No, America should NOT lead the world 12-17-2020

 

17, December 2020             No, America should NOT lead the world

I was horrified when president elect, Joe Biden thundered. “America is back at the head of table to lead the world.” Oh Really? Surely a healthy dose of realism and humility is in order before America can claim leadership or even a seat at the table! Hasn’t America done enough damage imposing its economic and military power on smaller nations?

For the past several decades we have cajoled our coalition partners to support our disastrous military adventures. From Vietnam to Afghanistan we have witnessed a monstrous misuse of American firepower. Deceitful politicians aided and abetted by US Defense Contractors and armies of lobbyists have bribed politicians with “campaign contributions” to do their bidding and bankrupt our nation sending tens of thousands to their early graves. No, Vietnam was no threat to the US but military engagement was based on the deceitful Gulf of Tonkin Resolution falsely claiming a North Vietnamese boat had fired on a US war ship. The Vietnamese are still suffering the devastating impact of “Agent Orange” and carpet bombing of their country causing devastating birth defects. The landscaped is littered with deadly cluster bombs responsible for the debilitating injuries of many children. President Nixon secretly widened the war carpet bombing neighboring Laos and Cambodia killing tens of thousands.

The Iraq War was a direct result of misguided political objectives orchestrated by the Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice cabal but blame was nimbly deflected on US Intelligence Agencies when no WMD’s were found. Bush’s grotesque “war on terror” resulted in the death of hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis and destruction of much of their country. Depleted uranium was used by the US military causing a great deal of ‘Gulf War” sickness. No politicians were held responsible, Cheney was back fly fishing and Bush jnr. is spending his days doodling on a canvas. Only General Colin Powel expressed remorse for his role.

Following the 9/11 attacks Bush Jnr launched another hasty, devastating war chasing our former ally, Bin Laden and his small band into the Bora Bora Mountains. Black sites were quickly established where we engaged in the most gruesome forms of torture. One of the senior CIA leaders Gina Haspel has since been promoted to head the CIA. GITMO was a maximum security prison used to house Afghan prisoners most of whom have never been charged with any crimes. It cost US taxpayers a whopping $13 million to house each detainee. GITMO is a disturbing Bush-Cheney relic and should be shut down and all prisoners released. Following the death of Bin Laden our military is still fighting the Taliban and losing the war. In a bizarre twist, the head of U.S. Central Command recently confirmed that the U.S. military has conducted drone strikes on the Islamic State terrorist group to assist the Taliban. In the 20 year conflict, hundreds of civilians have been killed which the US dismisses as acceptable collateral damage.

Throughout all these terrible wars the US has never apologized for its blunders and mistakes or offered reparations. Both Democrats and Republicans are both eager to demonstrate their loyalty to the US military by granting them generous pay raises. Trillions of dollars have been squandered in these war games. Billions more have been spent on U.S. cyber defenses only to have them compromised by the Russians. The CIA has always enjoyed a “hands off” approach and a black box budget but no one has had the courage to measure the effectives of their clandestine activities.