It’s everywhere, it covers the world. No nation can escape its vast reach. It’s America’s agenda of hegemony that continues without letup. Hegemony, which some would refer to as the militaristic subsidiary of imperialism, is the “Aggressive expansionism by large nations in an effort to achieve world domination.”
Yes, that is a very accurate description of how the U.S. government is operating in today’s world. None of the other major world powers, including Russia or China, could be accused of engaging in such an agenda of world domination at this time.
The relentless bombing of Iraq and Syria continues non-stop. It’s no great surprise that President Obama has just announced that he will soon send more U.S. troops into Iraq in order to train additional Iraqis to fight against ISIS, the jihadist element that continues to control a substantial part of that country. How long might it be before the U.S. troops currently there, plus thousands more, hit the ground and reignite the Iraq War?
One thing that we can say for certain is that the U.S. military empire, the foundation of this hegemony, is alive and well and deployed in every region of the world. We should remember that there are still some U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Supposedly, all remaining troops are to exit that country by the end of 2016. Anyone wish to place a bet that this will actually happen?
And if that’s not enough of hegemonic news, it’s just being reported that there is new legislation that has been created in the Senate relative to a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Not surprisingly this legislation has been crafted by a combination of Democratic and Republican war hawks. Key provisions include the following:
Ill-defined enemy, (limitless) battlefield: The text authorizes force against “any individual or organization that presents a direct threat to members of the United States Armed Forces, coalition partner forces, or forces trained by the coalition, in their fight against ISIL and specifies no geographical bounds.”
Another provision covers Troop deployments: The text allows the deployment of “significant ground troops” to protect U.S. citizens from “imminent threat,” apparently meaning anyone anywhere in the world can be identified as a threat; it sounds like the newer version of the Bush/Cheney doctrine of pre-emptive war by which the U.S. reserves the right to take military actions against any country or factions within that country that pose even the slightest threat; it’s the “shoot first and ask questions later” mentality and “You’re either with us or against us.”
Not long ago Saddam Hussein of Iraq got in the way and look what happened to him. Then Muammar Gaddafi of Libya refused to play ball and he bit the dust. Now it seems like the next target is President Assad of Syria who stands in the way of the future plans of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Could Putin be the next one in line to have to go? Well, the probability of that happening is somewhere near zero to none.
Yemen has become a prime target for the U.S. and Saudi Arabia who are trying to subdue this nation and its people. Apparently Mr. Obama’s drone attacks haven’t done the job intended. In this same vein, Somalia and Pakistan cannot escape the drones that hover in the skies above them and then rain down their deadly missiles.
As the U.S. military colossus looks over the world and the next areas to control, it appears that Russia and China have now become prime targets for this hegemony. Talk about “biting off more than you can chew” or “opening a door which you won’t be able to close.” Trying to intimidate the Russian Bear or the Chinese Dragon should be the very last thing that you should contemplate doing for there is no way that these two large and powerful countries are ever going to allow that to happen.
What kind of intimidation is this? Well, Mr. Obama, though he was strongly warned by Putin to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine and allow that nation and Russia to resolve their differences on their own terms, is apparently not going to heed that advice. He has stated that he and his European allies are considering even greater economic sanctions against Russia if it does accede to their demands. And they may not be saying it but you can bet that they are keeping military intervention “on the table.” However, to think that Putin would buckle under is simply delusional thinking.
Secondly, the U.S. government and this president have made it clear that they are going to proceed with their Asian Pivot which is designed to intimidate China by moving a large portion of the U.S. troops from the Middle East into the Asian Pacific region, aka, China’s backyard. It’s all part of the plan by which a massive new U.S. presence in this region of the world will serve to try to impede China’s extremely ambitious economic endeavors. Again, to think that China will allow itself to be pinned into a corner in its primary region of influence is yet more than delusional thinking.
What’s with this government of ours? There seemingly is no end to this hegemony on steroids. This is a government that failed to learn valuable lessons from its military debacles in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan and it keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. Isn’t experience supposed to make you smarter?
The big question is: what will this government do next? It’s already established a huge presence in many parts of Africa. So far it apparently is not interfering in the internal affairs of the countries of Latin America as was the case in decades past. It would like to find some way to establish control over Venezuela, a country that has somehow managed to escape it, largely due to the efforts of its now deceased President Hugo Chavez, who had been at the top of this government’s enemy list for years.
Suppose a nationwide poll were taken posing this question to the American people: If you were given the opportunity would you vote to end this U.S. agenda of hegemony, scale back the number of military bases around the world, and still have a powerful military to protect America; yes or no? I think they would jump at the chance and at least 2/3 or more would vote yes. Unfortunately, that’s never likely to happen in this country, and if such a poll were taken, the U.S. government would completely ignore the wishes of the people whose views it considers to be completely irrelevant.
How much longer can this hegemonic agenda continue to be sustained; at some time in the not too distant future will it collapse upon itself? Well, as this government tries to control more and more of the world, as it keeps creating a plethora of new enemies, and if our European allies and others opt out of the current alliance, that possibility will come ever closer to becoming a reality.
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