The enemy is at home

There is so much repetition of propaganda that Washington and the Pentagon represent the righteous, that some people manage to believe it despite the facts. Usually these are people trapped into hearing only one explanation of events. Or perhaps they are the 0.1 percent who actually benefit from this image.

The truth is that U.S. imperialism is the world center of plunder. The boss of all bosses is centered in Wall Street, and the enforcer of all enforcers resides in the Pentagon. This week — in late March — makes that truth even harder to escape.

For if we look at just the last 15 years — that is, without bringing up Hiroshima, Korea and Vietnam — we can get an idea of the amount of destruction Washington and Wall Street’s Murder, Inc. have been responsible for.

On March 24, 1999, without United Nations approval, the Pentagon led a NATO bombing attack on Yugoslavia that lasted 78 days. It resulted in the NATO occupation of Kosovo and its eventual extraction from Serbia, the destitution of the Yugoslav government and the breakup of that multinational state into seven micro-states, each now a colony of Western imperialism. This “humanitarian” war killed thousands and wrecked at least $30 billion worth of infrastructure. (See article page 9.)

On March 19 and 20, 2003, the U.S., with its British junior partner in tow but without even NATO support, invaded Iraq. While the imperialists were unable to install a stable puppet regime, their occupation resulted in the death of nearly 2 million Iraqis and created 5 million refugees. Here the Big Lie was about “weapons of mass destruction.” (See article on Iraqi resistance at workers.org.)

We don’t need an anniversary to discuss Afghanistan. The Pentagon has occupied that country for more than 12 years, and it is still there, although the pretext — to kill or capture Osama bin Laden — disappeared in 2011.

Then there was Libya. NATO, with the Pentagon taking on the brunt of the arbitrary bombing — only a no-fly zone was U.N. approved — again deposed a government and replaced it with a failed regime. The Pentagon is still butting in. (See article page 11.)

In Syria, only a last-minute negotiation with Russia prevented a round of Pentagon bombing last September. And the U.S./NATO “aid” to the mercenaries and reactionaries in the “opposition” have killed tens of thousands and done enormous destruction to Syria. And it’s not over.

The pretexts — in Libya and Syria — were to demonize the existing regime. Demonize in order to destroy.

This is not to mention the drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, growing incursions in Africa — with and without French imperialism — and CIA intervention against Venezuela based on support for fascist elements who try to terrorize the population.

The even bigger threats we saved for last. The “pivot” to Asia means more threats against north Korea and surrounding China with military bases. And then there is Ukraine. (See articles pages 8 and 9.)

The U.S./EU intervention in Ukraine — backing gangs of fascists to take over the Kiev regime, with the potential expansion of NATO to Russia’s southwestern border — is the kind of adventure your normal Murder, Inc. would think twice about. Instead we hear a rant making Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, another “demon.”

The Big Lies are wearing thin. The enemy, and the demons, are at home.