73 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 129 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

The US Military/Security Complex Is Destroying Both Peace and the US Economy

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   4 comments

Paul Craig Roberts
Message Paul Craig Roberts
Become a Fan
  (399 fans)

From Paul Craig Roberts Website

Mark T. Esper, Secretary of Defense.
Mark T. Esper, Secretary of Defense.
(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Monica King)
  Details   Source   DMCA

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is a former Raytheon lobbyist and another example of President Trump's penchant for frustrating his own policies by appointing to power people who oppose his policies. Why does Trump think he can expect a representative of the military/security complex to help him wind down Washington's hegemonic policeman of the world routine?

Esper is out making speeches that the military/security complex needs 5% real increase annually in order to counter Russia and China Click Here . It is Washington that is aggressive toward Russia and China, not the other way around. The military/security complex desperately needs foreign enemies in order to maximize its budget and power. Russiagate's purpose was to prevent Trump from removing a valuable "enemy" by normalizing relations with Russia.

The US defense budget could be cut in half and still be larger than the combined defense budgets of Russia and China. China spends about half as much of its economy on defense as the US. If Russia and China intended aggression against the US, wouldn't you expect to see much higher spending on military?

You could make a case that US defense spending is so high because of inefficiency and enormous profits hidden in "cost overruns." If so, then increased real spending should come from strict budgetary measures and oversight. We should not be accepting a military spending system that cannot account for trillions of dollars and is so poorly controlled that it cannot be audited. Will patriotic conservatives ever realize that blind support for the Pentagon allows the massive rip-off of taxpayers and the neglect of real needs all for nothing but out-sized profits of arms makers?

The military/security complex makes certain that no moves toward peace can succeed. Its lobbyists have succeeded in undoing all the arms control agreements reached with Russia since the 1960s. Russia's President Putin has made repeated offers to extend the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty, but Washington has rejected his offer out of hand. The reason is obvious. The corrupt puppet regime of Obama agreed to a trillion dollar increase in nuclear weapons spending, and the military/security complex means to get that money.

Well Said 2   Valuable 2   Must Read 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Paul Craig Roberts Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan Administration. He was associate editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal, columnist for Business Week and the Scripps Howard News Service. He is a contributing editor to Gerald Celente's Trends Journal. He has had numerous university appointments. His books, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West is available (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Libya - The DC/NATO Agenda And The Next Great War

Pakistan TV Report Contradicts US Claim of Bin Laden's Death

A Story...The Last Whistleblower

The Road to Armageddon

American Job Loss Is Permanent

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend