Is The USA Is Addicted To War?

By: Evan Augustine Peterson III, J.D.

0/20/05 "ICH" - - Let us consider the possibility that the USA has become addicted, in an economic sense, to war. While the evidence offered below is by no means exhaustive, it is directly relevant and highly probative. Therefore, the reader should consider ALL of the evidence in Exhibits A through D before judging whether or not a prima facie case has been made that America is economically addicted to war.

EXHIBIT A: US Military Budget Will Equal Rest Of World's Combined "Within 12 Months."

A new study by the Price Waterhouse Cooper corporate-finance group concluded that the USA's military "defense" budget:

(A) reached $417.4 billion in 2003;

(B) equaled nearly half - 46% - of the rest of world's ("ROW") combined
military expenditures in 2003; and

(C) is growing so fast that it will equal the ROW combined "within 12
months." [1]
Hence, the American military-industrial complex is poised to monopolize the global armaments industry. And yet the War Party's leaders and the Pentagon's brass deem these astronomical expenditures so inadequate that they're requesting considerably larger expenditures to sustain - or expand - their romanesque Pax Americana Imperium. [2]

Americans should be asking themselves WHY they're being advised that they cannot feel safe after they've made grossly disproportionate investments, by global standards, in what is by far the world's largest military? What do these exorbitantly expensive forces exist to do? Could it be that war's tangible rewards are so much greater for militarists than they are for the average citizen that the militarists are exaggerating the need for a "Global War On Terror" merely to justify their empire?

EXHIBIT B: The Far-Flung Global Empire Of American Militarism.

What's all that money buying, aside from endless overkill through the defense contractors' cornucopia of hi-tech weaponry? It's buying a far-flung empire of 1,700 bases upon which the sun never sets! Unbeknownst to most Americans, the Department of Defense ("DOD") currently lists 725 official US military bases outside of the country, and another 969 inside the 50 states (not to mention numerous secret bases).

According to UCSD Emeritus Professor of International Relations Chalmers Johnson, this vast military empire constitutes proof that the "Unites States prefers to deal with other nations through the use or the threat of force rather than through negotiations, commerce, or cultural interaction." [3] Dr. Johnson correctly concludes that American power has shifted from the people to the Pentagon with such dramatic finality that "a revolution would be required to bring the Pentagon back under democratic control."

Eight factors have caused this anti-democratic power shift: the culture of American ultranationalist militarism is deeply entrenched; the enormous military budget has been used for gross over investment in offensive - not defensive - war making capabilities under the pretext of "national security"; the worldwide archipelago of military bases is being misused to expand the neocolonialist Pax Americana Imperium; Byzantine layers of bureaucracy and secrecy inside the government- military-industrial complex allow it to perpetrate illegalities and evade public scrutiny with impunity; the DOD commands a large private army of mercenaries to conduct secret black-ops actions that remain ethically and legally unaccountable; the DOD has successfully manipulated "national-security crises" as a pretext for centralizing the independent intelligence services under its propaganda-spewing control; the State Department's statesmen have been replaced by career soldiers, oil barons, and arms barons, who think the militarization of US foreign policy is desirable; the federal government's practically-nonexistent ethical code unwisely permits close ties between high-level politicians and arms-industry executives. [4]

EXHIBIT C: The Carlyle Group, The Bush Family, The War Party, And World
Leaders.

For at least the last twelve years, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush have been engaging in war-profiteering through the CARLYLE GROUP ("CG"). CG is a consortium of wealthy conservatives who operate worldwide as a merchant banking firm. CG is also a major player in the defense and telecommunications industries. CG has been averaging a whopping 34% return for its investors over the past 15 years, and its current estimated worth is $18 billion. Largely through war-profiteering, CG's worth soared from $12 billion to $18 billion between 2000 and 2005.

So who's involved in the Carlyle Group? Among many others: former President George H.W. Bush (CG's adviser from 1993 to October 2003, and current investor); Bush I Secretary of State James Baker (CG's $180 million partner); General Colin Powell before he was Bush II's SOS; Reagan Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci (CG's chairman); Bush I National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft; former conservative British Prime Minister John Major (head of CG's European  operations); and the former right-wing presidents of the Philippines and South Korea.

In the typical revolving-door style that has made postmodern Washington an ethics-free zone, the Carlyle Group is managed and staffed by former Republican employees of the CIA, the State Department, and the DOD. The Saudi royal family also is - and the Bin Laden family recently was - a major investor in CG. Additionally, many prominent international bankers are CG investors.

But wait! What about George W. Bush? He was a director in the Carlyle Group's subsidiary, Caterair, before he managed the Texas Rangers baseball team. Then, as Governor of Texas, he induced the board of the Texas teachers' pension fund - the members of which he appointed - to invest $100 million in CG. Finally, GWB stands to inherit a multimillion dollar portion of whatever his father reaps through his consultations with, and investments in, CG. That might explain why GWB was so adamant both that his illegal elective war against Iraq MUST commence in March 2003, and that the estate tax MUST be repealed (which his party did in April 2005). Now when Poppy Bush dies, he can receive 100% of that blood-soaked windfall inheritance. [5]

 
EXHIBIT D: The War-Profiteering Leviathans Bechtel And Halliburton.

BECHTEL is a gargantuan multinational construction firm. The US-based Bechtel's war-profiteering activities are so prodigious that they're the stuff of legends. Knowledgeable defense experts have characterized Bechtel as "more powerful than the US Army." After 9/11, George Schultz, the Bechtel CEO and former Secretary of State, lobbied vigorously for the invasion of Iraq . The Bush administration rewarded Schultz by granting Bechtel exclusive no-bid, gold-plated contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq , then reducing Iraq 's infrastructure to rubble during  its "shock and awe" blitzkrieg.

These Iraq War contracts enabled Bechtel to reap record profits of $17 billion in 2003, and $17.4 billion in 2004. The firm was founded by the San Francisco-based Bechtel family, who are old friends with the Saudi-based Bin Laden family. These two families have worked together on many construction projects in the Mideast . Indeed, they're currently collaborating on a $20 billion deal with the Saudi government to excavate two new ports. Furthermore, the Bin Laden family owns a $10 million stake in Bechtel Corporation's investment subsidiary, The Fremont Group. Of course, the Bin Laden's are also old friends with the Bush family. It's a small world, after all. [6]

HALLIBURTON has vaulted to the forefront as the USA 's premier - and most corrupt - war profiteer. Before revolving-door gamesman Dick Cheney became Bush II's running mate in 2000, he was receiving a multimillion dollar salary as Halliburton's CEO. Upon becoming Vice President Cheney, he oversold the invasion of Iraq by falsely alleging that an imminent threat was posed by Iraq 's nonexistent WMD arsenal. Since the invasion, his cronies at Halliburton have reaped profits of at least $18 billion from their Iraq War contracts. And Halliburton's revenues increased by 80% between 2003 and 2004.

Meanwhile, Halliburton was perpetrating countless acts of fraud, stealing multimillions through over billing, and taking millions in kickbacks to its executives. For instance, the Defense Contract Audit Agency recently concluded that Halliburton over billed US taxpayers by $212.3 million for fuel transportation in Iraq . And Halliburton is currently under investigation by both the FBI and the Securities Exchange Commission for numerous illegalities. Nevertheless, Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR continue to receive lucrative no-bid, gold-plated defense contracts from the Pentagon.

Noting this blatant cronyism, CorpWatch disgustedly concludes that "Halliburton's agenda is so merged with that of the Bush administration that  questions raised by auditors, inspectors-general, and other independent agencies - not  to mention corporate accountability groups - languish silently in Congress and the White House." [7]

Furthermore, these same major defense contractors - the Carlyle Group, Bechtel, Halliburton, and their subsidiaries - donated millions to the Republican Party and the Bush-Cheney campaign. Additionally, they paid for extravagant parties at the 2004 political conventions and the 2005 presidential inauguration. In short, war is a lucrative business that pays the elite war-profiteers and the Washington bribe-ocrats handsomely, while it impoverishes the taxpayers, drains the federal coffers, decimates the target nations, and kills the combatants and their innocent victims hideously.

Overarching Conclusions: 21st-Century America Is Repeating Imperialism's Historical  Pattern Of Economic Addiction To War.