بیشترتوضیحاتافزودن یادداشت جدید 4-The Military Background The author of the History of the Decline and Fall of Roman Empire, British historian Edward Gibbon, published his famous book in 1776 when America had just declared its freedom and independence from Great Britain. Writing on the relationship between the military prowess of the Roman Empire and the political stances of emperors in general Gibbon observes: "The Roman emperors kept the peace by being constantly ready for war, and claimed themselves upholders of justice when they kept their neighbors and conquered countries in perpetual fear and terror so that no one would become powerful enough to harm the empire in any way." Gibbon's words so impressed General George Washington the first US president that in his inauguration ceremony he used Gibbon's terminology and solemnly declared: "Constantly being ready for war is one of the best and most effective ways of keeping the peace." In the 226 years since the independence of America, it has been at war more than any other country in the history of this planet. Wars with Spain, Mexico, Cuba, many Caribbean and South American countries, and most Pacific Ocean islands, besides actively fighting in World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam, occupation of both Panama and Haiti, and to this rather simplified list, one can add military interventions in Lebanon, Somalia, and leading wars during the Persian Gulf War and Afghanistan, to which we can add the recent attack on Iraq. The only time a war was fought on American soil was the Civil War (1861-65), which left over 600,000 casualties and is considered one of the largest wars of the last few centuries with a very large number of dead soldiers at the end. Therefore, it is not surprising that war and always preparing and prepared for war is one of the essential characteristics of the Unites States. Somehow, war has become synonymous with "defending the nation" and "democracy." It is also not surprising that the question always asked by foreign observers is: How is it that America is to this degree present in wars in places thousands of miles away from its soil?! One reason is, the role the US military-industrial complex plays in various wars, crises, and perpetuation of such crises in contemporary American history, is simply undeniable. These are industries and corporations that have to produce arms under any conditions and situation, and have to, in order to profit and prosper, look for customers. Thus, conditions of peace and tranquility are not considered by them favorable ones, to say the least. Also, since the biggest consumer of their products is the US army, the military corporations employ retired military generals, trying to maintain their extraordinary influence in the process of decision-making in both the military services and the Defense Department, particularly helping generals plan wars so that they will continue to have markets for their products. Even for casual observers of world affairs the dark role they play in creating crises and regional wars to just create a new market for their deadly wares is quite clear. As though this were not enough, they also actively engage in creating crises and vastly exaggerating any danger and threat America faces. Even a cursory look at their combined records during the Cold War including the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf war clearly shows the degree of deception they used in every case in order to get orders for their morbid products. Records show that in virtually every case they represented various data and statistics, they grossly overestimated enemy's potential or plausible military power. Here we will provide enough facts about the role the military industries played during the September 11 crisis, and would like to warn all intelligent people not to underestimate the role they play in US government's so many decisions to go to war or take other military actions. The close relationship of former military men like Collin Powel or Donald Rumsfeld with the military-industrial complex, or the extremely close relationship vice-president Dick Chenny has always had with military corporations needs special attention. Also, in spite of the fact that America's chief military foe and rival, the former Soviet Union, has collapsed for over a decade now, we still see the US government appropriating defense budgets which have only grown heavier, and the excuse the US has provided for so lavishly spending the "peace dividend" on preparing for war, is that it is "simply using the opportunity to strengthen its defensive capabilities in the classic way." It has gone even further and has pulled out from many longstanding treaties on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and has totally disregarded all that had been achieved by peaceful means and efforts in limiting such horrific weapons. Again, the US leadership has done so in a unilateral manner and against overwhelming world public opinion, and even applied the former non-proliferation conventions to expand its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction despite lack of any justification for the development and expansion of these sophisticated, complex classic weapons. The kind of war the US government has declared not only will prove very profitable for its military industry, but will also open a Pandora's box of all kinds of anti-explosives doors and windows for use in the Pentagon itself as well as other military-owned buildings and complexes, for instance. Moreover, by shipping various war materials to many regions of the world and their quick need for replacement parts, a whole series of contractors and service corporations profit and mushroom in this way.
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