Transforming the World into a War-zone

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4/23/2006 2:38:32 PM

Transforming the World into a War-zone

 

 

Transforming the World into a War-zone

Mike Whitney

 

 

April 24, 2006

 

 

" Our enemies never stop trying to come up with new ways to harm our

people, and neither do we. "

President George W. Bush

 

Like everything else, Rumsfeld's promise to " transform " the military

has been a lie. The Defense Secretary never had any intention of

converting the military into " smaller, more agile units " . From the

very onset his goal has been to create a global strike-force that

operates as the enforcement-arm of the multinational corporations.

 

Rumsfeld has done everything in his power to remove the military from

congressional oversight or accountability to the people it is supposed

to serve. Under his stewardship, the Pentagon has lurched from one

humiliating scandal to the next. From Abu Ghraib to Falluja, from

Guantanamo to Bagram; his record has been a dismal chronicle of one

disgrace heaped upon another. No wonder the generals are so eager to

see him get his walking papers.

 

An article in Sunday's Washington Post " Rumsfeld OKs wider anti-terror

role for Military " shows that Rumsfeld's powers are expanding rather

than contracting. The article by Ann Scott Tyson outlines the Defense

Secretary's strategy for making the entire world a " free-fire " zone

for agents of the empire. The details of the plan are still

classified, but the documents envision " a significantly expanded role

for the military — and in particular a growing force of elite Special

Operations troops — in continuous operations to combat terrorism

outside of war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Developed over

about three years by the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in Tampa,

Fla., they reflect a beefing up of the Pentagon's involvement in

domains traditionally handled by the CIA and State Department. "

 

Just as Rumsfeld initiated Northcom and lowered the standards for

using the military in domestic affairs (check the debacle in Katrina)

so too, he intends to eschew the conventions restricting the use of

the military in foreign countries by deploying " small teams of Army

Green Berets and other Special Operations troops to U.S. embassies …to

conduct military operations where the United States is not at war. "

 

This ambitious plan has been the military's " top priority " for over

three years and is ready to be activated pending another " terrorist

attack " on American soil.

 

Even Rumsfeld apologists are probably shocked at the breadth and

arrogance of this sinister plan. The military is being hijacked in

full view of the American people and turned into the world's

most-lethal security apparatus. Under Rumsfeld's direction, special

units operating clandestinely around the globe will perform criminal

renditions, assassinations, sabotage, and acts of piracy all in the

name of corporate profiteering.

 

53,000 paramilitaries and Green Berets now operate within Special

Operations Command (SOCOM) The next terrorist attack will allow the

Pentagon to quickly mobilize these troops to " disrupt and respond " to

potential threats across the planet ignoring national sovereignty or

the laws of war. The surprise appearance of Bin Laden in a video which

aired yesterday on Al Jazeera (another Rumsfeld psy-ops?) must have

been warmly received by the Pentagon warlords who would like to see

their plan executed pell mell.

 

There should be little doubt that Don Rumsfeld's dream of a global

military empire, accountable only to the league of corporate

mandarins, hasn't dimmed by his abysmal record of failure in Iraq.

Left to his own devices, Rumsfeld is determined to put the US military

under private control and turn the world into one massive war zone