[PEN-L:4679] military Keynesianism II

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Guardian (Australia) February 3, 1999

Editorial:
Massive new American arms expenditure


While the world was enjoying the Christmas and New Year festivities, the
US Government announced a massive increase in military expenditure to be
implemented over the next five years. According to newspaper reports at the
beginning of January an additional $A19.6 billion is to be spent in the
next financial year. The total increase over five years is to be over $A180
billion. It's the biggest increase since the end of the Cold War say the
newspaper articles.

This sum, which is in addition to the already huge American arms
expenditure, will be used to buy new jet fighters, attack helicopters and
warships as well as funding an increase in the pay of service personnel.

Where is this money to come from? It's the usual story. Other programs are
to be cut back and although no details are presented in the newspaper
reports it is certain that it will come from  education, health services
and existing welfare programs in the main.

The US continues to upgrade its nuclear weapons and keep them in readiness
while demanding that other countries sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. Their intention is to retain nuclear superiority as their ultimate
weapon to force all other countries to comply.

This huge increase in military expenditure is taking place despite the
weakened position of the former Soviet Union. There is no nation which can
conceivably challenge US military power and no-one is going to attack the
United States. So why this huge increase in military expenditure at this
time?

The US is already waging war on a number of fronts ¯ militarily  against
Iraq and in the Balkans, economically against Iran, Libya, Cuba, India,
Pakistan and a number of other countries and politically against all
countries which do not bow down to American demands.

Their threats and intimidation are not limited to their supposed enemies
but also against their friends. The US has made threats of imposing
retaliatory sanctions against the European Union because it intends to buy
bananas from South American countries rather than from the Caribbean island
states where American companies are the main producers.

Their "free" trade and "free" market policies are having disastrous effects
on other countries while making the financial institutions and big
corporations richer and more powerful than ever before.

They try and tell us that their aim is to advance "democracy" and that
their policies will bring benefits to everyone. But for others, there is a
rapid increase in poverty and unemployment and far from the touted
American-style "democracy" bringing freedom to the people it is denying any
real involvement of the ordinary people who want to have a say and have
real power over their lives.

These are the political aims that the beefed-up US military is intended to
serve.

At the same time military expenditure has an enormous economic spin-off for
the big American arms manufacturers. Government contracts for weapons are
often open-ended. Payment by the American taxpayers is guaranteed and the
profits are astronomical. More than ever before in history, the big
corporations are the backers and promoters of wars. Peace and disarmament
for them is a nightmare.

The United States ruling class has become the main enemy facing the
people's of the world. They intend to dominate all countries without
exception.

Earlier this century Hitler's Germany advanced the slogan "Deutschland Uber
Alles" meaning, "Germany Over All". The US leaders are not so crude as to
say so outright but their intentions are the same.

Fortunately, the ordinary people of the world are expressing opposition to
war and to the domination of their countries by others. It was this force
and the outcry of the world's people that has, for example, somewhat
restrained the US and British Governments in their hell-bent wish to start
a new war in Iraq and to intervene more openly in Yugoslavia over Kosovo.

However, at this stage the ruling elites in the major capitalist countries
do not intend to abandon the rich and powerful corporations and their
objective of world domination. It will be up to the people of all the
countries to finally put these monsters out of business.