IMPERIAL AMBITION

THE UNITED  STATES  IN DECLINE

"This is the world of one master, one sovereign.” Vladimir Putin, February 10, 2007

“Nemesis” is the third in a series of books by Professor Chalmers Johnson about the “American Empire” and its place in the world. The first was called “Blowback” and it began the story of the Empire’s decline. 

It’s Professor Johnson’s belief that George W. Bush is just the latest in a long list of American leaders, who have been setting the country up for a fall from economic grace. He shows that Bush has continued to over-extend the country’s resources and that the U.S. is slowly creeping closer to financial default. We the great unwashed might ask- how can that be? The U.S. is the biggest, richest economy in the world!

Some of the facts that Johnson refers to are already well known. Others are known only to those who have done intensive research. It’s the story of what can happen to an Empire and it’s happening right under our noses.

Following the presidency of John F. Kennedy, which ended when they killed him in 1963…various U.S. administrations allowed the rapid buildup of a secret army, which we know by its initials, C.I.A. It has engaged in many top secret operations, including the overthrow of governments the U.S. didn’t like. The CIA and its political supporters developed a huge military-industrial establishment aimed at global domination.

It dragged the U.S. into a futile war in Vietnam and trained various terrorist groups, including the Taleban…and…it took sides in the Middle East. The CIA’s operations were hidden from the people.  So when retaliation finally came, as it did on the 11th of September 2001, the American public were dumbfounded.

It proved easy to lead them to the trough, and even easier to make them drink. It was easy to make them believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible and that he had weapons of mass destruction- that an invasion of Iraq was essential- and that revenge would be sweet.

It was the invasion of Iraq, which may have finally sealed the economic fate of the Empire, by creating a new cycle of vengeful blowback against it. 

Right now, the U.S. is trying to maintain more than 700 military bases around the world, with over 500,000 soldiers, defence contractors, spies and others in more than 130 countries. That’s in addition to 140,000 soldiers in Iraq, an additional 45,000 or so in Afghanistan and a million or so employees in a huge military establishment at home.

It’s a fact of life that the United States is now having problems paying the bills for this enormous military machine. (The war in Iraq all by itself is costing about a billion dollars each and every week).

The figures are striking, especially considering that when Bill Clinton left office, the U.S. was running a current account surplus.

By 2005, the U.S. current account deficit stood at $805 billion.

The U.S. trade deficit with China alone is now well over 200 billion dollars.

Since Bush became president, the U.S. has lost about 3 million manufacturing jobs, mostly to Japan and China. (Many Americans now work, at least indirectly, for those two countries in return for a Walmart cheque).

The U.S. national debt (similar to your credit card and mine), has ballooned. The U.S. Congress has had to raise the national debt limit 4 times since Bush took office. On March 16th, 2006, it was raised from $8.2 trillion to $8.96 trillion; the debt had to be increased so that the government could borrow more money in order to meet its commitments.

According to Professor Johnson, it’s now just a matter of time.

Canadians are closely connected with the American Empire. But we have often taken a different approach to world affairs. We need to continue that independent outlook, especially now.