The loss of the American “empire” is baked in the cake

By Martin Love

NORTH CAROLINA - So much going on round the world of note, and too few remarking at attempts to torture or waterboard free speech in the U.S., except this time if the subject literally drowns or dies, which journalist Jamal Khashoggi did in his own blood, no problem – that may be the intent anyway, to eliminate all dissenting voices that are, to one degree or another and maybe too loud about it, appalled by various rampant, overextended “isms”: Zionism, Neo-liberalism, run amok Capitalism, Communism, Nationalism, Nazism, Wahhabism, Americanism, and others. 

But clearly the most egregious of them all, as perhaps has been the case since the beginning of recorded time, is “stupidism”, the fatal ailment of too much of homo sapiens particularly when now we read about climate change, which may be the most dangerous development of all, which allegedly has gone past the point where it might be reversed. It’s all rather frightening and in the case of Iran, too, when one considers limited water resources and a population which has soared in the past century. The remarkable “Qanats” worked well for centuries, but going forward? But that’s another subject.

One must wonder that if everyone arose each morning, sat on their edge of whatever space comprised their bed, and asked themselves one question, it does seem anyway that the human world might be immediately improved. That question would be: Can I be aware enough today to evaluate and react properly and wisely and honestly to whatever I must face?” But regarding press freedom, or simply the telling of truths by a few enlightened reporters, it remains remarkable that some reporters in Israel get to tell dissenting truths more than American observers without gross punishment. Gideon Levy, who writes for Ha-eretz, is a case in point.

Levy has done two things for years: he has slammed a cowardly American mainstream media in which the natives of the Holy Land can only be villainized, and he has pointed to the gross misuse of the charge of “anti-Semitism”.  The recent firing by CNN of Marc Lamont Hill, a Black American writer and university academic who has called for the freedom of Palestinians in a speech at a U.N. conference, Levy has also condemned. An Israeli newspaper gets to publish this condemnation by Levy, but not American media outlets. And Iran, too, had long been vilified for supporting justice in Palestine, or at least some kind of equality for half the beleaguered population west of the Jordan River. 

The utter corruption over the issue of not merely relief for Palestinians but over a host of other issues is telling. For example, a recent bill circulating in the U.S Congress to halt U.S. military and other support for the Saudi and Emirates war on Yemen was condemned by a couple score of U.S. senators who happened to rake in many thousands of dollars paid by lobbyists for Saudi Arabia. And all the lies, too!

 One whopper of late is that Iran’s alleged testing of its latest defensive missile technology was claimed to be a direct violation of the original terms of the still alive but nearly moribund JCPOA deal, but it was not such. Yes, U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 does “call upon” Iran not to conduct missile tests, and for all U.N. member states to try to refrain from actions that harm JCPOA commitments, but if Iran is in direct violation of anything, as Mike Pompeo claimed, so is the U.S. under Trump who completely canned U.S. participation in the JCPOA.

 Iran has anyway long maintained that its missiles have never been designed to carry nuclear weapons, and given Iran’s reliable and strict adherence to the JCPOA to date, only a fool would not believe Iran. Is not Iran, or ANY country for that matter, not allowed to develop defensive deterrents in such a hostile environment? The Trump Administration and the Zionists and Saudis have been all about a desperate search for any pretext to attack Iran further, boasting recently of an extant “military option”. Iran must not provide a pretext because the U.S., despite its economic and military clout, is losing the battle for hearts and minds worldwide.

Perhaps the key to understanding what is likely to happen in future is a recognition of the fact that the U.S. “empire” of hegemonic pretensions cannot be maintained given its dependence on the strength of the U.S economy. Even Neocon John Bolton is aware of this given a recent statement of concern about “national security” – which would not really be threatened by a debt crisis, but an eviscerated dollar and any loss as the primary “reserve currency” would likely limit what the U.S. could do globally. This is what Neocon Bolton apparently fears the most. Real “national security” is NOT a valid concern for the U.S. because it is, quite simply, defense of the geographical U.S and its borders.

But make no mistake. A U.S. debt crisis is a certainty in coming years. Maybe not in the next two or so years, but eventually, because the U.S. government is literally addicted to profligacy and the careers and livelihoods of too many of the political oligarchy are dependent on it. The vast majority of the population would be in open revolt, say, if the causes of rampant debt creation, aside from overseas military activity and empire sustenance, such as Medicare and Social Security entitlements, were diminished substantially. And if they were, there would be immediate demands for the elimination of a huge chunk of misnamed military “defense” outlays.

It has been suggested, for one thing, that the reason Vladimir Putin has seemed wary about taking action against the lies and provocations by the U.S. against Russia is because he probably sees an implosion of U.S. financial markets ahead, which would of course curtail America’s capacity to start additional wars and sow more mayhem internationally. The inevitability of a collapse under more debt than has ever been accumulated by any country in all of human history is precisely what leaders in Iran must await patiently to finally witness relief from U.S sanctions and hubris.