Chris Floyd: " Permanent Bases Rise While Public Gawks at Geeks"

[leftchick]

http://www.chris-floyd.com/content/view/1440/135/

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But while the feathers fly and the fan dancers trot across the electoral stage, the deadly, democracy-killing business of empire-building grinds on behind the gaudy scenes. And not a single one of the top troika are taking a stand against it; indeed, all of them have made their commitment to American military dominance of the planet – and their proud refusal to take any option "off the table" in world affairs – crystal clear. What we are seeing now – and what we will see when the race narrows down to just a pair of geeks chomping at the chicken – is simply a debate over the best way to keep the empire in fighting trim while gussying up some of the ham-handed excesses of the past few years.

A few days ago came the news – ignored or buried by almost every venue of that non-stop multi-platform media echo chamber – that the United States has made a very significant, and very permanent, addition its empire of bases: one that American officials freely admit will allow them to project "full spectrum" military dominance over 27 sovereign nations. And of course, what is most noteworthy about the development, reported in full in the Pentagon's own Stars and Stripes newspaper, is that this astonishing declaration of imperial aggression and hubris is regarded as something completely normal – indeed laudatory.

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Yes, the personnel will change – even in the White House. But the commands will remain. And this permanent, force-projecting base is of course just the icing on the imperial cake in the region; the U.S. military already has its boots in the ground all over the area, as the newspaper notes:


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The Air Force and Navy, meanwhile, have set up additional permanent bases in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. By permanent I mean large and continuing American headquarters and presences, most of which are maintained through a combination of coalition activities, long-standing bilateral agreements and official secrecy. Tens of billions have been plowed into the American infrastructure. Admiral William J. Fallon, the overall commander of the region, was just in Oman this week after a trip to Iraq to secure continuing American military bases in that country.

This new base-building, Arkin says, astutely, has a two-fold purpose. First, it is part of the necessary infrastructure for continuing the war in Iraq on a permanent basis. Second, it is creating "facts on the ground" – like Ariel Sharon's illegal settlements all over Palestinian land – that any future president will find hard to undo…assuming that anyone who was not already committed heart-and-soul to imperial expansion would ever be allowed to get near the White House in the first place. As Arkin puts it:

[bananas]

1. k&r nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. A sobering thought - "It must play itself out to the end. Nothing can stop it."

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From a Comment posted at the end of the article:

Grandma Jefferson: Hello, Suckers!

...Welcome to Hell. Bread & Circuses are free, and the interrogation rooms down the hall on the left.

The nations allowing the proliferation of our military bases have embraced the suicidal extinction drive of the race.

And yeah, born in 1951, living through practically all of the Cold War, I'm puzzled that we need all this to fight literally a "few thousand" terrorists now, when we managed quite well against the "Russian Might", another con job BTW, with so much less, back then, especially with the horrific arsenal we now have, which didn't exist then.

But hey, don't worry, be happy, munch the bread and enjoy the circus clowns. As Chris, so truly points out, "I have seen nothing to make me believe that any of the chicken-chompers bound for the White House will make any actual, substantial changes in this policy, much less begin the task of rolling back the empire."

It must play itself out to the end. Nothing can stop it.
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Sobering thoughts indeed methinks.

[leftchick]

3. sobering and depressing

I suppose we will have a Soviet style collapse before it ends.

:(

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Yup. But then all those nice Northern States can enjoy more freedom with Canada!

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And on a more serious note,

The USA as we know it will not be "united" in a few decades

People only put up with so much(too much lately in the US)

Then all hell breaks loose . . .