While Trump along with a number of US-satellite states chose to put their battle readiness on display in Syria, terrorizing the world with the promise of yet another armed intervention, there’s a number of analysts converging upon the exact same position on this matter, demanding the reason for America’s ongoing wars and what their ultimate and collective objective is? Profits? Or something else?
As of today, American military personnel are stationed in a total of 76 countries. These states include those routinely subjected to bombing runs by US warplanes, and those targeted by American special forces operations including the training all sorts of militants.
However, many experts doubt the effectiveness of Washington’s actions. As ancient cities are transformed into piles of rubble, tens of millions of people have been displaced over the last couple decades. Those turn into refugees and cross national borders, disrupting sociopolitical stability in nations yet unaffected by Washington’s never-ending warfare.
A team of experts from Brown University in the United States through their project know as Costs of War, estimated that Washington spent over 4.5 trillion dollars on its so-called “War on Terror” worldwide. At the same time, experts do not rule out the possibility that the actual expenditures may be much higher than that, especially if one is to take into account the words of US President Donald Trump, who announced that Washington has foolishly wasted well over 7 trillion dollars on the Middle East alone.
Today, the US is waging war upon a great many nations, evident by the recently declassified report titled, “Military Force and Related National Security Operations.” Washington triggered an armed conflict in Syria which endures to this very day. The death of innocent civilians in Iraq and Syria as a result of the US-led coalition strikes aimed at combating ISIS increased by 200% in 2017 alone. This estimate, based on the data collected from open sources, was presented by the British Monitoring Group Airwars. Last year was the deadliest for innocent Iraqis and Syrians, the British analysts claim.
Under Trump, the United States created new zones of tension around the world and cashed in on the ever increasing number of arms sales that have resulted. However, these fact do not make the lives of ordinary Americans any better, as all the profits are flowing into the pockets of various corporations, that have turned the Pentagon into their own sales agent for a moderate fee.
Only through advertising a possible confrontation with Russia, China and North Korea, have US arms manufacturers received an additional 18 billion dollars in arms sales last year.
Such conclusions can be drawn from the report titled “Trends in Major US Arms Sales for 2017” drafted by the Security Assistance Monitor program at the non-governmental Center for International Policy. According to the findings of this organization, last year Washington approved a total of 82 billion dollars worth of arms deals through Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) and Foreign Military Sales (FMS). This constitutes a 6 billion increase over the figures shown the previous year.
The continued provocations by the Trump administration on the Korean Peninsula resulted in Japan drastically increasing its arms purchases from the US.
As a result of a potential confrontation in the South China Sea, the US tried to strengthen the coalition of opponents that are being pushed into a face-off with Beijing, which resulted in Washington increasing its arms sales to regional allies including Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
The government in Ukraine, installed by Washington through an armed coup in 2014, is another eager recipient of US arms now being delivered to Kiev, which can hardly be described as surprising. According to the Security Assistance Monitor, last year alone Kiev signed a deal with US manufacturers to supply firearms, spare parts and accessories for over 41 million dollars.
The United States is rapidly creating stockpiles of weapons in Europe, designed to enhance the rapid deployment of 300,000 additional servicemen to the continent, due to the fact that all guns, special equipment, ammunition, food rations and other property has already been stocked in various parts of Europe. There’s a total of eight control centers being established in Europe to oversee arriving US troops and facilitate their deployment in Eastern Europe. The United States is engaged in the transatlantic transfer of military formations, as a rule, at the brigade level, to Europe. These operations are justified through the ongoing rhetoric concerning possible “Russian aggression,” rhetoric aimed at establishing tighter control and ensured political domination over Europe by Washington.
At it’s been noted by Global Research, the United States is preparing to deploy new nuclear devices known as B61 Mod 12’s to Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands within the framework of nuclear rearmament costing 1.2 trillion dollars. Additionally, most of the new F-35 fighters will be equipped to carry the new bomb.
The rapid escalation of tensions is accompanied by increasing military expenditure: Italy will bring it from 70 to 100 million euros a day; Spain to 50 million, which will constitute a 73% increase by 2024; and France will increase its by 40%, exceeding 135 million a day. To boost its nuclear arsenal, France will spend 37 billion euros by 2025. It’s a big boost for US arms manufacturers to say the least.
Next year, the Pentagon is going to purchase nearly 150,000 artillery shells, increasing the amount of units delivered to US troops by 825%, a fact emphasized by journalists who studied the draft of the US Defense Budget in much detail, with total yearly military expenditures reaching 686 billion dollars next year. According to the US Army chief for budget, Brigade General Paul Chamberlain, America is preparing to participate in conflicts that require drastic measures.
It’s curious that once Trump demanded the largest defense budget in America’s history – at a staggering 637 billion dollars, US Congress would eventually give even more for the Pentagon to spend in 2018 – a record 692 billion dollars. At the same time, most political observers are bewildered by the fact that there’s little to no debate over it, which can serve as an indicator that Washington is eager to start more wars.
Yet, it’s been noted that a poll commissioned by the Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy revealed that nearly 71 percent of Americans want their representatives in Congress to constrain Washington’s interventionist impulses.
The National Interest would tell us that Americans believe that war is a last resort. They desire “clearly defined goals to authorize military engagement overseas, including a timeline and what will constitute victory; and oversight and accountability from Congress in regards to where troops are stationed and what is being accomplished abroad.” A solid majority of Americans, according to the poll, also want assurances that weapons and equipment provided to other nations or groups are not used in ways that harm innocent civilians.
Martin Berger is a freelance journalist and geopolitical analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
