A Pawn Of The Military-Industrial Complex?

Obama Seeks $83 Billion More For War.

By Fred Burks
April 10, 2:51 PM
Courtesy Of The National Intelligence Examiner

President Obama Thursday requested $83.4 billion more for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A vociferous critic of the Iraq war during his quest for the presidency, Obama is clearly supporting war and betraying the many who elected him hoping he would decrease our military operations overseas, particularly in the Middle East.

Last month, Obama pledged to withdraw 12,000 troops from Iraq. Yet his current initiative is to eventually boost U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to more than 60,000 from the current 39,000. If you do the math, it's pretty clear that Obama is supporting the war machine. His $83 billion request Thursday stipulates $2.2 billion specifically to support the Pentagon's plans to increase the overall size of the U.S. military to a 547,400-person active-duty Army.

Obama knew long before entering office that you don't get elected to the presidency of the U.S. without supporting the military-industrial complex. His strategy of widely proclaiming that he would get us out of Iraq won the hearts of many Americans during the election. Yet much less loudly, though very consistently, he stated more troops and military resources were needed in Afghanistan. Thus he was able to appeal to the large majority of citizens who wanted to get out of the Middle East without losing support of the powerful U.S. military and major military contractors.

The military-industrial complex generates huge profits for the power elite of our world. If you study history with an eye to who makes the big profits during war times, you might be surprised to find just how much the big industrialists profit during any major conflict. One of the first to broadcast this kind of information widely was the most highly decorated U.S. general of World War I, Smedley Butler. In his classic book War is a Racket, Gen. Butler states:

The normal yearly profits of a business concern in the U.S. are 6 to 12%. But war-time profits, that is another matter – 60, 100, 300, and even 1,800% – the sky is the limit. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it. Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism and love of country, but the profits jump, leap, and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed.

And let us not forget the bankers who financed the great war. If anyone had the cream of the profits it was the bankers. How the bankers made their millions and their billions I do not know, because those little secrets never become public – even before a Senate investigatory body.

Why are we in Iraq anyway? We all know now that the key facts which convinced the public to support the Iraq war were fabricated by Bush administration hawks. Why are we in Afghanistan? There are many dozens of countries around the world with as much or more internal strife than Iraq and Afghanistan. There are conscious efforts at genocide of entire populations going on in certain countries in Africa, yet there are few profits to be made there. Ask most people why we are in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and you are not likely to find any good consensus, or even a good reason for being there.

Any good investigative reporter knows that if you want to get to the bottom of matters, you have to follow the money. War is no exception. Follow the money and you will find that the public is often manipulated into supporting wars that have much less to do with national security, and more to do with making hefty profits for the power elite of our world. BBC has produced a powerfully revealing documentary, The Power of Nightmares, showing how the War on Terror has largely been fabricated. The third episode, available for viewing below, is particularly revealing.

For lots more on Power of Nightmares and the war machine, click here. The box immediately below provides several ideas on what you can do to further educate yourself and make a difference on this critical issue. We also invite you to comment below and let us know what you think. Should the United States be sending more troops into the Middle East? And if so, why? What do you think are the real reasons behind these wars?

What you can do:

• Inform your media and political representatives of this important information. For the contact information of your representatives, click here. Urge them to pull our troops out of the Middle East as soon as is practical, and to help reveal the real forces behind war.
• Learn more about about the causes war in an excellent, two-page summary of Gen. Butler's War is a Racket.
• Read revealing summaries of major media reports on war available here.
• Visit our War Information Center at http://www.wanttoknow.info/warinformation.
• Explore inspiring ideas on how we can build a brighter future for all by reading this short essay.
• Spread this news to your friends and colleagues so that we can fill the role at which the major media is sadly failing. Together, we can make a difference.

Fred Burks served as personal language interpreter to Clinton, Bush, Cheney, Gore, and other top dignitaries in secret meetings. As part of an international network of researchers and news analysts, Fred obtains and disseminates key, reliable information about powerful, yet little-known forces which shape our world. For more, see articles and links in the right column of this page or click on one of the links below.

Author: Fred Burks

Fred Burks is a National Examiner. You can see Fred's articles on Fred's Home Page.

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