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James Petras
Introduction
Over the past 15 years the US has been engaged in a series of wars, which has led many writers to refer to the ‘rise of militarism’ – the growth of an empire, built primarily by and for the projection of military power – and only secondarily to advance economic imperialism.
The rise of a military-based empire, however, does not preclude the emergence of competing, conflicting and convergent power configurations within the imperial state. These factions of the Washington elite define the objectives and targets of imperial warfare, often on their own terms.
Having stated the obvious general fact of the power of militarism within the imperial state, it is necessary to recognize that the key policy-makers, who direct the wars and military policy, will vary according to the country targeted, type of warfare engaged in and their conception of the war. In other words, while US policy is imperialist and highly militaristic, the key policymakers, their approach and the outcomes of their policies will differ. There is no fixed strategy devised by a cohesive Washington policy elite guided by a unified strategic vision of the US Empire.
Eric Zuesse
U.S. President Barack Obama’s continuing refusal to work together with Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Syria to slaughter all jihadists there, has driven French President Francois Hollande to consider a fundamental re-alignment of France with Russia and away from the U.S. and NATO (the anti-Russian military club of nations). Recent news reporting in German Economic News — a news medium with an uncanny and extraordinary record of subsequently validated insights — is now suggesting that Hollande is, indeed, moving away from the United States, and toward Russia. If they get this one right, too, then that publication, known in its native language as Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, or DWN, will have cemented its leading position as a reporter of global affairs.
On November 17th, they bannered, “Putin Instructs Russian Navy to Treat France as an Ally.” Two days later, on the 19th, they headlined, “France Praises Putin: He Fights Sincerely Against Terrorism,” and reported that France’s "Foreign Minister Fabius praised the Russian president Putin. Francois Hollande meets with Putin.The Senate spokeswoman calls for the end of the sanctions. After the terrorist attacks, the two countries also cooperate militarily.
by Stephen Lendman
In the wake of last Friday’s Paris false flag, it didn’t take long for lunatics in Washington to urge sending US ground forces to Syria - on the phony pretext of combating ISIS, their real mission to oust Assad.
A new Donald Trump radio ad calls for “bomb(ing) the hell out of ISIS,” claiming “(t)he tragic attacks in Paris prove once again that America needs to get tough on radical Islamic terrorism. President Obama and other politicians have consistently failed us.”
“Just hours before the attacks in Paris, President Obama said ISIS has been contained. It's amazing that the United States can have a president who is so out of touch, but it's also dangerous. Obama has no strategy to defeat ISIS. And now he's preparing to let hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria into the United States.”
by Stephen Lendman
Russia’s escalated campaign against ISIS and other takfiri terrorists includes striking their fighters, facilities, command centers, bunkers, weapons and munitions sites - and now vehicles these groups use to transport stolen Syrian oil to Iraq and Turkey for black market sales, never bombed by US warplanes.
According to Russian General Staff spokesman Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov, “(i)n recent years, Islamic State and other extremist groups have organized the operations of the so-called ‘pipeline on wheels’ on the territories they control.” Russian warplanes already destroyed over 500 tanker vehicles used to transport oil for clandestine sales. It’s their main funding source along with what Washington and its rogue allies supply.
by Stephen Lendman
Netanyahu is taking full advantage of the Paris false flag his government likely was involved in orchestrating.
He and fascist coalition partners are waging terror war on Palestinians, blaming victims like they always do - and now equating defenseless Palestinian men, women, youths and children to ISIS, his latest despicable claim most gullible Israelis likely believe.
Longstanding Israeli state terror rages against millions of Palestinians. Following last Friday’s Paris false flag, Netanyahu said he “stands shoulder-to-shoulder with France in this common battle against militant Islamic terrorism.”
Ignoring his daily high crimes against humanity, he called terrorism “the deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians. It can never be justified. Terrorism must always be condemned. It must always be fought.”
by Jeffrey Steinberg
Just hours after terrorists staged an assault on the Paris offices of the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo and killed a dozen people, former U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.) joined House of Representatives Members Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and representatives of the 9/11 families, in a Capitol Hill press conference, convened to demand the immediate release of the 28-page chapter from the original 2002 Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11, which documented the role of the Saudi Royal Family in financing the hijackers.
Sen. Graham's words are even more profound and timely today, in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris massacres by Islamic State-allied butchers. Graham told the standing-room only crowd:
The Saudis know what they did. They are not persons who are unaware of the consequences of their government's actions. Second, the Saudis know that we know what they did! Somebody in the Federal government has read these 28 pages, someone in the Federal government has read all the other documents that have been covered up so far. And the Saudis know that.
by Stephen Lendman
Large parts of Gaza remain in ruins following Israel’s summer 2014 premeditated war of aggression - hundreds of families still reeling from loss of or serious injuries to loved ones, along with their homes destroyed.
Poverty haunts the Strip. Unemployment is around 43% - for youths 60%. Israel’s war never ended. Ceasefire terms agreed to in Cairo were breached straightaway. Intermittent air attacks continue, the latest on Wednesday. According to witnesses, Hamas infrastructure targets were struck in western Gaza City and central Gaza.
by Stephen Lendman
The roots of what happened last Friday go back to CIA-recruited Mujahideen fighters battling Afghanistan’s Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them “the moral equivalent of our founding fathers.”
They’re today’s Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS and other US created terrorist groups. A generation ago, GHW Bush’s Under Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was involved in orchestrating multiple US premeditated Middle East wars to come - to redraw the region under Washington-controlled puppet regimes. He believed America could use its military might anywhere in the region unimpeded. “(W)e’ve got about five to 10 years to clean out those old Soviet client regimes,” he said.
His doctrine left no ambiguity, stating: “Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union.”
by Stephen Lendman
Churchill once said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” More recently, former Obama White House chief of staff/current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel said earlier: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Post-9/11, America enacted the repressive USA Patriot Act, eviscerating Bill of Rights protections, the Homeland Security Act establishing a national Gestapo, along with various other police state laws and presidential diktats - destroying fundamental freedoms.
After January’s Charlie Hebdo/kosher market attacks, French lawmakers enacted legislation authorizing mass surveillance powers, similar to sweeping NSA spying on US citizens - permitting warrantless mass phone tapping and online communications monitoring.
by Stephen Lendman
The City of Light (La Ville Luniere) went dark repressively. A separate article discussed draconian measures imposed, explaining police state actions. The fading remnants of “liberte, egalite, (and) fraternite” disappeared in plain sight.
One of the world’s great tourist destinations no longer is safe to visit - not because of possible terrorist attacks, because police state authority replaced constitutional protections.
Expect more incidents like pre-dawn Wednesday morning. Heavily armed soldiers and police stormed Saint-Denis, a northern Paris suburb, hunting for alleged Friday attackers police chief Michael Cadot said were all killed. Heavy gunfire and explosions followed. Five summary arrests were made. Claims about an alleged female suicide bomber blowing herself up are unverified.
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