The military-industrial complex “is much more pernicious than Eisenhower ever thought,” says the retired US colonel.
by Ben Norton
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is tired of “the corporate interests that we go abroad to slay monsters for.”
As the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Wilkerson played an important role in the George W. Bush administration. In the years since, however, the former Bush official has established himself as a prominent critic of U.S. foreign policy.
“I think Smedley Butler was onto something,” explained Lawrence Wilkerson, in an extended interview with Salon.
In his day, in the early 20th century, Butler was the highest ranked and most honored official in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. He helped lead wars throughout the world over a series of decades, before later becoming a vociferous opponent of American imperialism, declaring “war is a racket.”
Wilkerson spoke highly of Butler, referencing the late general’s famous quote: “Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”
“I think the problem that Smedley identified, quite eloquently actually,” Wilkerson said, “especially for a Marine — I had to say that as a soldier,” the retired Army colonel added with a laugh; “I think the problem is much deeper and more profound today, and much more subtle and sophisticated.”
Today, the military-industrial complex “is much more pernicious than Eisenhower ever thought it would be,” Wilkerson warned.
In his farewell address in 1961, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously cautioned Americans that the military and corporate interests were increasingly working together, contrary to the best interests of the citizenry. He called this phenomenon the military-industrial complex.
As a case study of how the contemporary military-industrial complex works, Wilkerson pointed to leading weapons corporations like Lockheed Martin, and their work with draconian, repressive Western-allied regimes in the Gulf, or in inflaming tensions in Korea.
“Was Bill Clinton’s expansion of NATO — after George H. W. Bush and [his Secretary of State] James Baker had assured Gorbachev and then Yeltsin that we wouldn’t go an inch further east — was this for Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, and Boeing, and others, to increase their network of potential weapon sales?” Wilkerson asked.
“You bet it was,” he answered.
“Is there a penchant on behalf of the Congress to bless the use of force more often than not because of the constituencies they have and the money they get from the defense contractors?” Wilkerson continued.
Again, he answered his own question: “You bet.”
“It’s not like Dick Cheney or someone like that went and said let’s have a war because we want to make money for Halliburton, but it is a pernicious on decision-making,” the former Bush official explained. “And the fact that they donate so much money to congressional elections and to PACs and so forth is another pernicious influence.”
“Those who deny this are just being utterly naive, or they are complicit too,” Wilkerson added.
“And some of my best friends work for Lockheed Martin,” along with Raytheon, Boeing and Halliburton, he quipped.
Wilkerson — who in the same interview with Salon defended Edward Snowden, saying the whistle-blower performed an important service and did not endanger U.S. national security — was also intensely critical of the growing movement to “privatize public functions, like prisons.”
“I fault us Republicans for this majorly,” he confessed — although a good many prominent Democrats have also jumped on the neoliberal bandwagon. In a 2011 speech, for instance, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared, “It’s time for the United States to start thinking of Iraq as a business opportunity” for U.S. corporations.
Wilkerson lamented, “We’ve privatized the ultimate public function: war.”
“In many respects it is now private interests that benefit most from our use of military force,” he continued. “Whether it’s private security contractors, that are still all over Iraq or Afghanistan, or it’s the bigger-known defense contractors, like the number one in the world, Lockheed Martin.”
Journalist Antony Loewenstein detailed how the U.S. privatized its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in another interview with Salon. There are an estimated 30,000 military contractors working for the Pentagon in Afghanistan today; they outnumber U.S. troops three-to-one. Thousands more are in Iraq.
Lockheed Martin simply “plans to sell every aspect of missile defense that it can,” regardless of whether it is needed, Wilkerson said. And what is best to maximize corporate interest is by no means necessarily the same as what is best for average citizens.
“We dwarf the Russians or anyone else who sells weapons in the world,” the retired Army colonel continued.
“We are the death merchant of the world.”
Ben Norton is a politics reporter and staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter at @BenjaminNorton.
Reblogged this on stepman2001 and commented:
This is a telling report of just what President Trump is walking into. I too believe as General Smedley Butler and now Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, not bad for a soldier, has to say. We are indeed heavily influenced by the “military industrial complex” and I will go further and state that they arfe the arm of the One World Government.
Indeed,without the military arm(and the inteligency agencies)the plutocratic/globalist club would not acomplish their plans(till now at least).
Intel SITREP – 01:00 EST – Tuesday – January 17, 2017
Multiple agency contacts are completely blacked out as of earlier Monday night 6pm EST.
White Hat contacts say, “Things are silent for good reasons. Be patient.”
Military contacts saying, “800 numbers an any minute scenario… but “go” decision still rests with Dunford.”
With all this “good news,” here we still are @ 1:00 am Tuesday morning less an official authorization.
Call centers and off-site exchange locations are 100% staffed and ready to service the initial public rush.
Know every nation of the free world is dependent upon the GCR/RV to fulfill its promise–no country is immune from needing this to convert ASAP.
All go or none go is a real thing. And Israel being forced to acknowledge Palestine’s sovereignty at the UN was a key factor in terms of timing.
Local bank branches are now eager to start as some were informed about the revaluation and trained over the weekend.
Clearly, the authorization decision is not a banking decision per se, at least not at such a late stage; nor is it a domestically political decision.
Rather, it’s about global safety as it relates to the geopolitical mechanisms of power & perhaps a little the public restoration of the Republic’s good name.
Also our economy means a lot to the rest of the world in terms of growth–so until the United States goes, the rest of the world is made to wait.
Tomorrow morning’s market open (DJIA) will tell the story about performance before Inauguration Day.
If the DJIA opens over 20,000, we’ve probably already gone. If it opens below, look for movement anytime before the following weekend (1.27/28/29).
Here are 3 primary reasons why T4’s haven’t exchanged yet:
1) Safety (take your pick of legitimate threats we don’t have a clue about).
2) DJIA must eclipse 20k to automatically unlock 800#s (possibly at the last 72 hours before Obama leaves office so he gets no credit).
3) Waiting till after Inauguration Day to fulfill both constitutional and NESARA protocols (Obama must be 100% gone).
We need some combination of this trifecta to be released I’m told.
Technically, Trump was already legally ratified as President due to his electoral college win.
If he were to quit before taking the oath, VP Pence would assume the Presidency until the House of Representatives voted in a replacement President.
Whether the Administration ends up with some combination of Trump, Ryan, Pence or Dunford … doesn’t much matter … because post RV it will be our time to shine.
So keep the faith, trust your gut, and stay in Yeshua’s peace.
There’s no other global alternative but a currency revaluation for a global financial reset.
God is with us
________________________________ From: Covert Geopolitics Subject: [New post] We are the Death Merchant of the World | Lawrence Wilkerson, Ex-Bush official
eClinik Learning posted: “The military-industrial complex “is much more pernicious than Eisenhower ever thought,” says the retired US colonel. Ben Norton Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is tired of “the corporate interests that we go abroad to slay monsters for.” As the former “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eN7r21CnKk
Guests: Captain Max Steel of the unidenfied Galactics and Kent Dunn, spiritual medium, discuss zero-point ‘free’ energy and Pleiadean Healing Computer Machines promoted by Neil Keenan that may overcome the Death Merchants.
“Was Bill Clinton’s expansion of NATO — after George H. W. Bush and [his Secretary of State] James Baker had assured Gorbachev and then Yeltsin that we wouldn’t go an inch further east — was this for Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, and Boeing, and others, to increase their network of potential weapon sales?” Wilkerson asked.
“You bet it was,” he answered.(from the post above)
@Howard
Very interesting. I had not heard of NESARA before. Upon casual research of NESARA on Wikipedia I find the following:
“Harvey Francis Barnard, a Louisiana graduate in systems philosophy, and an engineering consultant and teacher, created the NESARA proposal during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He printed 1000 copies of his proposal, titled Draining the Swamp: Monetary and Fiscal Policy Reform.”
I knew Trump had a few code words in his lingo, like “America First,” which is already a slogan for a group of retired generals and admirals who stand for the Constitution. Perhaps “draining the swamp” is another one beyond the surface meaning of the words and is a hidden reference to NESARA for those in the know. However, I’ll believe it when I see it. The NESARA protocols would be swinging for the fence. The again, we know the Donald isn’t here to make friends.