Tag: Military-Industrial Complex

Don’t Push Me! (Warns Karzai)

Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

For nine years we have been playing war against the Taleban and AQ…mostly the Taleban in Afghanistan…..we pick our man in Afghanistan…Karzai and we have put all our marbles in his basket and in return for all our support….after all we get him elected twice…he repays the US with threats like these….

Karzai accused foreign powers of orchestrating election fraud last year, just three days after US President Barack Obama made a secret weekend trip to Afghanistan to warn him to do more to tackle government corruption.

He went so far as to claim that such moves risked the 126,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan being seen as “invaders” — terminology used by the Taliban — and their nine-year insurgency becoming viewed as “a national resistance.”

He made that threat twice in less than a week….that if he chooses he will join forces with the Taleban and fight against “foreign invaders”….

Nice talk from a man that owes his political career to the West…without their support he would have been laid to rest years ago…..this man is trying to play both sides against the middle….maybe we should have listened to the ONLY person in the Obama admin that was dead set against giving Karzai more support….Joe Biden.

Without us Foreign fighters, Karzai is little more than the mayor of Kabul…he owes his very existence on the “foreigners”….I even heard some pundits from various think tanks that said the US should NOT nitpick on Karzai…..I say f*ck him!

I mean this is a corrupt admin running Afghanistan…..his whole family is into shady dealings from drugs to bribes to arms….why would we continue to support this person?  A good answer or at least a starting point, is to find out how much cash this “person” gets from the US and other “foreigners”……

This is all so much crap!  Our best bet was in the 80’s,when we had a substantial ally in the Northern Alliance….but that was out of the question because they are NOT Pashtun…they are mostly Tajiks….and that would have been a minority running the country….wait!….the Taleban was a minority that we handed the reins of government because Washington is STUPID!

Is there truly a government that can be best for the whole country of Afghanistan?  I have a few ideas and I will put them forth in the coming weeks and want to see how many people will agree with my assessment…..

If you truly want an answer then I suggest that you ask the Military-Industrial Complex…….keep in mind….war is good business!

The Terror-Industrial Complex

When Eisenhower left office in 1960 he warned the nation to beware of the military-industrial complex…he gave a rather dire warning of a beast that could be born….and his prediction was ever so accurate.  But what is the MIC?

a concept commonly used to refer to policy relationships between governments, national armed forces, and industrial support they obtain from the commercial sector in political approval for research, development, production, use, and support for military training, weapons, equipment, and facilities within the national defense and security policy.

It has become a helluva beast giving the MIC a unwarranted amount of influence with the lawmakers of the country.  In Eisenhower’s words:

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction… This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. 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. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.

About now you are wondering just where I am going with this….Patience is a virtue…….

Colin Powell has seen the rise of yet another beast….the Terror-Industrial Complex…..raising its ugly head and just as Eisenhower warned of the MIC, Powell is doing so about the TIC…this could cost him politically.

The following is a post from Lincoln Madison, blogspot.com:

a two-year-old interview by Will Prescott, a college newspaper reporter, with former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, following up on Powell’s comments about the “Terror-Industrial Complex” in an interview with Walter Isaacson in the September 2007 issue of GQ magazine. I had to hunt around to find the video — several sources had broken links — and I didn’t find the text of the full interview. The complete transcript follows below the fold, with verified links to the original video of the interview, the articles from The Oklahoma Daily before and after the interview, and the GQ interview. Incidentally, Keith Olbermann credits Terry Gilliam, the one American-born member of the Monty Python crew, with bringing this interview back to his attention.

LINKS:
Colin Powell “terrorist-industrial complex” video on OU’s website (interview by Will Prescott, The Oklahoma Daily and Nick Tankersley, The Hub)
The Oklahoma Daily/Hub article before the interview [2007-09-11]
The Oklahoma Daily/Hub article after the interview [2007-09-12]
GQ interview by Walter Isaacson of Colin Powell, Sept. 2007
The specific part of the Isaacson interview about the Terror-Industrial Complex

Will Prescott: Good morning – good afternoon, Sir. Again, in a [September 2007] GQ interview with Walter Isaacson, you said we need to be beware of creating a “Terror-Industrial Complex.” What would a Terror-Industrial Complex look like, and are we headed in that direction?

Powell: Well, I think we have to beware of it. We’re spending an enormous amount of money on homeland security — and I think we should spend whatever it takes — but I think we have to be careful that we don’t get so caught up in trying to throw money at the terrorist and counterterrorist problem that we’re essentially creating an industry that will only exist as long as you keep the terrorist threat pumped up. And so that would be the context of that comment, and I feel strongly about it — just as, many years ago, [U.S. President] General [Dwight] Eisenhower warned [PDF] about a Military-Industrial Complex. I just wanted to make a point: defend ourselves, screen ourselves, do everything we can to go after terrorists and defeat terrorism, because it is a threat, it is an enemy — but let’s keep it in perspective. Let’s keep it in context, because the United States has many needs. We have needs to deal with the poverty of some of our people, education, the environment. There are lots of things America needs to do, and we have to make sure we only spend that which is absolutely essential on our military, on our police forces, and on our [anti-]terrorist activities.

Now you can see what Powell was talking about…all you need to do is look at the MIC and see the horrible voracious beast that it has become and now we are creating yet another hungry monster that will eat and eat until there is nothing left……it is like the government has created a Frankenstein and then created its mate…..all in the name of national security.  IT’S ALIVE!

It may be too late already…..this beast like the beast from Hell…once released is here forever.

Russia To Rearm!

For you history buffs—-which was the first country to get out of the Great Depression?  Do not hurt yourself…it was Germany.  And why?  Because they started a massive program of military spending to rearm after the defeat of WWI.

Where am I going with this?  All countries are feeling the problems of the economic crisis and some handle it in different ways.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced today that his nation would begin a “large-scale” rearmament campaign for both its army and navy starting in 2011 in response to persisting threats to the nation’s security.

Pointing to NATO’s continued expansion and the increasing amount of military forces massing along Russia’s western borders. Medvedev warned of “a serious conflict potential” that “requires the quality modernization of our Armed Forces and acquisition of a new advanced appearance by them.”

Sounds a bit like the rationale used by Germany to start their massive rearming program in the 30’s.

For about three years I have been saying that would be a “new” Cold War and stories like this one just adds to the validity of my prediction.

Bleed Them Into Bankruptcy

I believe that it was Ronnie Reagan who believed in this strategy in dealing with the USSR.  He believed that the way to cripple and eventually destroy the USSR was to make them spend billions upon billions trying to keep up with the US in its pushing of military and foreign policy spending.  And as predicted the Soviets tried to keep up and it finally bankrupted them and it slowly rolled over and died.  But wait!  That death gave birth to the ravenous Russian bear, that may be more dangerous than the USSR ever was.  But that will be a post for another day.

Now Ronnie’s technique is coming back to haunt the US.  How you ask?  Al Qaeda.  THey would like the US to continue spending billions upon billions to make the world safe.  They even endorsed McCain, in a half handed way, as president, because they know that he would continue the runaway spending on national security.  AQ has to keep the US engaged and spending uncontrolably.  AQ has to keep the US fighting on as many fronts as possible that way AQ can bleed dollars from the US until it eventually bankrupts itself.  Looks like someone in the AQ hierarchy is a student of history. The Ronnie Axiom.

The problem is, this could happen, the US economy is close to being bankrupt now and any further bleeding of funds from the economy could push it closer and closer to that threshold of bankruptcy.  It is reasible that AQ could win this battle.  I know not many want to hear this talk.  Just think about what is happening in the world and now think about our fragile economy.  What do you think?

Immigration: Virtual Border Fence

I know, I know everyone is screaming about those darn pesky illegal immigrants, especially at election, they are a convenient scapegoat for pandering to the people.  But any way, someone somewhere in the bowels of the INS came up with the idea of a virtual border fence, where cameras, radar and other such devices would be used to detect those entering the US illegally.

I believe it was Boeing that got the contract to build this wonder of modern technology.  Both President Bush and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pledged to create such “high-tech” fences as part of the government’s ongoing attempts to catch foreigners who try to sneak into the country under its radar.

Boeing built this and installed this and the test showed it does not work…….I say again……test show it does not work.  A multi-dollar project will be scraped and another attempt will be made.  A 28 mile of border failure.

I ask does Boeing have to repay monies for a product that does not work?  If not, why?  If I buy a car and it does not work, the company will be held responsible why will Boeing not be held up to the same standards?  BTW, Boeing, will continue to bleed the system dry, they will get another whack at the “fence”.  I suggest they look for someone else to try this project, Boeing is a proven failure.  But sadly, since Boeing is part of the Military-Industrial Complex, they will continue to be a parasite on the taxpayer’s money.