On January 17, 1961,
President Eisenhower, in his final address to the nation, served a dire warning
of a looming peril over America.
The following is the
most crucial part of that address:
“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.”
The military-industrial complex is an unholy alliance among arms dealers,
mercenaries, and government armed forces. This wealthy and powerful coalition
profits from wars and hence will influence governments to enter into optional
conflicts and eventually, prolong them.
An examination of the
history of US conflicts proves that Eisenhower’s words were prophetic. The
Vietnam War lasted from 1954 to1975. The US was also involved in a conflict in
the Dominican Republic (1965). During the 80s, the US was involved in
wars in Lebanon (1982), in Grenada (1983), in Panama (1989). During the 90s,
the US was involved in wars in Kuwait and Iraq (1991), in Somalia (1993), in
Haiti (1994), in Bosnia (1994-1995), and in Kosovo (1999).
In 2001, the US
entered into a war in Afghanistan in response to the September 11th terror
attacks, the US armed forces' presence continues to this day. There was a
prolonged intervention in Iraq from 2003 to 2010. The US was also involved in
conflicts in Libya and in Syria from 2017 to the present day. All of the above
precludes unofficial sales of arms to warring factions all over the world or
covert operations.
In some of the above
conflicts, violent extremist groups were deemed as terrorists that needed to be
defeated, years later, the same violent group was termed freedom-fighting
rebels who need to be armed. Pliable regimes were regarded as virtuous and
worthy of support when the regimes turned non-cooperative they were denounced
as evil and hence needed to be overthrown. There was very little principle
involved. Most of these conflicts were unnecessary and unilateral. Some of
these could have been solved by surgical strikes and/or diplomacy. The
tax-paying citizen has no say, there may be protests and petitions but nothing
stops the war-mongers.
Every entity from the
caterer to the arms dealers earned handsomely. The cumulative effect of these
conflicts is billions of tax-payer dollars spent, millions of lives lost,
countries destroyed and citizens displaced. The next step is rebuilding nations,
once again there are substantial pecuniary gains to be made during these
efforts.
The economist Keynes
proposed that getting the unemployed to dig ditches and filling them up again
is a means to resolve unemployment and get the economy moving. It looks appears
that the Military-Industrial complex has applied this principle to countries.
The calamitous consequences of these wars hardly matter.
President Trump was
the only modern president to not enter into new wars. He made attempts to
withdraw from conflicts and enable the local regimes to take charge. But the
move was met with resistance from members of the Military-Industrial complex
and their cronies in the media. In fact, US officials admitted to lying to
President Trump about troop levels in Syria to prevent a withdrawal.
With Biden in power,
the political establishment has made a comeback. Owing to his rapidly declining
cognitive abilities, Biden seems to have very little comprehension of the
occurrences around him and unlike other presidents, his legacy is the least of
his concerns. This is the puppet that the establishment always dreamed of.
Hence, it was easy
for Biden’s puppet masters to roll back almost all of Trump’s America-first
policies. The 'crisis' on the US-Mexico border was triggered to cause a demographic
change to ensure Democrat victories. The woke brigade has taken over key
sectors of the government and is leading futile HR initiatives. Confronting
domestic terrorism is used as an excuse for surveillance and persecution of
political opposition. The economy is unraveling which is likely to make more
people dependent on government welfare.
The next logical step
was for Biden to enter into an armed conflict to appease the
Military-Industrial Complex. Hence, it astounded many when Biden announced a
total withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Biden set August 31, 2021, as the
formal deadline for troop withdrawal. However, the withdrawal is for all
intents and purposes complete, with the transfer of control of Bagram.
Does this mean that the war in Afghanistan is over and has the Military-Industrial Complex given up?
It appears likely that will be a civil war as the Taliban take on the Afghan government. The government may be able to retain its holds on key cities, but the Taliban will be in control of the countryside, while other ethnic militias defend their fiefs.
Mere hours after Biden issued a defense of the US withdrawal, Taliban fighters seized the border town of Islam Qala -- completing an arc of territory from the Iranian border to the frontier with China. The Taliban now claims to be in control of 85% of Afghanistan.
The Taliban comprises of the most savage and radical of Islamists. They want to impose Sharia Law, which means all progress made in education, democracy, and women’s rights will be summarily undone. If the Taliban needs support they can always count on their friendly neighbor Pakistan. The very place that Osama Bin Laden chose as his home and the Oxford for terrorists. ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other Islamist terror groups who had largely been defeated in the Middle East under the Trump administration are always in pursuit of a safe haven, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is ideal for them.
Perhaps they may be
some backdoor help or coercion from agents who have support from the
Military-Industrial Complex yearning for a conflict. It is hence not a matter
of if but when they will commit an act of terror.
What will be the
consequence of this act of terror?
The US government has
a legitimate reason to re-enter Afghanistan and remain there perhaps forever.
It has to be
remembered that peacekeeping is not a very lucrative exercise, especially in
current Afghanistan where affairs were relatively calm. It only involves
policing and training, with few arms used.
But with the Taliban
being allowed to take over, the bee-hive has been overturned. The only way to
‘restore’ order will be a fresh invasion, followed by boots on the ground with
an active conflict, followed by a continued military presence. There will be
copious usage of arms.
China also has its eye on the troubled country, there will be business to be conducted if peace can be maintained.
It appears this total withdrawal is a sinister long-term ploy to ensure a prolonged armed conflict and presence.
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