"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to
it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to
come.'Matt (24:6)
WARMONGERS: MERCHANTS OF DEATH by B.Auken
I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and
destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” US
President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday in a startling threat that could
trigger a catastrophic war throughout the Middle East and beyond.
The threat to launch a war 7,000 miles from US shores in the
midst of coronavirus pandemic, whose death toll in the US is rapidly
approaching 50,000, comes on the heels of Trump’s Monday night tweet announcing
a suspension of all immigration into the United States, a transparent attempt
to scapegoat immigrants for the ravages of the pandemic and the layoffs of tens
of millions of workers.
There is in both of these actions an expression of
desperation and a flailing about in the face of a national and global crisis
for which the US ruling class has no viable solution. It is a crude attempt to
change the subject and divert public attention from the catastrophic
consequences of the criminal indifference of the government and the ruling oligarchy
it represents to the lives and well-being of the vast majority of the
population.
Pentagon officials reported Wednesday that they had received
no prior notification of Trump’s tweet, much less any orders for a change in
the rules of engagement in the Persian Gulf.
Nonetheless, the brutal and fascistic rhetoric of Trump
reflects a drive to war by US imperialism that has not been tempered, but
rather intensified, by the global pandemic.
Even as Trump issued his tweet, US warships were sailing
toward a confrontation with China in the South China Sea. At the same time, the
Pentagon was announcing a shift in its deployment of long-range, nuclear
capable B-52 bombers to make their presence less predictable to Beijing and
Moscow and thereby ratchet up tensions.
In recent days, the US has sharply escalated its air strikes
against the impoverished African nation of Somalia, even as the coronavirus
pandemic threatens to ravage its population. Escalating war threats continue
against Venezuela, and the Pentagon continues to provide support for the
near-genocidal Saudi-led war against the people of Yemen.
Nowhere does this war drive find more naked expression than
in the massive government bailout that is being organized for the US arms
industry. With tens of millions of workers unemployed, many facing hunger, and
a drive by both the Trump administration and state governors to force a
premature return to work, billions upon billions of dollars are being lavished
upon military contractors to sustain their guaranteed profits and the obscene
fortunes generated for their major shareholders.
Asked by a reporter how much would be need to insure
Washington’s Merchants of Death from any losses due to the coronavirus
pandemic, she replied, “We’re talking billions and billions on that one.” Lord
added that the first priority for this aid program was the “modernization
process of the nuclear triad.”
These industries are hardly the picture of the deserving
poor. The fact that massive financial resources that are desperately needed to
save lives and rescue millions of workers from poverty are instead being poured
into their pockets is a crime. (Source:GR) (bobbeethehater.blogspot.com)
