"The Deep State’s creepy resemblance to its late
Soviet counterpart is manifest in its budding venture into the realm of
seeking to brand domestic American dissent as treason, to the hearty approval of the loony Left."...
8/12/17, "If War Comes, Don’t Blame the ‘Military-Industrial Complex’--Things Are Even Worse Than You Think," Strategic Culture Foundation, James George Jatras
"Today the «Military-Industrial Complex» is an archaic term
that doesn’t begin to describe the complexity and influence of current
structures. Indeed, even in Eisenhower’s day the MIC was more
than a simple duplex consisting of the Pentagon and military contractors
but also included an essential third leg: the Congressional committees
that provide the money constituting the MIC’s lifeblood. (Reportedly, an earlier draft of the speech used the term «military-industrial-Congressional» complex, a fuller description of what has come to be called the «Iron Triangle». Asked about the omission from the final text, Eisenhower is said to have answered: «It was more than enough to take on the military and private industry. I couldn't take on the Congress as well».)
Not only did the Iron Triangle continue to expand during the
Cold War, when production of military hardware established itself as the
money-making nucleus of the MIC, it swelled to even greater proportions
after the designated enemy, the USSR, went out of business in 1991.
While for one brief shining moment there was naïve discussion of a
«Peace Dividend» that would provide relief for American taxpayers from
whose shoulders the burden of a «long twilight struggle» against
communism (in John Kennedy’s phrase) had been lifted, that notion faded
quickly. Instead, not only did the «hard» side of the MIC maintain
itself – first in Iraq to fight «naked aggression» by Saddam Hussein in Kuwait, then in the Balkans in the 1990s as part of NATO’s determination to go «out of area or out of business» – it then branched out into «soft» areas of control.
In the past quarter century what began as Eisenhower’s MIC
has become a multifaceted, hybrid entity encompassing an astonishing
range and depth in both the public and private sectors. To a large extent, the contours of what former Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren has called the «Deep State»
(which largely through Lofgren’s efforts has since become a household
word) are those of the incestuous «expert» community that dominates
mainstream media thinking but extend beyond it to include elements of
all three branches of the US government, private business (especially
the financial industry, government contractors, information technology),
think tanks, NGOs (many of which are anything but «nongovernmental» but
are funded by US official agencies and those of our «allies», satellites, and
clients), higher education (especially the recipients of massive
research grants from the Department of Defense), and the two political
parties and their campaign operatives, plus the multitude of lobbyists,
campaign consultants, pollsters, spin doctors, media wizards, lawyers,
and other functionaries.
Comparing the MIC of 1961 to its descendant, the Deep State of today,
is like comparing a horse and buggy to a Formula One racecar. The Deep State’s principals enjoy power and privileges that would
have brought a blush to the cheeks of members of the old
Soviet nomenklatura, of which it is reminiscent. Indeed, the Deep State’s creepy resemblance to its late
Soviet counterpart is manifest in its budding venture into the realm of
seeking to brand domestic American dissent as treason, to the hearty approval of the loony Left....
The Soviet nomenklatura gave up without a fight. It’s unlikely its American counterpart will.
Whether Trump in the end decides to fight or to seek accommodation is
still under debate. Some suggest that by signing the recent bill
imposing sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea, he has already
surrendered. But either way, war or not, things are going to get very rocky."
.............
No comments:
Post a Comment