The pressure is mounting in elite circles for war both in the Middle East and in Ukraine, despite the trillions of dollars we have wasted on military adventures over the last decade, and regardless of how weary the American people have become of bombings, invasions, and torture being done in our name. Why the drumbeats for more conflict?
Our media won’t talk about the real players behind this call for war. One force is the rich and powerful weapons industry whose profits soar with each new bloodbath. Our defense budget of over half a trillion a year is maintained by armies of corporate lobbyists, who in turn bribe government officials with the potential of million dollar jobs in the private sector. Our biggest defense contractors sit on advisory boards right inside the Pentagon, plotting how to sell more obscenely priced killing machines.
Even less talked about is the religious war lobby, an unholy alliance between right wing Christians and Jews. Working together in giant evangelical gatherings, they wave American and Israeli flags while fantasizing about a biblical holy war. Spewing Islamophobia, they pledge everlasting allegiance to the state of Israel, no matter how many thousands of Palestinian children it slaughters.
Senators Gillibrand and Schumer are among the very top recipients of cash from the Israel lobby. Will they be willing to oppose America’s new militarism when the defense contractors and the fanatical Zionists start turning the screws? Will our two senators represent the people, or the well heeled war lobby?
Fred Nagel