News & Analysis
US Military Theatre Expands Again
U.S. to use Predator drones in Libya . . . President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drones in Libya, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. Gates suggested that the unmanned Predator missions may have already begun. – CNN
Dominant Social Theme: Whatever it takes to free Libya from this tyrant, Barack Obama is prepared to do.
Free-Market Analysis: We have written a good deal about America's foreign wars, which just seem to keep expanding. We're not sure what the rationale is or whether America can support these recent conflicts, but the Pentagon seems confident that it can keep adding to its burdens without reducing combat effectiveness or "breaking the bank."
The addition of a shoot-to-kill drone-program in Libya is one more example of the unlimited budget that seems to accompany these sorts of episodes. Cost is not an object anymore; open-ended military episodes are popping up with disturbing regulatory. The debate over whether the US (in support of NATO) is the "bad boy" policeman of the Western seems over. The answer, despite America's mounting deficits, seems to be the affirmative.
It's becoming a sub-dominant social theme of sorts, that the West must support nascent democracies wherever they bloom, especially if the rebellions are taking place in a country where a despotic tyrant has ruled for decades. What is left unsaid, among other things, is that the West itself and particularly the Anglo-American power elite has backed most of these dictators with loans, military technology and, most importantly, the credibility that comes from being perceived as a valuable ally.
The latest CNN story shows us how the modern US arsenal has grown in terms of the options it gives both Pentagon brass and the US President, the commander-in-chief. It didn't actually take very long for the US to turn to the drone solution, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates actually indicated that the flights had already begun. "The president has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those. And I think that today may in fact have been their first mission."
For Gates, Predator drones offer a "modest contribution" that will help NATO support rebel troops that are confronting Moammar Gaddafi, though Gates hastened to point out that Gaddafi himself is not being targeted. CNN quotes Gates as saying that unmanned aerial vehicles offer more precise targeting, because their low-flying capability allows for better visibility, "particularly on targets now that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions." Here's some more from the article:
[Gates] said the drones are needed for humanitarian reasons, and they have capabilities that larger aircraft such as A-10s and C-130s cannot provide. Vice Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. James Cartwright said the added precision is necessary because forces loyal to Gadhafi "nestle up in crowded areas" to maximize civilian casualties. "It's very difficult to identify friend from foe," Cartwright said, noting that the drones facilitate identification of individuals on the ground. Remote Predator operators are now permitted to strike Gadhafi's defense missions, including air defense, missile and radar sites. Predator strikes are also authorized for civilian protection and can hit Gadhafi's troops, military installations and equipment in the field.
What strikes us about the article is the matter-of-factness with which it treats the deployment of drones over Libya – not as surveillance vehicles but as shoot-to-kill weapons of the sort that have been used for so long in Afghanistan. Drone missions apparently cost millions but the US military seems willing to shoulder the cost and the CNN article makes no mention of the expense. Nor does the CNN article delve into whether or not the drones shall be effective; it seems to take Gates' word for it.
Generally, US media reporting on American and NATO wars seems ever less aggressive. It took the New York Times months to acknowledge what the alternative 'Net press had reported almost immediately: that the current spate of color revolutions were at least in part fomented by the US State Dept and the CIA, with the preparation taking place over a period of years. The spontaneous Libyan color revolution was apparently some three years in the making. We did find one article in The Atlantic that expressed some reservations about the drone program, which cited an article in the Washington Post by David Ignatius, as follows:
Drone attacks have become an addictive tool of U.S. national security policy...My quick reaction, as a journalist who has chronicled the growing use of drones, is that this extension to the Libyan theater is a mistake ... It projects American power in the most negative possible way.... [T]he problem with the Predators is that they provide too easy an answer to political and military problems ... And now the United States will use them to beef up a stalemated NATO campaign in Libya, on behalf of a rebel army that very well may include Islamic radicals who, under other circumstances, might themselves have been targets of Predator attack.
As we pointed out yesterday, the scope of Western aggression is astonishing at this point and encompasses numerous African and Middle Eastern countries in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems to us as if the West and America in particular has embarked on a kind furtive ever-expanding global war in which escalations of every kind are reported on but never analyzed and the larger trend is seemingly overlooked. The issues are serious, as alluded to in this Washington Post article, but hardly ever discussed.
What we didn't do yesterday was rehearse the kind of push-back that the West is generating with its increasing aggressions. Of course, we don't think the hostilities themselves are any coincidence. The West and American intelligence in particular are behind many of these color revolutions, as has been reported in numerous places. The goal is ever-closer global governance, the implementation of a one-world order run by the Anglo-American power elite.
This is of course anathema to the mainstream media crowd. And even within the alternative 'Net press, there is much confusion about the current stance of America and European countries as regards the reason for the rising hostilities. The most common reason cited for the additional entanglements is oil. The West is supposedly embarked on a big push to control as many energy-producing countries as possible. But how then does one explain the military tensions or outright rebellions in Tunisia, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Yemen and any number of other countries now in the process of destabilization.
Throughout the 20th century and now the 21st, one can chart military efforts that have advanced the overall homogenization of global power politics. Even China and Russia are far less inimical today to Western interests than they were in 20th century. But the 21st century seems to be picking up the pace, and while we have no definitive answer for the rapidity, we do know that so much military activity is bound to generate a considerable backlash.
Even if, as we have speculated, the idea, in part, is to create an Islamic crescent of countries that can serve as a controlled opposition to Western powers-that-be, we wonder if such a plan is going to be ultimately controllable. We've noticed that in both Tunisia and Egypt the unrest has continued, contrary to constant predictions in the Western media that "calm was being restored."
We have our doubts that the Ivory Coast is going to calm down any time soon after its recent presidential convulsions, and we would tend to believe in fact that destabilization may spread. The International Criminal Court in the Hague has targeted Africa for a number of years to set precedents that can be used elsewhere in the world; now it looks to us like African countries may have had enough of this "special treatment." Top power-brokers in Kenya, with six senior officials now on trial at the Hague, have indicated that country may cease its support of the international criminal court, along with a number of other countries.
In South America, we are well aware there is a good deal of antipathy to expanding Anglo-American global governance; of late the European Union looks fairly shaky. Afghanistan is as yet unpacified and the violence has actually picked up. Iraq's restive Shia population is dissatisfied with the current pace of recovery in that war-torn country and non-violent (or eventually violent) protests may break out there in the near future. We've reported on much of this.
The pushback hasn't mattered so far. Anglo-American elites continue their march toward closer global governance. Apparently the idea is to force a new world order through hard power rather than by using the soft power of fear-based promotions that worked so well in the 20th century. Of course one reason elite propaganda works less well in the 21st century than the 20th has to do with the Internet, which has exposed elite manipulations to millions. Substituting force for persuasion may be a response, but it is not clear whether it will be a successful one.
No doubt, the Libya campaign was supposed to go more smoothly than it has. Now the powers-that-be are expanding their footprint as a result. Soon the West and especially America may find itself in the midst of another ground-based shooting war as mission-creep overwhelms initial UN Resolutions. The expanding US drone program is likely already testimony to that. Nonetheless, in our view, European and American populations (as opposed the elites) want less war, not more – and more accountability from those who are expanding the conflict.
We try to cover all sides of elite manipulations in this publication and we've paid more attention to the military of late because more and more the powers-that-be seem to be emphasizing hard power over soft. We have a good deal of doubt that one can build an effective one-world government in this sort of fashion, anymore than, say, one can build a European Union while denying people the right to vote on its progress and evolution.
Conclusion: Large political structures that are built without the buy-ins of their populations tend to be fairly fragile entities with short lifespans. Western elites were doing much better in the 20th century than the 21st in terms of this buy-in. More and more, the escalating use of force looks to us more like a weakness than a strength, an admission that as Mao famously said, "power springs from the barrel of a gun." Of course Mao's China lasted precisely as long as he was alive, about 40-50 years. Can world governance built without the enthusiastic consent of the governed last any longer?
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Posted by rriver1010 on 09/23/11 11:05 AM
I believe that in your first statement, you put the comma in the wrong place. You said: Dominant Social Theme: Whatever it takes to free Libya from this tyrant, Barack Obama is prepared to do.
I think the comma needs to be placed differently!! Dominant Social Theme: Whatever it takes to free Libya from, this tyrant Barack Obama is prepared to do.
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Posted by WorkingClass on 04/24/11 05:27 PM
The Brits discovered that you can keep imperial legions in the field with borrowed money. Obama is currently maintaining his Empire with play money. The end of American Empire is very near.
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Posted by The Daily Bell on 04/23/11 06:31 PM
Thank you for the recommendation, Iddy. Coming from you, we will consider it.
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Posted by iddy on 04/23/11 02:16 PM
Hey Kurt,
Guys this is Kurt.
Anthony meet Kurt he has a story to tell.
Would you do an interview with him.
It would be most helpfull for the cause of free markets and liberty.
He is and honest man for sure.
I hope you will consider it.
thanks,
iddy
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Posted by iddy on 04/23/11 02:11 PM
Hey Kurt!!
GLad to see ya here.
Guys thsis is Kurt he is well versed on 14th ammendment and other issues effetting status of US and American citizens.
Anthony you could Interview Kurt as he would make a great contribution here to the site.
I can vouch fir his honesty and intergrety.
Kurt Im at New York and have been hangin out with the State Nationals over at Massatooshits;)
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Posted by dgreen on 04/23/11 02:04 AM
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Posted by KurtKallenbach on 04/22/11 05:52 PM
I really wish the authors and rest of the World would take the time to differentiate "America" from the corporate UNITED STATES established in 1871. It is the profit seeking corporate UNITED STATES (owned by the Bank of England), and NOT the ignorant American people, that is 100% responsible for the atrocities happening in the name of "freedom" throughout the World.
America is a perfect case study to show the effects of 60 years of flouridated drinking water.
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Posted by Stanley Macsai on 04/22/11 03:15 PM
I have just been reminded almost a 100 years ago to the infamous story of Russia and Lenin.
A brutal tyrant (czar) ruling the people. People arise against the oppression. German secret agency with the financial aid of intl bankers ship in from Switzerland a trained leader and organizer with funds to Russia. He captures over the revolution with tactics, force and money. Then dethrones the former tyrant and becomes a dictator of a magnitude the previous tyrant has not even dreamed of. Total body count of the regime set-up in Russia about 20-40 million souls. Czar might have been up to the 10s of thousands?
A replay of the old playbook? Why not involved in the other color revolution countries? The fix is already in there?
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Posted by newyorkerinlondon/rocknrollcook on 04/22/11 01:46 PM
You asked: "Can world governance built without the enthusiastic consent of the governed last any longer?" Are you serious or sarcastic here? I'm not sure. If only 'we the people' (almost sounds arcane now, doesn't it?)had the power base to expediently exterminate this criminal cabal once and for all! In the meantime, the wishes of the huddled masses are shunned & mocked while the propaganda runs as profusely as does the blood in the streets of Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq . .
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Posted by jkluttz on 04/22/11 01:31 PM
It must be cheaper to kill people with drones than with cruise missles or planes. Let's hope the use of drones will at least reduce the number of innocents killed.
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Posted by FreeWolfe68 on 04/22/11 11:31 AM
You are correct about the UN, however it is obvious that the US has been selected to be the "enforcer" for the elitists. And neither the UN or the US are anything more than organizations run by people. So perhaps a title more like, "US Military Theatre Expands Again - on behalf of the POWER ELITE."
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Posted by The Daily Bell on 04/22/11 11:30 AM
Good point. The more removed people are from the war, the easier it is to prosecute it.
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Posted by stephen on 04/22/11 11:21 AM
I think there's a mistake in the title "US Military Theatre Expands Again"
It should read... UN Military Theatre Expands Again.
Bill Clinton signed away the U.S. military supremacy to the United Nation while in Office. Without a doubt this is all part of the Anglo-American Africom agenda. Obama (Mau Maucchio) takes orders, he doesn't give orders.
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Posted by kenn on 04/22/11 10:01 AM
And now,,,John McCain is in on the game! Are we collectively insane? All one has to do is look around to see what these wars are bringing,,, higher food and fuel costs. Less stability and on and on... This is utter nonsense!
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Posted by rossbcan on 04/22/11 09:31 AM
DB: "Even China and Russia are far less inimical today to Western interests than they were in 20th century."
... because they KNOW that free mankind must and will turn as one, forming alliances against any power that achieves "king of the hill" and is able to prey on their enslaved captives. Peace and civilization collapses to anarchy and war of all, against all without "consent of the governed". Besides, for various historical predations of the west, blowback is due.
China and Russia are giving western elites enough rope to hang themselves and, in some instances pretending to go along, to trick western elites into thinking they have allies (who will turn on a dime and "kick them when they are down).
At some point in time, the players in this insane game will realize that nobody can win nor survive. They will be forced to re-conclude that balance of power and peace must be restored by restoring the "rule of law":
Click to view link
The only reason that this is taking so long is that matters have been arranged such that the consequences (costs) are borne by others, who have lost tolerance. Irresponsibility, if you prefer.
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Posted by JeffC on 04/22/11 09:24 AM
These expeditions are desperation on the part of the West. China is buying up huge swaths of fertile land in Africa. Click to view link The financially distresses West has no useful capital to BUY anything. As oil peaks and climate change accelerates, the race is on to control natural resources and the west is attempting to carve out its niche in the oil fields in the only way it knows how; through revolution and war.
These drones have already been proven an effective but sometimes fallible choice in the Afghan theatre. Click to view link AND Click to view link
The tactics now undertaken, offer NATO the ability to escalate the conflict without backlash from back home, resulting from increased body bag counts. The issue I have with these and the other 'High Tech' solutions are that they sanitize the human cost of war both for the folks at home AND those pulling the trigger. The conflict becomes reduced to a video game, with the carnage more easily disguised.
Recall, if you will, Colin Powell exhibiting attacks on Iraq, from the first gulf war. Bombs went down the chimney of a command & control center exploding the sides of the building out. Also a video was displayed of ?The luckiest man in Baghdad? as a bridge exploded, immediately after his truck crossed. These were met with cheers and laughter, by reporters and many of the people back home.
The war-like culture becomes a very easy sell when no one has to look at the result. I find it despicable that many people concern themselves with the cost of conflict and whether or not it can be financed. The real costs are much deeper and profound than the dollars or euros spent.
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Posted by John Danforth on 04/22/11 09:18 AM
Here in the U.S., our government's bellicose foreign policy seems to be formulated by elites deciding who to kill and by what means over brunch, as they decide whether to eat carrots or celery with their sandwich today.
The Predator drone raining death from above will become the hated symbol of everything U.S. The debasement of the morality behind decisions to kill people has sprung inevitably from the source of funding and power enjoyed by the ruling class; they can conjure the funding to do their dirty work out of thin air, so we the people do not get a say in how our country treats its neighbors. They believe their own propaganda; doubtless they fervently believe that you can do social work with bombs, and that bombs are the best instrument for carrying out humanitarian social work. As our currency is defiled, so is the morality of those who pretend to 'lead' us. Our government is out of control and insane. If we do not stop it, eventually the rest of the world will decide they must.
Very nice job on the website, DB. (Next, a button in the user profile to allow sorting of posts from oldest to newest, please, and thank you.)
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Posted by SSMcDonald on 04/22/11 08:12 AM
If you are not HAMMERING your Congressman over this issue, you are part of the problem. Without Congressional approval, Obama attacked a nation that had not attacked us and presented no threat to USA. Obama's action is an IMPEACHABLE offense. Hammer your Congressman on this issue.
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Posted by amanfromMars on 04/22/11 07:08 AM
Once you move into theatres of robotic/machine/drone control, is human power easily subverted and converted for uses outside of the mainstream and way beyond the ken of mere pedestrian mortals.
When such is the case, are dumb slow humans extraordinarily rendered as useful pawns in the Great Game, rather than being rated as just practically useless cannon fodder for extermination, although as you are all too aware is that the only use that idiots in the military have for engaging civilian forces with serving personnel.
Are you a small part and/or vital giant cog of a SMART Virtual Machine .... or a dumb element left behind in the wake of vain battles against their Rise and Onward March.
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Posted by The Daily Bell on 04/22/11 06:38 AM
Hopefully not.
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