{"id":133418,"date":"2019-05-13T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=133418"},"modified":"2019-11-21T10:06:14","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T10:06:14","slug":"humanitarian-concerns-increase-wars-benefit-only-arms-producers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/05\/humanitarian-concerns-increase-wars-benefit-only-arms-producers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Humanitarian\u2019 Concerns Increase Wars, Benefit Only Arms-Producers"},"content":{"rendered":"

11 May 2019 – <\/em>Unlike a regular corporation, the corporations that manufacture and sell weapons to their government are virtually 100% dependent upon their government and its military allies, for their own success; their markets are only those governments<\/em>, not individuals (such as is the case for normal corporations). Consequently, either their government will control them, and those firms won\u2019t have any effective control over their own markets, or else those firms will, themselves, control their government, and thereby effectively control their markets, via the government\u2019s foreign policies \u2014 not only via expanding its military alliances (those firms\u2019 foreign markets), but via its designating \u2018enemy\u2019 nations that it and its \u2018allies\u2019 (those arms-producers\u2019 foreign markets) can then use those weapons against.<\/p>\n

In countries such as the United States, arms-producers are benefiting and controlled by the country\u2019s billionaires, instead of (as in Russia, for example) benefiting and controlled by the government. These totally profit-driven arms-producers need to have market-nations that are called \u2018allied\u2019 governments, but they also need to have some target-nations that are called \u2018enemy\u2019 governments<\/a>, so as to \u2018justify\u2019 more arms-production by these firms, against which to use these weapons. Only in nations where arms-producers are privately instead of publicly controlled are the government\u2019s foreign polices predominantly controlled by the country\u2019s arms-producers. That\u2019s the way it is in America.<\/p>\n

The main \u2018ally\u2019 of the US is the Saud family, who own the government of Saudi Arabia<\/a>. As a recent debate-brief<\/a> said, \u201cThe US has been the world\u2019s leading exporter in weapons since 1990 and the biggest customer is Saudi Arabia. The US sold a total of $55.6 billion of weapons worldwide, and in 2017, cleared $18 billion dollars with Saudi Arabia alone.\u201d Under Trump, those sales are set to soar, because on 20 May 2017 \u201cUS $350 Billion Arms-Sale to Sauds Cements US-Jihadist Alliance\u201d<\/a> \u2014 notwithstanding now the slaughter in Yemen<\/a> and the slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi. Yet, Trump talks up his \u2018humanitarian\u2019 concerns for the people of Venezuela as \u2018justification\u2019 for his possibly invading Venezuela, and America\u2019s military is preparing to do that.<\/p>\n

The main and central \u2018enemy\u2019 of the US is Russia\u2019s government; and all of the other \u2018enemies\u2019 of America (the spokes of America\u2019s \u2018enemy\u2019 wheel) are led by people \u2014 such as Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Viktor Yanukovych, Bashar al-Assad, Salvador Allende, Jacobo Arbenz, and Nicolas Maduro \u2014 who are friendly toward Russia. The objective here is to force other nations to join America\u2019s anti-Russia alliances or else to face the consequences of a likely invasion or coup by America to overthrow and replace those leaders. Therefore, America targets all nations that are\/were friendly toward Russia, such as pre-2003 Iraq, and such as pre-2011 Libya, and such as Syria, and such as pre-1973 Chile, and such as post-1979 Iran \u2014 all of America\u2019s various target-nations, which are the authorized targets for America and its \u2018allies\u2019 to invade or otherwise regime-change (change from being a target, to becoming instead a new market).<\/p>\n

In order for privately controlled arms-producers to thrive, there is just as much of a need for \u2018allies\u2019 as for \u2019targets\u2019, because without targets, there can be no authorized markets, since every weapon is useless if it has no authorized target against which it may be used. There consequently needs to be at least one \u2018enemy\u2019 for any country whose arms-production is privately instead of publicly controlled. Both \u2018allies\u2019 and \u2018enemies\u2019 are needed, in order for America\u2019s arms-makers to continue flourishing.<\/p>\n

By contrast, in Russia, where each of the arms-producers is majority-controlled by the government instead of by private investors, each arms-producer exists only in order to defend the nation, there is no need for any<\/em> \u2018enemy\u2019 nations, and the best situation for such a government is to the contrary: to have as many allies, or buyers of its country\u2019s weapons, as possible (so that it will be as safe as possible), and as few nations as possible that are enemies. For such a country, there\u2019s no benefit in having any enemies. America has publicly been against Russia ever since the end of World War II, and privately and secretly remains against Russia even after the Cold War ended on Russia\u2019s side in 1991<\/a>. Whereas the billionaires who control America\u2019s arms-makers profit from this military competition against Russia, the controlling interest in all of Russia\u2019s arms-makers is Russia\u2019s government, which simply suffers the expense of that competition and would greatly prefer to end that competition. It\u2019s just a drain on Russia\u2019s treasury. The profit-motive isn\u2019t driving the arms-producers in countries that control their own arms-makers. The government leads the nation there, basically because the nation\u2019s billionaires \u2014 even if they are minority stockholders of the armaments-firms \u2014 don\u2019t. And the reason the billionaires don\u2019t is that the arms-producers in Russia are controlled by the government, not<\/em> by any private investors.<\/p>\n

Consequently, in countries that socialize arms-production, \u2018humanitarian\u2019 excuses don\u2019t need to be invented in order to create new \u2018enemies\u2019.<\/strong> Instead, the goal is for the number of enemies to be reduced, so that the nation itself will be safer. Their arms-producers don\u2019t need constantly to generate (by lobbying, media-propaganda, etc.) authorized targets (\u2018enemies\u2019 such as Iraq, Syria, etc.), because such a nation, as this, has designed its system to be driven for protecting the public\u2019s safety, and not for any investors\u2019 profits. If an armaments-firm, in such a nation, goes out-of-business, that\u2019s entirely okay, so long as that nation\u2019s safety isn\u2019t being reduced by ending the firm. The international policy of such a country is totally different from that of a country in which arms-makers\u2019 profits, and not the entire nation\u2019s welfare, is in the driver\u2019s seat regarding all foreign policies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If arms-makers are being driven for profits, then target-nations are needed in order to expand profits so as to serve their investors. Such a country is run actually for its investors, not for its public. But if the arms-makers are being driven to serve the government instead of to serve private investors, the government is controlling the armament-firms. The nation\u2019s safety is the objective in such a land, because increasing profits for private investors in its weapons-firms is not the company\u2019s objective<\/em>. Any profits to such investors, are then irrelevant to the government. It\u2019s truly sink-or-swim, for each of such a nation\u2019s arms-makers \u2014 not socialism-for-the-rich, and capitalism (actually fascism) for the poor, such as is the case in the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a nation such as the United States, the constant need for new wars is being constantly driven by investors\u2019 needs for expanding both markets and targets. And \u2014 since in the arms-making business, all of the markets are one\u2019s own government, plus all of its allied governments (no significant consumer<\/em>-business whatsoever, which is why such firms are fundamentally different from the firms in all other types of fields)<\/strong> \u2014 the government needs to serve its armaments-firms, because those firms are totally dependent upon the government, and upon its international diplomacy (to increase the sales of its armaments, and thereby to serve the billionaires who control the armaments-firms). So: the government there naturally becomes an extension of its major \u201ccontractors\u201d or armaments-firms. The politicians know this, though they don\u2019t want to talk publicly about it, because they don\u2019t want the voters to know who is actually in the driver\u2019s seat. They know whom they are actually serving, which is the billionaires who control the armaments-firms. So: those politicians, whatever they might say in public (\u201cAmerica shouldn\u2019t be the policeman for the world,\u201d etc.), always actually<\/em> vote<\/em> to invade (Iraq, Syria, etc.), and to approve the first stage of any war, which is economic sanctions (such as against Russia itself, or Iran, or Iraq, or Syria, or Venezuela, etc.), and it\u2019s always allegedly being done \u201cto serve God, mother and country\u201d at home, and \u201cto expand freedom and protect human rights in that dictatorially ruled country\u201d abroad. This is basically the marketing campaign for the owners of the armaments firms. The winning politicians in such countries are the ones that those billionaires support. In such a country, it\u2019s almost impossible for any politician who is competing for a national office to succeed who isn\u2019t being funded by those billionaires. And, the billionaires\u2019 \u2018news\u2019-media support only<\/em> such candidates<\/a>. That\u2019s why there\u2019s almost no possibility for an honest person to be elected (or appointed( to any national public office in the United States.<\/p>\n

If a nation\u2019s sole reason for producing weapons is in order to protect the public \u2014 a public purpose \u2014 then there is no reason for the government to lie so as to demonize foreign leaders such as Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad, Salvador Allende, Viktor Yanukovych, and Nicolas Maduro. And this has nothing whatsoever to do with how bad (or good) the demonized leader actually is.<\/p>\n

Why does the US government demonize those people, while simultaneously serving (if not actually installing) barbaric dictators such as King Saud, Augusto Pinochet, Castillo Armas, and the Shah? The publicly stated reasons are always \u2018humanitarian\u2019 (when not \u2018national defense\u2019 \u2014 and often, as in 2003 Iraq \u2014 both at once).<\/strong> The alleged purpose is to \u2018bring democracy to the people there\u2019, and to \u2018protect human rights, which are being violated\u2019 by \u2018the dictator\u2019 \u2014 but it\u2019s actually<\/em> in order to make suckers out of their country\u2019s own population<\/a>, so as to serve the billionaires whose income can\u2019t be boosted in any other way than to turn \u2018enemies\u2019 (targets) into \u2018allies\u2019 (markets) \u2014 to conquer those \u2018enemies\u2019. This is just a marketing campaign, and the voters are not the consumers of these products, but they are instead merely the gulls who have to be fooled<\/a> in order for those profits to keep rolling in, to the (usually) offshore accounts of those billionaires. This is not the type of socialism in which the government controls the economy, but instead the type of economy in which the economy \u2014 actually the billionaires who control the armaments-firms \u2014 control the government. This is why it\u2019s \u201csocialism for the rich and capitalism for everybody else.\u201d (The term \u201cfascism\u201d can be used for that.)<\/p>\n

This is the New America. And here is the New America Foundation<\/a>, which is one of the many \u2018non-profit\u2019 PR arms of this new America. (That one represents mainly Democratic Party billionaires. Here<\/a> is one that instead represents mainly Republican Party billionaires.) These are taxpayer-subsidized public relations agencies for their businesses. These individuals are exceptionally gifted businesspeople, because they deeply understand how to fool the public, and they understand that the public never learns and so history just keeps repeating itself, such as in 1953 Iran, and then in 1954 Guatemala, and 1973 Chile, and 2003 Iraq, and 2019 Venezuela, and so many others, ad nauseum<\/em>. And it goes on and on, for decades if not forever.<\/p>\n

But how can the world be protected from such countries? If there is not widespread public recognition that \u2018permanent war for perpetual peace\u2019 is a vicious lie<\/a>, then can there be any other way to do it? Maybe not. Apparently, constant lying by the government and by its (i.e., by its billionaires\u2019) media \u2014 and by all of its successful national politicians \u2014 is required in any such country. This seems to be the only effective way to control the public in such a country; and, if the public there aren\u2019t deceived, then the arms-firms\u2019 control over the government won\u2019t even be possible. So, regarding foreign policies, the lying in such a country is constant \u2014 especially about foreign affairs.<\/p>\n

For example, that explains the stunning findings, in the recent study by a media-watchdog organization, that \u201cZero Percent of Elite Commentators Oppose Regime Change in Venezuela\u201d<\/a>. Having something like this happen after<\/em> Americans were lied into invading Iraq in 2003<\/a>, is proof that (and it explains why<\/em>) the public never learns. This is the way the system has been designed to function, siphoning off the society\u2019s wealth into billionaires\u2019 \u2014 largely offshore \u2014 accounts. The system is actually set up to operate that way. And the system\u2019s owners<\/em> (and their media) call this \u2018democracy\u2019<\/a>, and are peddling that \u2018democracy\u2019 to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

This is a very successful trick, because \u2014 at least until now \u2014 the public never learns. (Of course, the system itself is set up so that they won\u2019t<\/em>.) The public never learns that the actual<\/em> enemy is the domestic aristocracy itself<\/em>. But one major American magazine recently made fun of this by headlining \u201cIn Billionaires Is the Preservation of the World\u201d<\/a> praising them as \u201cnature\u2019s own life-preserver\u201d and closing by \u201cWith life itself depending on it, how do we determine which billionaires to kiss up to?\u201d The enemy is within, but it\u2019s no joke, and (as Trump makes so clear) \u2018aliens\u2019 get the blame, while the domestic aristocracy just get the money.<\/p>\n

This type of racket has worked that way for thousands of years, and yet it has always remained \u201cTop Secret,\u201d or (at least) \u201cConfidential\u201d or etc.; but, anyway, very<\/em> private \u2014 and not acknowledged in their \u2018news\u2019-media, but instead publicly denied (though, occasionally, also joked-about).<\/p>\n

A more-serious phrase for this is \u201cthe Deep State.\u201d<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of\u00a0 <\/em>They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/a>,<\/em> of\u00a0<\/em>Christ\u2019s Ventriloquists: The Event that Created Christianity<\/a>, and\u00a0of<\/em>\u00a0Feudalism, Fascism, Libertarianism and Economics<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11 May 2019 – In a country such as the United States, the constant need for new wars is being constantly driven by investors\u2019 needs for expanding both markets and targets… A more-serious phrase for this is \u201cthe Deep State.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1104,853,232,244,120,354,433,926,504,291,1105,780,91,109,287,278,70,126,118,172,875,75],"class_list":["post-133418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-militarism","tag-arms-trade","tag-atomic-weapons","tag-capitalism","tag-china","tag-conflict","tag-economics","tag-europe","tag-humanitarianism","tag-international-relations","tag-military","tag-military-industrial-complex","tag-military-intervention","tag-nato","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-russia","tag-usa","tag-violence","tag-war","tag-west","tag-wmd","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}