Improvisational Thinking

Update January 5, 2020: The assassination of Suleimani should cause us to examine the true motives of our national security apparatus. Who profits?

During World War II, Vice-President Henry Wallace announced the “Century of the Common Man.” It was to be a global New Deal, modeled after FDR’s American New Deal. Instead of peaceful development, it became the “American Century”, really the “American Empire”, replacing the British Empire. Nobody messes with the US.

Noam Chomsky nailed it in a recent article. Iran’s real sin is their persistent defiance of US hegemony. Since the 1950s and the CIA overthrow of their nationalist leader Mossadegh, Iran has simply refused to acknowledge who’s boss. Besides, what self-respecting empire would allow some other nation to control one of the world’s major oil chokepoints? Every day, more than 18.5 million barrels per day pass through the Strait of Hormuz. It is a huge chunk of the world’s daily consumption. Whether or not the Iranians are responsible for the recent attacks on the Japan-bound oil tankers, the America Empire cannot abide by any show of independence.

Full spectrum dominance allows the US to set the rules. When dear leader Trump backed out of the Iran nuclear deal last year, the US sought not only to strangle the economy of Iran with sanctions, but also punish European countries if they did business with Iran.

Full spectrum dominance means that tension and hotspots anywhere on the globe are good for business. The escalation of tension with Iran is especially good. Raytheon is counting on it. So is Lockheed Martin. One American official, speaking anonymously, said that the supposedly increased Iranian threat was actually “small stuff.” The official also said the ultimate goal of the yearlong economic sanctions campaign by the Trump administration was to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States.

Full spectrum dominance props up the US economy. As William Engdahl reports in his excellent book, Full Spectrum Dominance (Progressive, 2009. p.v), government contracts with the private multinational defense and energy conglomerates link “every part of the economy of the United States to the future of the permanent war machine. Tension with Iran is just the latest excuse.