The West’s War Machine

By Michael Walsh

The Western Powers are now engaged in perpetual war. Few living Britons or Americans have known a month when their country was not directly or indirectly involved in conflict somewhere. Most of the world’s nations get on fine with everyone else, but not the belligerent arms industry fuelled U.S or the UK.

Rudyard Kipling, Britain’s greatest poet, who lost his only son in World War One, was scathing:

If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Disregard the Western Powers Orwellian mantras such as The War on Terror, Weapons of Mass Destruction and similar red herrings. Conflict is fuelled not by idealism, but by pursuit of market share, territory and raw material. Global war is the most profitable venture of all man’s pursuits. Western economies are largely based upon arms related investment, raw material acquisition (theft) and profits.

Britain’s history of piracy and pillage is abysmal. Of the world’s 200 plus nations Britain has invaded all but 22 of them. There is not enough room to list the number of conflicts Britain has been involved in since 1945. The piratical record of the United States is equally grim. Since 1776 the United States has been at peace for only 21 years. The United States has placed over 1,000 bases spread over 153 countries; they are not there to defend our freedoms. Yet, this same America, with breath-taking chutzpah, dares to call nations that never attack anyone, rogue nations.

Henry Labouchere, Liberal MP and journalist:

We are without exception the greatest robbers and marauders that ever existed on the face of the globe. We are worse than other countries because we are hypocrites also, for we plunder and always pretend to do so for other peoples’ good.

It is said that war and arms manufacture is not only America’s biggest industry; the entire U.S. economy is based on it. The U.S. spends more on arms than China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, France, UK, Japan and Germany combined.

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Most of us prefer the comfort of our illusions to the truth. The fact remains that we no longer have government of the people for the people, but government by corporates for corporate interests. During 2009 and 2010 household name oil, gas and coal companies spent $347 million on political campaigns and lobbying bribes; a highly profitable investment. Big oil gets a 5,800% return on every dollar it spends on Congress.

U.S. senators who voted to attack Syria received 83 per cent more campaign money from military contractors than lawmakers voting no. Politician Dick Cheney has been cited as the most powerful Vice-President in American history. Cheney’s arms manufacturing related companies made over $39,500,000,000 U.S. taxpayer funded dollars from the Iraq War alone. U.S. taxpayers saw $2 trillion of their hard-earned spent on the War in Iraq. 90% of that money ended up in the bank accounts of 1% of the population. You guess which 1%.

British parliament is every bit as corrupt. Only 0.7% of Britons are millionaires yet 78% of British parliamentarians and 50% of Congressmen are millionaires. If you think such wealth is salary-based you are likely to believe in fairies at the bottom of your garden.

Michael Walsh is a veteran columnist, journalist, broadcaster and author or editor of 36 book titles.

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