It has to be obvious to almost everyone that the US war machine is trying desperately to get another war going… and – at least for the moment – failing miserably.
Now, it’s entirely possible that they’ll get their war going before this article even reaches you, but still, it’s quite another question whether they can sustain it.
War is a wild beast, of course, and you can never tell what it’ll do once it’s released into the world. But the beast of 2013 seems a bit emaciated and weak.
This situation reminds me of the old set of posters and buttons from the 1970s that asked the question:
What if they gave a war and no one came?
That looks to be the case right now. But that doesn’t mean powerful interests aren’t pushing for it.
Who Benefits?
The Romans had a phrase that they used for legal analysis: qui bono, which translates to “who benefits?” Clearly, powerful individuals are pushing hard for the US to go to war. Let’s take a look at who these people are.
Politicians
Early 20th century writer Randolph Bourne was ever-so right when he taught us that “war is the health of the state.” In times of peace, the state is commonly resented. After all, they forcibly remove money from the people in their control, and that engenders bad feelings. When terrified by war, however, people are willing to forget about such matters: It is better to be a serf than to be a corpse.
Consider the “great Presidents” – nearly all of them were associated with a war, and probably a big one.
Bankers
I’m talking here about central bankers, not the operator of your local savings and loan.
War requires money, and lots of it. And money comes from central bankers, not from governments or even from simple printing presses. Dollars, yen, euros and the others come from central bankers, and those bankers get a cut of everything they create.
And then, of course, they get interest on those dollars from every business that needs loans for machines to manufacture bullets, uniforms, bombs, portable food, and everything else that goes into “giving a war.”
The Mega-corps
State-connected corporations thrive in time of war. These outfits are addicted to over-sized profits, and the very best tool for obtaining them is war. Nothing else comes close. So, for the sake of their stock prices, they need war and will push in dozens of ways to get it.
