General midterm elections in the United States are to be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014. All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate are to be contested along with in thirty-six states and three territories governorships along with numerous state and local races.
The pre-election campaign is taking place in the atmosphere of unparalleled militarization of foreign and internal policy. According to US traditional perception, international instability and war always serve the dollar and spur the demand for US treasury bonds.
Some time after the US fiscal year started (October 1) the Pentagon said in updated figures on October 27 that the average daily cost of the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants has risen to $8.3 million, or a total of $580 million between Aug. 8 (when the first strike was delivered) and Oct. 16. The price went up as the pace of air campaign has intensified recently.
The Defense Department is using the overseas contingency operations (OCO) funding to soften the blow from defense spending caps in 2015 and beyond. The Department of Defense’s contingency budget for this fiscal year is $85 billion.
The would-be wars are to take place in the Middle East and Ukraine. New NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Islamic State and Russia are the main threats for the Alliance. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the same thing. According to him, the Pentagon needs more money to oppose Russia and the Islamic State.
Endnote: Speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the German Marshall Fund, Brussels
On September 10, just a few hours before the commemoration of 9/11, President Obama ordered the United States into a broad military campaign to «degrade and ultimately destroy» militants in two volatile Middle East nations authorizing airstrikes inside Syria for the first time, as well as an expansion of strikes in Iraq. Pope Francis spoke during a mass at the Italian First World War memorial at Fogliano di Redipuglia, in northern Italy, where more than 100,000 fallen Italian soldiers are believed to be buried in the military graveyard. To underscore the seriousness of the situation he compared the current situation internationally to a third World War «fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres and destruction».Calling wars irrational, the Pontiff lamented conflicts are often justified by an ideology. «War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying», Francis noted.«Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often…» «War is madness» which «ruins everything, even the bonds between brothers» the Pope said as he recalled the Genesis story of how Cain killed his brother Abel.
As it has been happening since the first half of the XX century, the US military-industrial complex is the main benefactor. The United States is different from other countries. Normally a state tries to reduce budget deficit. The US does otherwise. With huge public debt and constantly growing budget deficit it keeps on increasing military expenditure to dwarf other countries of the world. The United States spends more than the next 10 highest defense budgets together. The expenditure exceeds the combined military spending of China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Italy and Brazil. As one conflict ends the US try to spark another. According to South China Morning Post, «US military companies appear to be benefiting from the new war against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria».
Endnote: South China Morning Post. US air campaign in Middle East proving windfall for arms industry.
The newspaper says «Shares of major military contractors – Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics – have already been trading near all-time highs, outpacing the Standard & Poor’s 500 index of large companies’ stocks». It adds that «Three days after US warships fired 47 cruise missiles at Sunni militant targets in northern Syria last week, the Pentagon signed a US$251 million deal to buy more Tomahawks from Raytheon, a windfall for the military giant and its many subcontractors». To keep up the trend the Islamic State is demonized, Russia is equated with the IS as Barack Obama declared it to be one of top contemporary threats to humanity.
Off and on the US editions like the Washington Post, for example,adduce the results of surveys that prove that Americans view Russia as number one threat.
Some media outlets resort to outright provocations. For instance, UK weekly newspaper the Sunday Times reported that the Islamic State aims to get hold of nuclear weapons with the help of Russia!
In his book Salvation of US Dollar – War Nikolay Starikov, a Russian writer, opinion journalist and social activist, writes that the United States needs war to take place everywhere, especially a limited nuclear war. It would be better if it were waged by others. The US will make it spark everywhere it can.
Nikolai MALISHEVSKI | Strategic Culture Foundation
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/11/03/us-needs-wars-to-be-waged-across-the-globe.html