establishment of monopolies and economic Darwanism? The truth is that the bully either finely grows up or gets it’s ass kicked. The US seems far from growing up.

“The United States will begin 2011 waging one major war that is now 10 years old and showing serious signs of being lost. “

Anybody who was sincerely interested in accomplishing some real advantage from this war other than offering overpriced defense contracts to big corporations, would not even have begun.

The old joke that ‘military intelligence’ is an oxymoron, is once again proven to be based in grim reality.

It was a good article, until this BS oozed out:

“the Americans they are now enlisting, by standard U.S. military criteria of IQ and level of education, come from the bottom of the barrel of eligible men and women,”

That is outright false. The U.S. military turns away 80% of potential recruits by labeling them as too stupid, too fat, too dirty (drugs), too dangerous (felon) or too sickly. Starting pay is $40,000 a year, and after four years they make more than the average college grad in the USA.

The U.S. military only takes the top half, and the USAF and Navy take only the top quarter. You can’t even join without a high school diploma, in a nation where 30% don’t graduate. So where did this odd fact come from?

Would handing over monopolies of new-age economies, to the tyrants holding old-age monopolies, appease them?

Would taking away their war toys and dark fun put the pacifier back in the baby’s mouth?

There is every possibility, as the “global”-eCONomy pyramid-scam goes on collapsing in ever-more spectacular and frightening fashion, that these tens-of-thousands of U.S. military and other personnel will become stranded in places like Afghanistan, where their “welcome” may be problematical at-best.  William Pfaff, along with most everybody else in his “profession,” is just whistling-past-the-graveyard (of empires) here.

“There’s a wicked wind a-blowin…..”

HokaHey!

<b>rico, suave, December 29 at 8:48 pm: </b.

‘“Another of its wars, Iraq, has already been lost by the objective standards of who now controls the country”

By that “objective standard”, we lost WWII since we don’t control Germany or Japan. ...’

The became and remained satellites, although as the U.S. government and ruling class get weaker and crazier,  I suppose they’re beginning to pull away.

I wish our incredible military was working for us right here in the USA…helping
rebuild America. Helping building safe and sustainable houses, buildings, cars,
gardens, etc. etc. etc. Employ those kids here at home, being heroes for rescuing
America. Lot less PTS, amputees, trauma and death, from that, I guarantee.

Unfortunately all the biggest powers in the world are against this.

The only thing that will defeat them is the inevitability of oil and other resources
running out…which means more suffering for all of us 99’ers (people earning less
than the top 1%) and eventual coming to terms for the 1%ers.

That’s my thinking, so far.

WAR IS EASY TO START AND HARD TO STOP…BUT WHEN DRUMS OF WAR BEGIN THIS TRUISM IS
THE FIRST CASUALITY..THE PENTAGON IS IN ITS ASCENDANCY AND IS DRAGGING OBAMA
ALONG…PEACETIME FOR THE MILITARY IS BOREDOM AND ADVANCEMENT SLOW..PLUS
FIGHTING THE BAD GUYS IS A HIGH INCENTIVE AND GIVES PURPOSE TO
CONCESSIONAIRES..THE PENTAGON IS TOP HEAVY IN BRASS… ESPECIALLY..FOUR STAR
GENERALS..ALL COMBINED WOULDN’T MAKE ONE EISENHOWER..

“Another of its wars, Iraq, has already been lost by the objective standards of who now controls the country”

By that “objective standard”, we lost WWII since we don’t control Germany or Japan.

I wonder if the average Iraqi would agree that Iran controls their country.

samosamo:  Is there any such thing as a “legal war” in your world (besides the one being waged by Muslims against Israel)?

****************

Pfaff, surely you remember that these wars are
never meant to be won, just sustained. That was
what VietNam taught us. Now, after much parsing
and planning and deviousness, the military
industrial congressional financial cia msm
complex have all but got it right on how to wage
‘sustained’ wars on countries nowhere near as
militarily capable as our vaunted u.s. military
which is so stupidly obvious.

Only thing changing is with the number of illegal
wars we have going, it will turn to something like,
well we will ‘leave’ Iraq as if that is the end. But
as we saw when the ‘combat’ troops left Iraq they
were just simply sent to Afghanistan and
Pakistan. This time they will be sent to Iran, IF
russia and china don’t object and intervene.

That might just leave Hugo Chavez, that seems to
be a weak and defenseless country, just the type
the militarily run u.s. loves to invade. Whatever
country, once again, the american troops will get
on the planes to leave but they will be surprised
when they just land in the next country on
america’s hit list.

Is this guy joking? Our whole foreign policy is based on creating as many enemies as possible so we can sell more weaponry to “fix” the problem. And it’s working perfectly as designed.

So, how do we convince our great leaders of this obvious truth?

The U.S. Empire can be shut down in an orderly fashion or it can and will collapse. 
No way can poking a stick in the hornet’s nest of the mid east be construed as
providing security, just the opposite.  We are there for the recourses be it oil or
ore and it will be far easier to buy or trade for these instead of using the barrel of
a gun to try to obtain them