With one major war our politicians demand we support for the purpose of their insider-traded defense stocks, and another regional war on the way - both being sold to the American people as critical for the defense of borders, local populations and democracy these same politicians are doing everything they can to annihilate here at home - let’s look at the purpose of the various defense obligations or promises in which we are entangled.
Without getting into treaty obligations we have, such as NATO and S Korea, or don’t have, such as Ukraine or Taiwan, let’s step-back to review the intent of any alliance or promise.
One must start at the foundation of any military alliance, memorandum (Ukraine), or just political opportunism and ask its purpose.
It’s the People
The stated purpose of a defensive alliance with America is to keep free those countries within that alliance. In other words, to guarantee their populations a free future at a cost members of that alliance are willing to bear.
The key phrase is: “a free future.”
Now let’s look at the futures of those with whom we are allied or interested for this purpose by Total Fertility Rate, as TFR shows the interest of the populations of those countries in populating - ensuring - any future at all, let alone a free future, the entire purpose of the alliance. Rankings are from World Fact Book and its listing of TFR ranked by 227 countries.
Ukraine: 224
S. Korea: 226
Taiwan: 227
Europe has had below-replacement TFR since 1975; the TFR of the NATO countries is 1.5 (2.1 is considered replacement).
No possible justification exists to spend lives and treasure defending any nation not believing in their own future enough, even, to populate it. We can blather all day long about the GDP percent dedicated to defense, but if a population isn’t making babies, there’s no point.
America’s Leaders
More immediately, let’s consider also America’s CINC and “his” “defense” establishment as they push to widen regional wars behind anti-Darwinian alliances, and their crocodile tears for those being killed in these wars.
We have a former SecDef, Robert Gates, telling the world that “[Biden has] been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."
And that same “Joe Biden” telling the world that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine would be ok.
It seems this is SOP.
Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday, adding that Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be "within certain limits."^
A “minor incursion,” I guess…
To paraphrase David Stockman, “A minor incursion here and a minor incursion there, and pretty soon we’re talking about real war.”
America, against promises by a sitting president (GHW Bush) and advice by the author of the - successful - “Containment” strategy of the Cold War (Kennan), and warnings of a superpower not to do so… moved NATO east. Then overthrew the elected government of Ukraine, installed a comedian as puppet and now pretend to be “shocked!” that Russia responded exactly as they said they would. Some leaders mean it when they say “Red line…”
America also is providing weapons and munitions to Israeli while sending “humanitarian aid” to Hamas, freeing-up money for Hamas to buy weapons to continue the fight against the weapons we’re providing the IDF.
The pure evil of profiting off of both sides in a war seems lost on the American voter.
The actions of America’s political establishment, bottom-to-top, seem designed to encourage wars of no purpose other than to increase their portfolio balances.
The “marketing” program by “Joe Biden,” if you recall, was to show senators how many jobs would be created and how much money would flow to their states if they only agreed to the continuation of killing in Ukraine.
Perhaps we should vote out the warmongers in November. The alternative is to keep running around the world killing just to kill.