We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Rise of the Military Based Empire. Washington, “Military Workshop” of the World

Click here to access article by James Petras from Global Research.

This article is worthwhile reading because it offers a review and assessment of US imperialist policies and actions mostly beginning after the 9/11 tragedy. However, as an explanatory piece it is very inadequate. Of course Zionists have played a major role in shaping US policies to favor Israeli interests, but the retired sociology professor fails with his theory of competing factions to really explain anything. 

His theory demands an explanation of the appearance of "competing factions" which he doesn't provide. He also doesn't provide a single link to documentation. I guess the professor regards himself as an omniscient authority which all of us must defer to. To explain any single imperialist policy and/or action, he simply posits a faction. I counted numerous:
  • Washington policy elite
  • Zionist faction
  • Washington militarists
  •    In the Far East, the Navy and Air Force predominate.
  •    In the Far East, the Navy and Air Force predominate.
  •    In the Middle East and South Asia, the military (Army and Air Force) factions share power with the Zionist faction. Fundamentally the Zionist dictate policy on Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine and the militarists follow. Both factions overlapped in creating the debacle in Libya.
  • traditional militarist wing of Washington’s elite
  • Zionist faction among US militarist policymakers
  • traditional business faction
  • oil and business elite
He concludes with this statement which raises more questions:
[Zionists] push the US into wars for Israel, and once having destroyed “the enemy country” they leave a vacuum to be filled by chaos.  The American public provides the gold and blood for these misadventures and reaps nothing but domestic deterioration and greater international strife.
Surely he is not suggesting that if the US ruling class had reaped solid gains from their many imperialist adventures that the wars would have been justified. What he really explains is the powerful influence of domestic and Israeli Zionists on US foreign policies. But how did these Zionists attain such influence among the US capitalist ruling class? I think it is because they have served this class so well in terms of profit and power over the years, however I don't have the time develop that argument. Petras should be doing that.
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