axis
Fair Use Notice
  Axis Mission
 About us
  Letters/Articles to Editor
Article Submissions
RSS Feed


“Pullout” In Name Only-Is The U.S. Enslaved To Another Permanent War In Syria Printer friendly page Print This
By Dallas Darling
Submitted by Author
Friday, Feb 1, 2019

It didn’t take long for a deadly attack to occur after Donald Trump had announced that the U.S. would pullout troops in Syria. Real or convenient, militarists are already benefiting from the suicide attack which was the deadliest on U.S. forces in the country. In addition to claiming that the president’s pullout “emboldened” ISIS, they’re pressuring him to reconsider. Others say the attacks prove he was dead wrong about defeating Islamic State terrorists and a self-proclaimed Islamic. Therefore, more military action is needed.

Critics of U.S.-led wars warn that this kind of mental slavery isn’t the only kind that’s practiced in America these days. So too is military slavery in the form of permanent wars. Drummed into millions of Americans by a top-down and many-sided (at once political, economical, ideological, cultural, and highly personal) Military Establishment, it’s what prevents many from questioning-let alone rebelling against-the militarists and their interests. Interests in keeping generational wars functioning at their benefit.

Et Tu Senate And Times?
Not surprisingly, the Senate’s first act of the New Year was an “implicit rebuke” of the president’s drawdown. Arguing that Congress was “re-asserting” its role on national security, one must wonder why they did so at the moment a U.S. president wanted to pullout of the Middle East. Critics say it’s because hawks like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and are up for re-election. Both are dependent on political donations from defense lobbyists and military-industrial sectors.

The New York Times continued its support of a permanent war economy too with a headline: “Retreat Rhymes With Defeat.” One less war means a loss in circulation and ratings. Never mind a history of being wrong, such as was the case in the lead-up to the preemptive war with Iraq-and others. The president’s pullout announcement was actually condemned by the entire corporate news media. Military and arms industries aren’t the only businesses that profit from forever wars. To be sure, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

“Just ‘Can’t’ Say No” To War
In the meantime, Defense Secretary John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added a number of their own conditions and goals to Donald Trump’s announcement of a troop withdrawal. It won’t be the first time that a president was undermined for trying to shorten a foreign quagmire. Nor will it be the last. Their statements, which contradicted the president’s orders, is in reality a redux of other forever wars. Proposals to draw down troops have usually failed or been sabotaged. They’ve also been upstaged by false flags.

For his part, John Bolton reassured hawkish allies abroad and at home-all of whom suddenly became concerned over protecting the Kurds-that a pullout wouldn’t start right away. Another ambiguous condition and goal was the “total” elimination of ISIS. His real concern, however, is to protect the powers and privileges of state-subsidized arms manufacturers and dealers who’ve increased their-and his-power and wealth from Syria’s bloody civil war. This entails lucrative arms deals that reaps billions in profits.

“Just ‘Can’t’ Say No” To Killing More Troops
In the meantime, U.S. Senators, like Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are urging the president and the American public to stay in Syria. This, since they “think” that Americans dying in Syria is a compelling enough reason to stay the course. In reality, it’s another worn out argument-and justification-that completely lacks any compelling military or reasonable political incentive for preemptively invading and occupying Syria. It moreover sounds similar to the same justification that were used in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

As more elusive conditions and goals arise, including euphemisms like “safe zones,” others warn that a total pullout of American troops might never happen. This, as Mike Pompeo spun it as a “minor tactical change.” American troops “are just relocating to other parts of  Syria and Iraq but with all the same goals.” Those same goals, which again undercuts the president’s pullout orders, have been extended to expelling Iran from Syria. A goal which not only sold well in Israel and Saudi Arabia, but doesn’t require a timeline.

Elected President But Fettered By War
Thanks to the Military Establishment’s elusive and vague policy announcements, even Donald Trump has started to argue that his Secretary of Defense and State’s aren’t really going back on his plans to pullout all U.S. troops from Syria. He now claims that he never “explicitly” said what those plans were. Others know differently. But then the pretexts for a permanent war economy and the Pentagon’s global network have always been led and dominated by a militarized corporate sector and Wall Street.

Donald Trump had no choice but to be either a one- or two-term president, depending on if he served the Military Establishment or not. Meanwhile, critics warn that Wall Street and the militarized corporate sectors have few problems with the “dictatorial side” of a military junta, especially when they’re rewarded with multi-billion dollar Pentagon contracts. This includes the Senate and corporate media. All the while, the “fog of war” provides cover for their blood money and the many war crimes they commit.

A Fog Of “Many” Wars For More Government Favors
It’s actually a “fog of many wars” for other government favors. One that entails a revolving door between the Military Establishment, Wall Street, and Washington. They moreover feed on a climate of fear and self-censorship among those who might otherwise question their elite authority. Together with an all-pervasive national security state and intrusive technologies, make no mistake: America is enslaved by militarism. According to critics of war, it’s an ideology to live and die for through “any means necessary.”

But then militarists have always feared there wouldn’t be enough wars to justify their trillion dollar military budgets. They’ve also wondered if too much social spending might arouse public interest and participation to the extent, that, their open-ended commitments of troops and resources to military conflicts abroad may be threatened. For them, a permanent war economy is much more profitable than access to healthcare and hospitals, schools and roads, and neighborhoods with clean drinking water and good paying jobs.

Enslaved By Imaginary Dangers Abroad
Critics point to James Madison who warned: “The fetters imposed on liberty at home have ever been forged out of the weapons provided for defense against real, pretended, or imaginary dangers abroad.” Enslaved by years of pro-war propaganda and unable to distinguish between “Support Our Troops!” and foreign entanglements, many American aren’t able to perceive that the Syrian war is imaginary-a war of choice. But those in Syria can. The U.S. just killed 23 people, mostly civilians. It also bombed a mosque.

This is another reason the Syrian pullout is in name only and destined to be a permanent war.



Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and  www.WN.com/dallasdarling.



Printer friendly page Print This
If you appreciated this article, please consider making a donation to Axis of Logic. We do not use commercial advertising or corporate funding. We depend solely upon you, the reader, to continue providing quality news and opinion on world affairs.Donate here




World News
AxisofLogic.com© 2003-2015
Fair Use Notice  |   Axis Mission  |  About us  |   Letters/Articles to Editor  | Article Submissions |   Subscribe to Ezine   | RSS Feed  |