"I love WAR RACKET - MAINSTREAM MEDIA, CORPORATE MEDIA, WARMONGERS, NEOCONS, DEEP STATE, NATO, NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL-SECURITY-COMPLEX, WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS, NATO, CORPORATIONS, BANKERS"

2022-05-25 13:06:05

THE WAR RACKET"I spent thirty-three yearsand four months in active military service as a member of thiscountry's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I servedin all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major General.And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high classmuscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers.In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I amsure of it.I helped make Honduras 'right' for American fruit companies in1903. I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for Americanoil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent placefor the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helpedin the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for thebenefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. Ihelped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house ofBrown Brothers in 1909-1912. 1 brought light to the DominicanRepublic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helpedto see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room wouldsay, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could havegiven Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operatehis racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."General Smedley Butler, 1933WAR"There is nothing puzzlingabout America's gratuitously aggressive foreign policy. What anaggressive foreign policy accomplishes by slow degrees, a stateof war accomplishes in a trice. Overnight war kills reform, overnightit transforms insurgents into traitors and the Republic into animperiled realm. Overnight it strangles free politics, distractsand overawes the citizenry. Overnight it blasts public hope."Walter Karp"History is the historyof war, of leaders of countries finding reasons and rationalesto send the young people off to fight."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Our boys were sent offto die with beautiful ideals painted in front of them. No onetold them that dollars and cents were the real reason they weremarching off to kill and die."General Smedley Butler, 1934 -about World War One"How does continuous waract to keep the Lows "stupefied by poverty" and therebyassure the maintenance of the social structure? The goal of thewars is to enable the economy to be kept going for the benefitof the High, its military, and its bureaucracy and control personnel(the Thought Police, etc.), but at the same time to assure thatany excess production capacity is prevented from producing consumergoods for the lower classes. That excess capacity is instead directedto producing excess military goods which will ' ultimately rustaway or be destroyed in warfare; that is, the excess capacityis deliberately wasted in order to turn it away from the productionof goods which would result in added leisure or well-being forthe lower classes. Those classes are instead continually forcedinto group activities expressing hatred toward the current enemy(any enemy) and dependency upon and love toward their benevolentrulers for protecting them from that enemy. They are thereby ledto accept the consumer shortages, the poverty, and the other privationsto which they are subjected. Their economic status is kept atthe subsistence level, forcing their priorities to be focusedon simply acquiring basic food, clothing, and shelter. They arethus denied either the time or the inclination to question thefairness or permanence of their societal condition, or to otherwiseevolve into a threat to the established hierarchy."George Orwell in his book "1984""Do you want to know thecause of war? It is capitalism, greed, the dirty hunger for dollars.Take away the capitalist, and you will sweep war from the earth."Henry Ford - founder of Ford Motors"Why, of course, the peopledon't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to riskhis life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is tocome back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common peopledon't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, afterall, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policyand it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whetherit is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament ora Communist dictatorship."Hermann Goering - Nazi leader"War is terrorism."Howard Zinn"The engine of Americanforeign policy has been fueled not by a devotion to any kind ofmorality, but rather by the necessity to serve other imperatives,which can be summarized as follows: making the world safe forAmerican corporations; enhancing the financial statements of defensecontractors at home who have contributed generously to membersof congress; preventing the rise of any society that might serveas a successful example of an alternative to the capitalist model;extending political and economic hegemony over as wide an areaas possible, as befits a "great power."William Blum, 1999"Without war, no governmenthas ever been able to obtain acquiescence in its 'legitimacy,'or right to rule its society... Obviously, if the war system wereto be discarded, new political machinery would be needed at onceto serve this vital subfunction. Until it is developed, the continuanceof the war system must be assured, if for no other reason, amongothers, than to preserve whatever quality and degree of povertya society requires as an incentive, as well as to maintain thestability of its internal organization of power."Report from Iron Mountain, 1967"The primary aim of modernwarfare is to use up the products of the machine without raisingthe general standard of living... the essential act of war isdestruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the productsof human labor. The two aims ... are to conquer the whole surfaceof the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibilityof independent thought."George Orwell in his book "1984""Of all the enemies oftrue liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, becauseit comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is theparent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies,and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing themany under the domination of the few.... No nation can preserveits freedom in the midst of continual warfare."James Madison, 1795"We like war, we are warlikepeople. We like war because we are good at it. You know why weare good at it because we get a lot of practice. This countryis only 200 years old and already we have had 10 major wars. Weaverage a major war every 20 years in this country, so we aregood at it. And that is a good thing we are, we are not very goodin anything else anymore. We can't build a decent car, can't makea TV set or VCR worth a fuck. We've got no steel industry left,can't educate our young people, can't get health care for ourold people, but we can bomb the shit out of your country alright,especially if your country is full of brown people. That's ourhobby. That's our new job in the world, bombing brown people!Iraq, Panama, Grenada, Libya. If you've got some brown peoplein your country, tell them to watch the fuck out or we will goddamn bomb them!"George Carlin"In foreign policy administrationsfrom Truman to Bush were all habitually interventionist, brutal,fanatically anti-communist, concerned mainly with making the worldsafe for US multinational corporations, and unconcerned abouthuman rights."William Blum in his book "Freeingthe World to Death""War is inextricably linkedto the impoverishment of people at home and around the world.Militarization and the economic crisis are intimately related.The provision of essential goods and services to meet basic humanneeds has been replaced by a profit-driven "killing machine"in support of America's "Global War on Terror". Thepoor are made to fight the poor. Yet war enriches the upper class,which controls industry, the military, oil and banking. In a wareconomy, death is good for business, poverty is good for society,and power is good for politics. Western nations, particularlythe United States, spend hundreds of billions of dollars a yearto murder innocent people in far-away impoverished nations."Michel Chossudovsky and AndrewGavin Marshall"The essential act of waris destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the productsof human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouringinto the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materialswhich might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable,and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weaponsof war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is stilla convenient way of expending labour power without producing anythingthat can be consumed. ... War accomplishes the necessary destruction, but accomplishesit in a psychologically acceptable way. In principle it wouldbe quite simple to waste the surplus labour of the world by buildingtemples and pyramids, by digging holes and filling them up again,or even by producing vast quantities of goods and then settingfire to them. But this would provide only the economic and notthe emotional basis for a hierarchical society."George Orwell in his book "1984""The United States of Americahas been engaged in some kind of war during 222 out of the nation'stotal 239 years of existence. Put another way, in the entire spanof US history, this country has only experienced 17 years withoutconflict, meaning that 93% of the time, America is involved inat least one war."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017"Of the nearly trilliondollars the U.S. invests in war and war-related activities, nothinggoes to peace. No money, no effort, no thought. The very ideathat there might be peaceful alternatives to endless war is sodiscredited that it's left to utopians, bleeding hearts, and feathereddoves."Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch, 2009"Economic surrogates forwar must meet two principal criteria. They must be "wasteful,"in the common sense of the word, and they must operate outsidethe normal supply-demand system. A corollary that should be obviousis that the magnitude of the waste must be sufficient to meetthe needs of a particular society. An economy as advanced andcomplex as our own requires the planned average annual destructionof not less than 10 percent of gross national product."Report from Iron Mountain, 1967"The United States operatesalmost 800 military bases in 70 different countries."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017"Three steps must be takento smash the war racket. 1. We must take the profit out of war. 2. We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms todecide whether or not there should be war. 3. We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes."Major General Smedley Butler"From 1945 to 2003, theUnited States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments,and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements fightingagainst intolerable regimes. In the process, the US bombed some25 countries, caused the end of life for several million people,and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair."William Blum in his book "KillingHope""The master class has alwaysdeclared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, whilethe subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose--especiallytheir lives."Eugene Debs , Canton, Ohio, June16, 1918"The primary aim of modernwarfare is to use up the products of the machine without raisingthe general standard of living."Winston Smith in George Orwell'sbook "1984"""Report from IronMountain" says that the prime political function of warfareis to preserve poverty in the society as an aid to maintainingthe elite class in control."Report from Iron Mountain, 1967reviewed by Alan Jones in his book "How The World ReallyWorks""We have had disarmamentconferences and limitations of arms conferences. They don't meana thing. We send our professional soldiers and our sailors andour politicians and our diplomats to these conferences. And whathappens? The professional soldiers and sailors don't want to disarm.No admiral wants to be without a ship. No general wants to bewithout a command. Both mean men without jobs. They are not fordisarmament. They cannot be for limitations of arms. And at allthese conferences, lurking in the background but allpowerful,just the same, are the sinister agents of those who profit bywar. They see to it that these conferences do not disarm or seriouslylimit armaments. The chief aim of any power at any of these conferenceshas not been to achieve disarmament to prevent war but ratherto get more armament for itself and less for any potential foe."Major General Smedley Butler"The permanent possibilityof war is the foundation for stable government; it supplies thebasis for general acceptance of political authority. It has enabledsocieties to maintain necessary class distinctions, and it hasensured the subordination of the citizen to the state."Report from Iron Mountain, 1967reviewed by Alan Jones in his book "How The World ReallyWorks""The preparation for waris useful to the holders of centralized political power. Whenthings go badly at home, when popular discontent becomes inconvenientlyarticulate, it is always possible, in a world where war-makingremains an almost sacred habit, to shift the people's attentionaway from domestic to foreign and military affairs. A flood ofxenophobic or imperialistic propaganda is released by the government-controlledinstruments of persuasion, a "strong policy" is adoptedtoward some foreign power, an appeal for "national unity"(in other words, unquestioning obedience to the ruling oligarchy)is launched, and at once it becomes unpatriotic for anybody tovoice even the most justifiable complaints against mismanagementor oppression. It is difficult to see how any highly centralizedgovernment could afford to dispense with militarism and the threatof foreign war."Aldous Huxley in his book "Science, Liberty and Peace", 1946"Since World War Two theUnited States has attempted to overthrow more than fifty foreigngovernments, it has dropped bombs on the people of around thirtycountries, has attempted to assassinate some sixty foreign leaders,helped to suppress dozens of populist or nationalist movements,has tortured many thousands, and seriously and illegally intervenedin one way or another in virtually every country on the planet,in the process of which the U.S. has caused the end of life forseveral million people, and condemned many millions more to alife of agony and despair."William Blum, in a speech at theUniversity of Vermont, November 2, 2007"Since the anticommunismhysteria in the years following the Second World War, a bipartisanconsensus has existed on foreign policy. Meaningful politicaldiscourse has been almost absent about foreign policy issues.So many foreign policy decisions have been placed beyond publicscrutiny, that almost all of what passes as official informationabout foreign policy is manufactured by government agencies forits propaganda effect."Daniel Hellinger and Dennis R.Judd Brooks in their book "The Democratic Facade""The United States is castin the role of Praetorian Guard, protecting the interests of theglobal financial order against fractious elements in the ThirdWorld."former CIA agent John Stockwell"In the last decades ofthe twentieth century, self-interest, sovereignty and taking careof number one became the primary criteria for any serious provisionof support or resources to the globe's trouble spots. If the countryin question is of any possible strategic value to the world powers,then it seems that everything from covert operations to the outrightuse of overwhelming force is fair game. If it is not, indifferenceis the order of the day."former Lieutenant-General RomeoDallaire who commanaded the UN peacekeping force in Rwanda in1993-1994"The U.S. has over 200incidents in which it have put our troops into other countriesto force them to our will."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Mass graves and cemeterieseverywhere are filled with people which have been killed insteadof helped, and the US will never again be regarded as benevolent:the world has seen enough and knows the US is a bully."Seymour Hersh, 2005"Military interventionto maintain the global status quo will become a constant featureof international relations, whether this is justified in termsof fighting drugs, fighting terrorism, containing "roguestates," opposing "Islamic fundamentalism," orcontaining China."Walden Bello, 2001"The Third World War isa war that has been fought by the United States against the ThirdWorld. It began when the CIA was founded in 1947 and continuestoday. As wars go, it has been the second or third most destructiveof human life in all of history, after World War I and World WarII."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Doing the right thingis not a principle of American foreign policy, not an ideal ora goal of policy in and of itself. If it happens that doing theright thing coincides with, or is irrelevant to, Washington'soverriding international ambitions, American officials have noproblem walking the high moral ground. But this is rarely thecase. ... the engine of American foreign policy has been fuelednot by a devotion to any kind of morality, nor even simple decency,but rather by the necessity to serve other masters."William Blum in his book "RogueState"ENEMIESRUSSIA, CHINA, NORTH KOREA, IRAN, IRAQ,AFGHANISTAN, LIBYA, SYRIA, CUBA, VENEZUELA, AL-QUEDA, ISIS, ISLAMICTERRORISTS, SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM, ET AL"Enemies are necessaryfor the wheels of the US military machine to turn."former CIA agent John Stockwell"The need for major statesas enemies stems partly from the fact that only the perceivedpresence of enemy states can justify military spending at thelevel which the industries concerned have come to demand."David Edwards - Burning All Illusions"There was no comer ofthe known world where some interest was not alleged to be in dangeror under actual attack If the interests were not Roman, they werethose of Rome's allies; and if Rome had no allies, then allieswould be invented When it was utterly impossible to contrive suchan interest-why, then it was the national honor that had beeninsulted. The fight was a/ways invested with an aura of legality.Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbors, alwaysfighting for a breathing space. The whole world was pervaded bya host of enemies, and it was manifestly Rome's duty to guardagainst their indubitably aggressive designs."Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist,1979 essay "The Sociology of Imperialisms""However unlikely someof the possible alternate enemies may seem, we must emphasizethat one must be found, of credible quality and magnitude, ifa transition to peace is ever to come about without social disintegration....It is more probable, in our judgment, that such a threat willhave to be invented, rather than developed from unknown conditions."Report from Iron Mountain, 1967"About ten days after 9/11,I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and DeputySecretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to someof the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, andone of the generals called me in. He said, 'Sir, you've got tocome in and talk to me a second.' I said, 'Well, you're too busy.'He said, 'No, no.' He says, 'We've made the decision we're goingto war with Iraq.' This was on or about the 20th of September.I said, 'We're going to war with Iraq? Why?' He said, 'I don'tknow.' He said, 'I guess they don't know what else to do.' SoI said, 'Well, did they find some information connecting Saddamto al-Qaeda?' He said, 'No, no.' He says, 'There's nothing newthat way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq.'He said, 'I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists,but we've got a good military and we can take down governments.'And he said, 'I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, everyproblem has to look like a nail.' So I came back to see him afew weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan.I said, 'Are we still going to war with Iraq?' And he said, 'Oh,it's worse than that.' He reached over on his desk. He pickedup a piece of paper. And he said, 'I just got this down from upstairs',meaning the Secretary of Defense's office, 'today.' And he said,'This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out sevencountries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon,Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran'."Wesley Clark, General of the UnitedStates Army, March 2007"I don't believe anyonewill consciously launch World War III. The situation now is morelike the eve of World War I, when great powers were armed andready to go when an incident set things off. Ever since Gorbachevnaively ended the Cold War, the hugely over-armed United Stateshas been actively surrounding Russia with weapons systems, aggressivemilitary exercises, NATO expansion. At the same time, in recentyears the demonization of Vladimir Putin has reached war propagandalevels. Russians have every reason to believe that the UnitedStates is preparing for war against them, and are certain to takedefensive measures. This mixture of excessive military preparationsand propaganda against an "evil enemy" make it veryeasy for some trivial incident to blow it all up."Diana Johnstone"The U.S. is franticallysurrounding China with military weapons, advanced aircraft, navalfleets and a multitude of military bases from Japan, South Koreaand the Philippines through several nearby smaller Pacific islandsto its new and enlarged base in Australia."Jack A. Smith"War with Russia will benuclear. Washington has prepared for it. Washington has abandonedthe ABM treaty, created what it thinks is an ABM shield, and changedits war doctrine to permit US nuclear first strike. All of thisis obviously directed at Russia, and the Russian government knowsit.Paul Craig Roberts, 2014"The so-called war on terrorhas been a monumental fraud from the very start. The U.S. military-industrialcomplex needs terrorists in order to necessitate neo-colonialexpansion abroad and domestic oppression at home, which is whythe U.S. government does its best to create and sustain them invirtually every corner of the Middle East and North Africa."Paul Joseph Watson, 2014"Our government has keptus in a perpetual state of fear - kept us in a continuous stampedeof patriotic fervor - with the cry of grave national emergency.Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if wedid not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant fundsdemanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to havehappened, seem never to have been quite real."General Douglas MacArthur, 1957,as quoted in "American Caesar" by William Manchester,1978"Were the Soviet Unionto sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrialestablishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, untilsome other adversary could be invented. Anything else would bean unacceptable shock to the American economy."George Kennan, State DepartmentCold War strategist"At the end of World WarII, we were militarily dominant, economically dominant, and weenjoyed a remarkable international credibility. With a modicumof restraint and self-confidence we could have laid the foundationsof lasting world peace. Instead, we exaggerated the challengeof a Soviet Union which had just lost 70,000 villages, 1,710 towns,4.7 million houses, and 20 million people in the war."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Now that the cold waris becoming a memory, America's foreign policy establishment hasbegun searching for new enemies. Possible new villains include"instability" in Europe, the "vanishing" ozonelayer, nuclear proliferation, and narco-terrorism. Topping thelist of potential new global bogeymen, however, are the YellowPeril, the alleged threat to American economic security emanatingfrom East Asia, and the so-called Green Peril (green is the colorof Islam)."Leon T. Hadar, Cato Institute,in the 1990s"Among Latin American elites,a peasant asking for a higher wage or a priest helping organizea peasant cooperative is a communist. And someone going so faras to suggest land reform or a more equitable tax system is acommunist fanatic. There is no word or act suggesting the desirabilityof elite generosity toward the poor, or the need for education,organization or material advance for the majority, that has notbeen branded communistic in Latin America in recent decades. ...Since communism is the enemy and peasants trying to improve themselves,priests with the slightest humanistic proclivity, and naturallyanyone seriously challenging the status quo, are communists, theyare also, by definition, enemies."Edward S. Herman"The ruling elites knowwho their enemies are, and their enemies are the people, the peopleat home and the people abroad. Their enemies are anybody who wantsmore social justice, anybody who wants to use the surplus valueof society for social needs rather than for individual class greed,that's their enemy."Michael Parenti"America cherishes herenemies. Without enemies, she is a nation without purpose anddirection. The various components of the National Security Stateneed enemies to justify their swollen budgets, to aggrandize theirwork, to protect their jobs, to give themselves a mission in theaftermath of the Soviet Union."William Blum in his book "RogueState""It is now clear that weare facing an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is worlddomination by whatever means and at whatever cost. There are norules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conductdo not apply. If the United States is to survive, long-standingAmerican concepts of "fair play" must be reconsidered.We must develop effective espionage and counterespionage servicesand must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy our enemies bymore clever, more sophisticated, and more effective methods thanthose used against us. It may become necessary that the Americanpeople be made acquainted with, understand and support this fundamentallyrepugnant philosophy."Doolittle Report - White Housecommission to study the ClA's covert activities , 1954"The collapse of the SovietUnion ended China's main usefulness to the United States as anally, while enhancing its new status as a possible long-term rivalto American hegemony. In the wake of the Cold War, with the Pentagonintent on maintaining near Cold War levels of military spending,enemies on the global horizon were much needed. With the Soviet army increasingly seen as a disintegrating "papertiger," China's economic emergence as a major power in thePacific offered one possible fit with the Pentagon's need fora major enemy."Chalmers Johnson in his book "Blowback""There's really no seriousproposal about what to do about the severe problems of health,education, homelessness, joblessness, crime, soaring criminalpopulations, jails, deterioration in the inner cities - the wholeraft of problems. In such circumstances you've got to divert thebewildered herd, because if they start noticing this they maynot like it, since they're the ones suffering from it. You haveto whip them up into fear of enemies."Noam Chomsky in his book "MediaControl""This is total war. Weare fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them outthere. All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan,then we will do Iraq, then we take a look around and see how thingsstand. This is entirely the wrong way to go about it... If wejust let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely,and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but justwage a total war. Our children will sing great songs about usyears from now."neoconservative Richard Perle"The U.S. military actsin the interests of the corporate and financial elite, as thosecountries that do not submit to American economic hegemony aredeemed enemies, and the military is ultimately sent in to implement"regime change." "Andrew Gavin Marshall"In order to rally people,governments need enemies. If they do not have a real enemy, theywill invent one in order to mobilize us."Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhistmonk"The need for major statesas enemies stems partly from the fact that only the perceivedpresence of enemy states can justify military spending at thelevel which the industries concerned have come to demand."Anatol Lieven in his book "AmericaRight or Wrong""From the era of US warsto disarm and eliminate "merciless Indian savages" tothe era of capitalist wars to contain and then vanquish red communism,to the current era of global police and military operations mountedin the name of opposing the largely manufactured demon of al-Qaeda,the American empire of material aggrandizement has always requiredan external enemy to give military support to the expansionaryenterprises of its biggest engines of corporate profit. It hasrequired pretexts to present wars of aggression as self-defence."Anthony J. Hall in his book "Earthinto Property: Colonization, Decolonization, and Capitalism""In the mid-1980s, Al Qaedawas a database located in computer and dedicated to the communicationsof the Islamic Conference's secretariat. It was but natural forOsama bin Laden to be connected to this network. He is a memberof an important family in the banking and business world. WhenOsama bin Laden was an American agent in Afghanistan, the Al-QaedaIntranet was a good communication system through coded or covertmessages... The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terroristgroup called Al-Qaeda. And any informed intelligence officer knowsthis. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believein the presence of an identified entity representing the 'devil'only in order to drive the 'TV watcher' to accept a unified internationalleadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind thispropaganda is the US and the lobbyists for the US war on terrorismare only interested in making money."Pierre-Henry Bunel, a former agentfor French military intelligence - in an araticle in "WorldAffairs", Apr-Jun 2004"Al Qaeda is nothing morethan a broad euphemistic umbrella classification used to groupany Middle Eastern fighter under the sun as an enemy. The mostdiabolical aspect of this public relations stunt is that it enablesWashington to label any group it feels necessary to attack toappear to be related to an improvable organized enemy while atthe same time actually increasing its approval ratings by exploitingthe basic primal fears of the American public."Sarvat N. Hanif"Al Qaeda has been supportedand financed from its inception in the early 1980s by the CIA."Michel Chossudovsky"The US has been workingcovertly with Saudi Arabia and British military intelligence formore than three decades to foster and fuel al-Qaeda extremists,beginning in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union from the late1970s until 1990.Since then, al-Qaeda has served as a protean ideological coverfor imperialist predation in the Middle East and beyond. It hasundergone many reinventions with mercurial name changes alongthe way. But the bottom line is that it is a Western/Saudi creation,which alternates between an enemy of convenience and a ruthlessproxy for waging regime change."Finian Cunningham"As an organization andthreat, al-Qaida barely exists. But as a name, al-Qaida and "terrorism"have become the west's handy universal term for armed groups fightingwestern influence, corruption or repression in Asia and Africa.Al-Qaida is nowhere - but everywhere.If you're a rebel group seeking publicity, the fastest way isby pledging allegiance to the shadowy, nowhere al-Qaida.... Back in the Cold War, almost all groups opposing western dominationwere called communists. Today, al-Qaida has replaced communismas a hot button name."Eric Margolis"ISIS, like its predecessoral-Qaeda, is a joint American-Saudi-Israeli project to destabilizeand fracture the Middle East and North Africa by thrusting criminalmalcontents against Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and other countriesnot presently under Western/ Israeli control."Brandon Martinez, 2015"The actions of Al-Qaedahave only served to promote the interests of the U.S. and Israel,which are clearly interested in "reshaping" the MiddleEast in such a way that they can more easily rape and plunderthe region at will... In fact the CIA is using the terrorist actionsof its proxy Al-Qaeda in order to give the U.S. an excuse to extendtheir power into and invade the Arab countries, first countrieswith rich plunder (oil) like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and secondany country which is a "threat" to Israel, or more exactlywhich Israel dislikes for whatever reason. The third objectivefor which the CIA is using its proxy Al-Qaeda is to engender fearand hate of Islam and Muslims worldwide. This corresponds to anold and tried ploy of colonizers: to slander and denigrate thetarget population so that it is acceptable and even called forto commit genocide against them."John Kaminski"Humans only truly unitewhen faced with a powerful external enemy. At this time a newenemy must be found, one either real or invented for the purpose."Club of Rome, 1991"Osama bin Laden ran MAK(Maktab al-Khidamat), an organization created by Pakistan's ISIat the behest of the CIA. It funneled money, weapons, and internationallyrecruited fighters into the war created in part by Jimmy Carter'sNational Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Osama was closelytied to the Afghan warlord and ISI stooge Gulbuddin Hekmatyarwho ran drugs for the CIA. In the 1980s, emissaries from the UnitedStates met with Osama. The CIA paid Osama to train the militantgroup Abu Sayyaf and others at his CIA-built camps in Afghanistan."Kurt Nimmo"During the Cold War, Washingtonofficials of course couldn't say that they were intervening toblock social change, so they called it fighting communism, fightinga communist conspiracy, and of course fighting for freedom anddemocracy. Just like now the White House can't say that it invadedIraq to expand the empire, or for the oil, or for the corporations,or for Israel, so it says it's fighting terrorism. The word "communist"was used exceptionally loosely during the Cold War, just as theword "terrorist" is used these days; or "al-Qaeda"-almostevery individual or group that Washington wants to stigmatizeis charged with being a member of al-Qaeda, as if there's a preciseand meaningful distinction between people retaliating againstAmerican imperialism while being a member of al-Qaeda and peopleretaliating against American imperialism while not being a memberof al-Qaeda; as if al-Qaeda gives out membership cards to fitinto your wallet, as if there are chapters of al-Qaeda that putout a weekly newsletter, and hold a potluck on the first Mondayof each month. U.S. policies keep creating new anti-American terrorists,whom Washington calls al-Qaeda, which justifies continuing thesame policies to fight the new al-Qaeda terrorists."William Blum"Osama bin Laden and "AlQaeda" cannot be the organizers nor the performers of theSeptember 11 attacks. They do not have the necessary organization,resources or leaders. Thus, a team of professionals had to becreated and the Arab kamikazes are just extras to mask the operation.The September 11 operation modified the course of events in theworld in the direction chosen by transnational mafias and internationaloligarchs; that is, those who hope to control the planet's naturalresources, the world information network and the financial flows.This operation also favored the US economic and political elitethat also seeks world dominance."General Leonid Ivashov, seniorRussian military officer,in a speech delivered in an international conference in Brussels,2006"The truth is, there isno Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informedintelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaignto make the public believe in the presence of an identified entityrepresenting the 'devil' only in order to drive the 'TV watcher'to accept a unified international leadership for a war againstterrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US and thelobbyists for the US war on terrorism are only interested in makingmoney."former British Foreign SecretaryRobin Cook to the House of Commons"Anyone who doesn't pretendAl Qaeda exists is ostracized. Neither is there now nor has thereever been such an organization. The Department of Justice inventedit and the CIA, Mossad and other organizations are responsiblefor the terrorist acts falsely attributed to it. ... Osama bin Laden was never a terrorist, died in 2001, deniedany complicity in 9/11 and was a CIA agent, both loved and respectedby his American co-workers with whom I have spoken extensively.He never committed a single act, had no terror network and wasthe chosen trustee of all American Stinger missiles used againstthe Soviet Union. Technically, he is an American hero."Gordon Duff, 2012"The "war on terror"is a hoax that fronts for American control of oil pipelines, theprofits of the military-security complex, the assault on civilliberty by fomenters of a police state, and Israel's territorialexpansion. There were no al Qaeda in Iraq until the Americans brought themthere by invading and overthrowing Saddam Hussein, who kept alQaeda out of Iraq. The Taliban is not a terrorist organization,but a movement attempting to unify Afghanistan under Muslim law.The only Americans threatened by the Taliban are the AmericansBush sent to Afghanistan to kill Taliban and to impose a puppetstate on the Afghan people."Paul Craig Roberts"During the 1980s and early'90s, the CIA worked in partnership with BCCI [Bank of Creditand Commerce International] in what was, at the time, the agency'slargest covert operation ever, pumping an estimated $10 billioninto funding the Afghan Mujahideen. Through this operation, Osamabin Laden's al Qaeda network was formed. Bin Laden had accountsin BCCI and ran CIA/BCCI-funded camps."David Degraw"The Elder Bush [GeorgeH. W. Bush] has been a paid consultant to the Bin Laden Group,helping them with his CIA links. Bush helped create Osama binLaden as an American CIA bought and paid for alleged "terrorist",originally dubbed a "freedom fighter" to wear out theSoviets in their prolonged war, 1979-1989, in Afghanistan. Themonopoly press falsely states that Osama is on the outs with hisfamily, yet his family reportedly funnels tens of millions ofdollars to Osama through banks such as Algemene Bank Nederland,now called ABN-AMRO, in part through their American flagship,Chicago-based La Salle National Bank."Sherman H. Skolnick, 2001"The US intelligence communityused the term "al-Qaeda" for the first time only afterthe 1998 embassy bombings. Al-Qaeda was used as a 'convenientlabel for a group that had no formal name'. Prior to the 1998bombings, US officials were concerned about Osama bin Laden andthe financial backing he appeared to provide to Islamic terrorgroups - but they rarely, if ever, mentioned anything called 'al-Qaeda."Adam DolnikTHE WAR PEDDLERSPRO-WAR CORPORATE MEDIA"We'll know our disinformationprogram is complete when everything the American public believesis false."William Casey, CIA Director, February1981"If deliberate distortionof reality by corporate media could be effectively prosecutedin the United States, the entire industry would be behind bars."Cynthia McKinney, 2007"Selling fear to the Americanpeople has become a mainstay of the press and of both politicalparties in this country. Taking a "tough on crime" stance,particularly in a climate of perpetual fear created by the "waron drugs" and the "war on terrorism," is alwaysa politically safe posture... By focusing on crime, attentionis effectively directed away from more divisive issues on whicha politician might have to take a stand that would cost them votes.Meanwhile, a fearful populace continues to surrender their civilrights and constitutional protections at an alarming rate, sothat their government may protect them from the rampant criminalityof the masses."David McGowan in his book "DerailingDemocracy""Mainstream reporters arealways pro-war, acting as cheerleaders for the military-industrialcomplex and propagandists for the government."Washington's Blog, 2015"We have a corporate mediacartel that overlaps with the war industry. It has no interestin democracy."David Swanson , 2010"Corporations, which havehijacked the state, are delighted with the demise of journalism.And the mass communications systems they control pump out endlessstreams of gossip, trivia and filth in lieu of news. ... Money flows to advertising rather than to art or journalismbecause manipulation is more highly valued than truth or beauty.... The faux objectivity and neutrality of the traditional newsindustry hastened the cultural irrelevance of traditional newsgathering. The narrowing of debates within the press to the minordifferences among the power elite had a debilitating effect onnews. ... The lie told by newspapers and traditional news is the lieof omission, which is not as bad as the outright lies told onFox News, but in the end it is still a lie. Our power elite arebankrupt, and the press, tethered to the elite, is as bankruptas those it covers.... Once we lose a system of information based on verifiable fact,will become disconnected from reality. All totalitarian societiesimpart their propaganda through manipulated images and spectacles.And the death of traditional news is one more stage in the terminalillness that is ravaging American democracy.Chris Hedges, 2010"Concentrated corporatemedia have acted as a government megaphone, largely blocking outcriticism of the official 9/11 account and the lies that led ourtroops into the disastrous war in Iraq."9/11 and American Empire : IntellectualsSpeak Outedited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott"In 2005, newspaper circulationdeclined over the previous year by 2.6 percent, with the largestdeclines posted in the major newspapers. Still worse, in 2007,newspaper advertising revenue fell by 9.4 percent.... In 1980, the combined audience for the NBC, CBS and ABC newscastswas 53 million. Just last month, that audience tallied at 21.5million: about seven percent of the US population. And the medianage of that audience is 60.2, which means that the networks arefailing to reach the essential younger age cohorts.... The newspaper and broadcast industries cite a number of allegedreasons for these figures: the internet, competition from cablenews programs, and declining literacy and political interest amongthe public.Missing from this list is "the crud factor"; namely,that the quality and credibility of reporting has deterioratedso spectacularly that the public, fed-up with the insults andlies, has turned to other sources of news and information."Ernest Partridge, 2008"A military-industrialcomplex now extends to much of corporate media."Norman Solomon, 2009"Big media in the UnitedStates effectively represent the interests of corporate America.The media elite are the watchdogs of acceptable ideological messages,the controllers of news and information content, and the decision-makersregarding media resources."9/11 and American Empire : IntellectualsSpeak Outedited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott"The real problem withprofessional journalism becomes evident when political elitesdo not debate an issue and march in virtual lockstep. In sucha case professional journalism is, at best, ineffectual, and,at worst, propagandistic. This has often been the case in U.S.foreign policy, where both parties are beholden to an enormousglobal military complex, and accept the right of the United States,and the United States alone, to invade countries when it suitsU.S. interests. In matters of war and foreign policy, journalistswho question the basic assumptions and policy objectives and whoattempt to raise issues no one in either party wishes to debateare considered 'ideological' and 'unprofessional. This has a powerfuldisciplinary effect upon journalists."Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols,2010"Short, successful militaryadventures are as effective as the Super Bowl in diverting people'sattention from unpleasant truths."former CIA agent John Stockwell"The corporate media isfunded by the corporations and wealthy Americans who don't wantto pay higher taxes or even pay any taxes and who are largelyprofiting off the continuing wars."Coleen Rowley, retired FBI Agent"There is no such thing, atthis date of the world's history, in America, as an independentpress. You know it and I know it.There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions,and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appearin print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out ofthe paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similarsalaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolishas to write honest opinions would be out on the streets lookingfor another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear inone issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupationwould be gone.The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lieoutright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon,and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. Youknow it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independentpress?We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. Weare the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Ourtalents, our possibilities and our lives are all the propertyof other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."John Swinton, preeminent New Yorkjournalist, at a press banquet,1880"A cynical, mercenary,demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself."Joseph Pulitzer"The New York Times, WashingtonPost, CNN, NPR, etc. all are stenographers for the deep state."Edward Curtin"The main media bias isin favor of the thieves who stole our country and economy, andown the mainstream media companies. The omnipresent mainstreammedia is the greatest weapon of oppression humanity has ever known."David DeGraw"We are grateful to theWashington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine, and othergreat publications whose directors have attended our meetingsand respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years.It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for theworld if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity duringthose years. But the world is now more sophisticated and preparedto march towards a world government. The supra-national sovereigntyof an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferableto the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."David Rockefeller - Council onForeign Relations, June 1991"To keep information fromthe public is the function of the corporate media."Gore Vidal"One of the best kept secretsis the degree to which a handful of giant conglomerates, all belongingto the secret Bilderberg Group, Council on Foreign Relations,NATO, the Club of Rome, and the Trilateral Commission, controlthe world's flow of information. They determine what we see ontelevision, hear on the radio and read in newspapers, magazines,books, or on the Internet."Daniel Estulin in his book "TheBilderberg Group""In the late 1940s andearly 1950s, Operation Mockingbird was a secret CIA effort toinfluence and control the American media, and thus to influenceand control the information received by the American people.... Frank Wisner, the director of the Office of Policy Coordination,a covert operations unit created under the National Security Council,recruited Philip Graham of the Washington Post to head the projectwithin the media industry. By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned'respected members of The New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and othercommunications vehicles.... Among the executives who lent their cooperation to the CIAwere Williarn Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System, HenryLuce of Tirne Inc., Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the New York Times,Barry Bingham Sr. of the LouisviIle Courier_Journal, and JamesCopley of the Copley News Service. Other organizations which cooperatedwith the CIA include the American Broadcasting Company, the NationalBroadcasting Company, the Associated Press, United Press International,Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps_Howard, Newsweek magazine,the Mutual Broadcasting System, the Miami Herald and the old SaturdayEvening Post and New York Herald Tribune.... Contrary to the notion that the CIA insidiously infiltratedthe journalistic community, there is ample evidence that America'sleading publishers and news executives allowed themselves andtheir organizations to become handmaidens to the intelligenceservices.... In 1975, the idea that the corporate media would lie and thatthe CIA would push fake stories for propaganda purposes was shockingbut, in 2017, not so much.Indeed, many things were shocking in 1975 that scarcely appearon the radar screen today. This is how far Americans have comedown a path of acceptance of the loss of rights or even the appearanceof honesty. This says nothing of the massive amount of controlthe CIA and other related interests have over the entertainmentindustry."Brandon Turbeville, 2017"If you don't read thenewspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you'remisinformed."Mark Twain"Most newspapers are partof huge conglomerates, and the policy that comes down is thatyou don't rock any boats. You can't make the government upsetbecause the value of the company is the broadcast licenses, andthe government will not renew them, and we can't make our corporateowners mad because they will fire us, and we can't make the advertisersmad or they will pull their advertising. So the media can't sayanything that will upset the power structure. And that's whathad happened to the press."Paul Craig Roberts"My motto is very simple:Give war a chance."New York Times columnist ThomasFrieman to Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America""What the press do is theytell you lies; lies they already know you want to hear. Just aspoliticians look to polls to determine their policies, lettingpoorly-informed people lead them on important issues, the presscan figure out what its readers or viewers believe, and make ahell of a living pandering to their egos and telling them thatthey're smart."Allan Uthman, 2007"News Corp, Disney, Viacom,Time Warner, CBS and Comcast own 90% of the TV stations, radiostations, movies, magazines and newspapers that Americans relyon for news and entertainment."Michael Snyder, 2017"The major news media thatserve at the pleasure of a commercial oligarchy that pays them,and pays them handsomely, for their pretense of speaking truthto power... The prominent figures in our contemporary Washingtonpress corps regard themselves as government functionaries, enablingand codependent."Lewis H. Lapham"The success of print andTV pundits is based on allying with a prominent point of viewor interest group and serving it."Paul Craig Roberts"Images sent over thousandsof miles, well-lit anchors who seem alert to everything of importancetaking place in our world, field reporters in far-flung placeswho pop up and respond instantly to the anchors and deliver close-upaccounts of vital events.And the same important faces of government leaders who, day afterday, are struggling to improve our destiny against great odds,against intransigent enemies of progress.All this is delivered to us in the space of a few minutes, eachnight, like clockwork.The television news presents that little show of magic which thepeople sorely need. The need never dies. It's eternal.The television anchors can be obvious oafs, hucksters, cheap conartists.They can twist the truth, burn it, hide it, step on it, reverseit; it doesn't matter."Jon Rappoport"For the first time inhuman history, there is a concerted strategy to manipulate globalperception. And the mass media are operating as its compliantassistants, failing both to resist it and to expose it.The sheer ease with which this machinery has been able to do itswork reflects a creeping structural weakness which now afflictsthe production of our news."Nick Davies, British investigativejournalist"The mainstream media isa conglomerate of collective corporate thought, designed to makeyou ignorant and unaware of the realities of the world, of theimportant issues, and to hide in the shadows the sacredly guardedtruths of power. Our mainstream media ­ the large newspapers,radio and TV news stations ­ are dominated by billion dollarcorporations, whose boards of directors reflect the 'who's who'of the corporate, political, and financial elite, with formergovernment officials, industrialists, and bankers controllingthe dispersal of information and the perspectives we are given."Andrew Gavin Marshall"By far the most valuableassociations, according to CIA officials have been with the NewYork Times, CBS and Time Inc. Over the years, the [CBS] networkprovided cover for CIA employees, including at least one well-knownforeign correspondent and several stringers. A high-level CIAofficial says that the New York Times provided cover for aboutten CIA operatives between 1950 and 1966.... Joseph Alsop is one of more than 400 American journalistswho in the past twenty-five years have secretly carried out assignmentsfor the Central Intelligence Agency, according to documents onfile at CIA headquarters. Journalists provided a full range ofclandestine services--from simple intelligence-gathering to servingas go-betweens with spies in Communist countries."Carl Bernstein, Rolling Stone,1977"We hear about the occasionswhen there are differences between the mainstream media and thegovernment. What we don't hear about are the 95 percent of occasionswhere the mainstream media faithfully propagate disinformationstories which are often planted by the CIA, sometimes plantedabroad in newspapers that they may own or that are friendly tothem."Michael Parenti, 1988"I've been a journalistfor about 25 years, and I was educated to lie, to betray, andnot to tell the truth to the public.But seeing right now within the last months how the German andAmerican media tries to bring war to the people in Europe, tobring war to Russia - this is a point of no return and I'm goingto stand up and say it is not right what I have done in the past,to manipulate people, to make propaganda against Russia, and itis not right what my colleagues do and have done in the past becausethey are bribed to betray the people, not only in Germany, allover Europe."Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, journalist andGerman political scientist, 2014[in his book and on public television stated that while workingas a journalist he was forced to print the work of intelligenceagents under his own name]"The powers behind thisNew World Order system are those of the global banks and financialinstitutions, the military-industrial complex, the oil and energygiants, the biotech and pharmaceutical conglomerates and the powerfulmedia and communications giants, which fabricate the news andovertly influence the course of world events by blatantly distortingthe facts."Michel Chossudovsky in his book" America's War on Terrorism""Mainstream journalistsin the United States often function more like a fourth branchof government than a feisty fourth estate. If anything, the patternsof media bias that characterize sycophantic reporting in "peacetime"are amplified during a war or a national security crisis.Since the tragic events of September 11, the separation betweenpress and state has dwindled nearly to the vanishing point."Martin A. Lee in his book "September11 and the US War""Can anyone name a singledaily newspaper in the United States that is unequivocally opposedto US foreign policy? Can anyone name a single television networkin the United States that is unequivocally opposed to US foreignpolicy? Is there a single daily newspaper or TV network in theentire United States that has earned the label "oppositionmedia"?"William Blum, 2007"The factual argumentsclearly establish the possibility of controlled demolition ofthe WTC buildings on September 11, 2001, yet, there is almostzero coverage in the corporate media in the US. This is top downcorporate censorship pure and simple. Even if other scientistscan be found to disagree with the study, the policy of ignoringthe topic inside the corporate media is relatively absolute...Perhaps the mainstream science journalists left their criticalthinking skills at home and gave the scientific method the dayoff. Or maybe the real conspiracy exists within the boardroomsof the corporate mainstream media."Peter Phillips, 2009"The main shortcoming ofthe establishment media lies in errors of omission, much morethan errors of commission. It's not that they tell bald lies somuch as it is that they leave out parts of stories or entire stories,or historical reminders, which if included might put the issuein a whole new light, in a way not compatible with their politicalbiases."William Blum in his book "Freeingthe World to Death""As news organizationsare increasingly driven by a bottom-line mentality, the news weget becomes more and more sensational. What is the differencebetween Time and Newsweek? Between ABC, NBC, and CBS News? Betweenthe Washington Post and the New York Times? For all practicalpurposes, none. The concentration of media power means that Americansincreasingly get their information from a few sources who decidewhat is "news."Oliver Stone"The Washington press corpshas grown closer and closer to its sources. It's to the pointwhere Brit Hume, the ABC correspondent at the White House, playstennis with George Bush. Tom Friedman of the New York Times isvery close with Jim Baker. You find these relationships are soclose that reporters don't challenge the subjects of their stories,they just tell you what the government is saying. In other words,they've become stenographers for power and not journalists."David Barsamian in his book "Stenographersto Power""The limitations of professionaljournalism, the influence of owners, the linkages of media institutionsto the power structure of society, and the internalized presuppositions,have led to what can only be characterized as a palpable doublestandard in coverage of the U.S. role in the world. ... The U.S. news media, including our most respected newspaperslike the New York Times, turn a blind eye to U.S. violations ofcore international law, having no qualms about playing up theviolations of adversaries. It would be nearly impossible for thecoverage to be more unprincipled."John Nichols and Robert W. McChesneyin their book "Tragedy & Farce""The Wall Street Journal,probably the most widely read newspaper in the country, heavilyfavors the conservative side on any and all questions of publicpolicy, and both the Washington Post and the New York Times fortifytheir op-ed pages with columnists who strongly defend the establishedorder - William Safire and David Brooks in the Times; CharlesKrauthammer, George Will, and Richard Harwood in the Post. Thevast bulk of the nation's radio talk shows (commanding roughly80 percent of the audience) reflect a reactionary bias, and sodo all but one or two of the television talk shows that deal withpolitical topics on PBS, CNN, and CNBC."Lewis Lapham in his book "GagRule""As the new corporationsbegan taking over the press, something called "professionaljournalism" was invented. To attract big advertisers, thenew corporate press had to appear respectable, pillars of theestablishment - objective, impartial, balanced. in order to beprofessional, journalists had to ensure that news and opinionwere dominated by official sources, and that has not changed.Go through the New York Times on any day, and check the sourcesof the main political stories-domestic and foreign - you'll findthey're dominated by government and other established interests.That is the essence of professional journalism."John Pilger, 2007"Americans have becomeperfect subjects for George Orwell's Big Brother. They sit stupidlyin front of the TV news or the New York Times or Washington Postand absorb the lies fed to them."Paul Craig Roberts, 2008"A problem that has beenfacing American mainstream journalism for a long time has mainlyto do with access. They want to get their calls returned by thebig guys at Goldman Sachs. So they develop a relationship in whichthe journalists themselves become insiders. Too often, consequently,they do little else than rewrite the press releases they are handed.This has cost America a lot. Mainstream journalists of The NewYork Times and elsewhere were complicit insiders both in the lead-upto the Iraq war and in the lead-up to the financial meltdown."Arianna Huffington, 2009"What we have now is theReagan-Bush press corp. It's the press corp that they helped create- that they created partly by purging those, or encouraging thepurging of those who were not going along, but it was ultimatelythe editors and the news executives that did the purging. Thepeople who succeeded and did well were those who didn't standup, who didn't write the big stories, who looked the other waywhen history was happening in front of them, and went along eitherconsciously or just by cowardice with the deception of the Americanpeople."Robert Parry, 1993"The CIA developed covertrelationships with about 50 American journalists or employeesof U.S. media organizations. According to one CIA operative, "Youcould get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couplehundred dollars a month." The agency arranged for the publicationof books to be read in America, and for at least one of theseworks to be reviewed favorably in the New York Times."Peter Dale Scott in his book "TheRoad to 9/11""During its first fiftyyears of existence, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) wasalmost never mentioned by any of the moguls of the mass media.When you realize that the membership of the CFR includes top executivesfrom the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los AngelesTimes, the Knight Newspaper chain, NBC, CBS, Time, Life, Fortune,Business Week, US News and World Report, and many others, youcan be sure that such anonymity is not accidental."Gary AllenThe Council on Foreign Relations(CFR} control or own major newspapers, magazines, radio and televisionnetworks [and] the most powerful companies in the book publishingbusiness. (The Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post,and LA Times have their own wire services, which most mainstreamnews outlets use.)Admiral Chester Ward, former CFRmember"The problem is not thata computer network [Internet] offers an alternative to the informationaristocracy. The true crisis is that neither the news media northe government has enough credibility to be accepted as eithertruthful or impartial on their own."military writer William M. Arkin"Americans are too broadlyunderinformed to digest nuggets of information that seem to contradictwhat they know of the world . Instead, news channels prefer tofeed Americans a constant stream of simplified information, allof which fits what they already know. That way they don't haveto devote more air time or newsprint space to explanations orfurther investigations. Politicians and the media have conspiredto infantilize, to dumb down, the American public. At heart, politiciansdon't believe that Americans can handle complex truths, and thenews media, especially television news, basically agrees."Tom Fenton, former CBS foreigncorrespondent"The media are a pitiful lot.They don't give us any history, they don't give us any analysis,they don't tell us anything. They don't raise the most basic questions:Who has the most weapons of mass destruction in the world by far?Who has used weapons of mass destruction more than any other nation?Who has killed more people in this world with weapons of massdestruction than any other nation? The answer: the United States."Howard Zinn"The use of social mediato control a targeted nation's information space, and use it asa means of carrying out sociopolitical subversion and even regimechange reached its pinnacle in 2011 during the US-engineered "ArabSpring."Portrayed at first as spontaneous demonstrations organized organicallyover Facebook and other social media platforms, it is now revealedin articles like the New York Times', "U.S. Groups HelpedNurture Arab Uprisings," that the US government had trainedactivists years ahead of the protests, with Google and Facebookparticipating directly in making preparations.Opposition fronts funded and supported by the US State Department'sNational Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its subsidiaries FreedomHouse, International Republican Institute (IRI), and NationalDemocratic Institute (NDI) were invited to several summits whereexecutives and technical support teams from Google and Facebookprovided them with the game plans they would execute in 2011 incoordination with US and European media who also attended thesummits.The end result was the virtual weaponization of social media,serving as cover for what was a long-planned, regional seriesof coups including heavily armed militants who eventually overthrewthe governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, with Syrianow locked in 6 years of war as a result."Tony Cartalucci, 2017"The media's the most powerfulentity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guiltyand to make the guilty innocent."Malcolm X"In America, we grew upthinking that the people that we see on the nightly news are journalists.But, there is no journalism happening there, only script reading.That is understood by anyone with a sliver of common sense, andthe objectivity to realize that their newsperson is basicallyan actor."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017"Any dictator would admirethe uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media."Noam Chomsky"What the press do is theytell you lies, lies they already know you want to hear. The presscan figure out what its readers or viewers believe, and make ahell of a living pandering to their egos and telling them thatthey're smart. They lie and tell the audience they are right,and they never have to change your mind about anything. And theaudience rewards them, lauding them and paying them money to keephearing those sweet, self-serving lies."Allan Uthman"Pravda and Izvestia inthe former Soviet Union would have been hard-pressed to surpassthe American media in their subservience to the official agenda.They have abandoned the notion of objectivity or even the ideaof providing a public space where problems are discussed and debated.It's a scandal that reveals the existence of a system of propaganda,not of serious media so essential in a democratic society."Edward Herman"The American people havebecome some of the most naïve and gullible folks in the world,because their press enables it, almost encourages it, with itsundue and sycophantic deference to the government."Cenk Uygur, 2008"In March, 1915, the J.P.Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest,and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high upin the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influentialnewspapers in the United States and sufficient number of themto control generally the policy of the daily press. They foundit was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatestpapers. An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers wasbought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished foreach paper to properly supervise and edit information regardingthe questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies,and other things of national and international nature consideredvital to the interests of the purchasers."Congressman Oscar Callaway (TX),Congressional Record of February 9, 1917"Reporters will not reporttheir own insights or contrary evaluations of the official 9/11story, because to question the government story about 9/11 isto question the very foundations of our entire modern belief systemregarding our government, our country, and our way of life. Tobe charged with questioning these foundations is far more seriousthan being labeled a disgruntled conspiracy nut or an anti-governmenttraitor, or even being sidelined or marginalized within an academic,government-service, or literary career. To question the official9/11 story is simply and fundamentally revolutionary."9/11 and American Empire : IntellectualsSpeak OutEDited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott"If advertisers, and corporatesponsors generally, tend to support media which boost their message,and these media consequently tend to flourish relative to thosenot so supported, then we have one example of a tight system ofcontrol that does not at all require a conspiracy theory but simplythe operation of market forces. For advertiser control clearlyextends to the detail of the contents and tone of media. "David Edwards in his book "BurningAll Illusions""In the press, which isowned by rich men, the interests of the investing minority arealways identified with those of the nation as a whole. Constantlyrepeated statements come to be accepted as truths. Innocent andignorant, most newspaper readers are convinced that the privateinterests of the rich are really public interests and become indignantwhenever these interests are menaced by a foreign power, interveningon behalf of its investing minority. The interest at stake arethe interests of the few; but the public opinion which demandsthe protection of these interests is often a genuine expressionof mass emotion. The many really feel and believe that the dividendsof the few are worth fighting for."Aldous Huxley in his book "Endsand Means", 1937"By the second decade ofthe twenty-first century virtually all news and information deliveredto the American public, including publishing, movies, music, TV,and networks is controlled by a few owners of only six multinationalcorporations. These six conglomerates are General Electric (NBC),Time Warner, Disney, News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany,and Viacom (former owner of CBS). This media monopoly may nottell the public how to think, but it certainly sets the agendafor what to think about. The monopoly creates an electronic "matrix"all around us.... Topics such as climate change, gender identity ambiguity,anti-gun legislation, harmful prescription drugs and vaccines,and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) continually fill themedia owned by these corporate giants only because such issueskeep society divided and in conflict, which serves to divert publicattention from the true rulers of the world."Jim Marrs in his book 'The Illuminati'"The news and truth arenot the same thing."Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)"Even open-minded peoplewill often find themselves unable to take seriously the likesof [Noam] Chomsky, [Edward] Herman, [Howard] Zinn and [Susan]George on first encountering their work; it just does not seempossible that we could be so mistaken in what we believe. Theindividual may assume that these writers must be somehow joking,wildly over-stating the case, paranoid, or have some sort of axeto grind. We may actually become angry with them for telling usthese terrible things about our society and insist that this simply'can't be true'. It takes real effort to keep reading, to resistthe reassuring messages of the mass media and be prepared to considerthe evidence again."David Edwards - Burning All Illusions"You can't believe a wordthe American media says. If they say anything correct, it's justan accident."Paul Craig Roberts"Most Americans have noidea that what we are fed by the news media is nothing more thana portrayal of what powerful corporations want us to believe,that what happens to pass as education is as often as not merepropaganda, that what we learn in church may have very littleor nothing to do with the truth, that what our parents teach usmay be nothing more than an accumulation of their own personalbiases, no doubt a rather subtle modification of what they weretaught by their parents. And through such a process, governmentsand nations around the world wield control as to what their citizens,believe, value, and do."Doug Soderstrom"What most Americans believeto be 'Public Opinion' is in reality carefully crafted and scriptedpropaganda designed to elicit a desired behavioral response fromthe public."Ken Adachi"Google is destroying themost glorious gift humanity was granted in the last 300 years[the internet]. The future under Google is a fascist dystopia,their way or the highway, no room for dissidents, no room forfree speech. Google is a boot stomping on your face for eternity.Google is the deep state. Forget about conventional wars, forgetabout spies, forget about intelligence agencies, forget aboutall of that. It's all about the internet and Google running theinternet. They decide how you feel, what you think, what informationyou can and can't look at, and ultimately who does and doesn'thave a voice."David Bowie's final message writtenweeks before he died, 2015"Our job is to give peoplenot what they want, but what we decide they ought to have."Richard Salant, former Presidentof CBS News"There is an Establishmenthistory, an official history, which dominates history textbooks,trade publishing, the media and library shelves. The officialline always assumes that events such as wars, revolutions, scandals,assassinations, are more or less random unconnected events. Bydefinition events can never be the result of a conspiracy, theycan never result from premeditated planned group action.... Woe betide any book or author that falls outside the officialguidelines. Foundation support is not there. Publishers get coldfeet. Distribution is hit and miss, or non-existent."Antony Sutton in his book "America'sSecret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull andBones""During times of universaldeceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."George Orwell"If the war lies were notall over the media, people would not learn them in the first place.If the corrections were heard over and over again, they wouldget through. If our communications system allowed the presentationof a variety of voices and viewpoints and feared promoting falsehoodsmore than it feared being insufficiently militaristic, we wouldn'tneed to investigate the widespread phenomenon of engaged citizenscertain of their beliefs but completely deluded."David Swanson in his book "WarIs A Lie""Those who can make youbelieve absurdities can make you commit atrocities."Voltaire"Perhaps the most basicreason Americans should read Noam Chomsky's work today, is simplyto understand the real world in which they live, that which isobscured by their leaders and the U.S. mass media."Fred Branfman"One of the best kept secretsis the degree to which a handful of giant conglomerates, all belongingto the secret Bilderberg Group, Council on Foreign Relations,NATO, the Club of Rome, and the Trilateral Commission, controlthe world's flow of information. They determine what we see ontelevision, hear on the radio and read in newspapers, magazines,books, or on the Internet."Daniel Estulin in his book "TheBilderberg Group""If war aims are stated,which seem to be concerned solely with Anglo-American imperialism,they will offer little to people in the rest of the world. Suchaims would also strengthen the most reactionary elements in theUnited States and the British Empire. The interests of other peoplesshould be stressed, not only those of Europe, but also of Asia,Africa and Latin America. This would have a better propagandaeffect."Council on Foreign Relations documentfrom 1941"The involvement of theRockefellers with the media has multiple implications. One isthat the Rockefeller gang's plans for monopolistic World Governmentare never, but never, discussed in the machines of mass disinformation.The media decides what the issues will be in the country."Gary Allen in his book "TheRockefeller File""Since the anticommunismhysteria in the years following the Second World War, a bipartisanconsensus has existed on foreign policy. Meaningful politicaldiscourse has been almost absent about foreign policy issues.So many foreign policy decisions have been placed beyond publicscrutiny, that almost all of what passes as official informationabout foreign policy is manufactured by government agencies forits propaganda effect."Daniel Hellinger and Dennis R.Judd Brooks in their book "The Democratic Facade""It is not at all uncommonto grow to adulthood in the United States, even to graduate fromuniversity, and not be seriously exposed to opinions significantlycontrary to these prevailing myths, and know remarkably littleabout the exceptionally harmful foreign policy of the government."William Blum"According to the propagandamodel, the media will tend to emphasize and ignore news accordingto its appropriateness for state and above all corporate ends.Thus, for example, human rights offences committed by clientsof the United States supporting US corporate aims will tend tobe downplayed or overlooked, while offences by states deemed tobe unsupportive or enemies-of US corporate interests will tendto be vigorously emphasized.In Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky and Herman argue that elitestate managers are essentially drawn from - and/or controlledby - the same pool of managers controlling the major corporationsand, for this reason, state interests are often indistinguishabiefrom corporate interests."David Edwards in his book "BurningAll Illusions""No serious sociologistany longer believes that the voice of the people expresses anydivine or specially wise and lofty idea. The voice of the peopleexpresses the mind of the people, and that mind is made up forit by the group leaders and by those persons who understand themanipulation of public opinion... If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind,is it not possible to control and regiment the masses accordingto our will without their knowing about it? ... Whatever attitude one chooses toward this condition we aredominated by the small number of persons who understand the mentalprocesses of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which controlthe public mind and contrive new ways to guide the world. ... Political campaigns today are all sideshows A presidentialcandidate may be "drafted" in response to "overwhelmingpopular demand," but it is well known that his name may bedecided upon by half a dozen men sitting around a table in a hotelroom. The conscious manipulation of the masses is an importantelement in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseenmechanism of society constitute an invisible government whichis the true ruling power of our country."Edward Bernays in his book Propaganda"Journalists who participatein The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer are some of the best-known politicalpundits in the United States, such as Paul Gigot, David Gergen,William Kristol and William Safire. All of them belong to theBilderberg Group, the CFR or the Trilateral Commission."Daniel Estulin in is book "TheBilderberg Group""The society of expertswill control propaganda and education. It will teach loyalty tothe world government, and make nationalism high treason. The government,being an oligarchy, will instill submissiveness into the greatbulk of the population It is possible that it may invent ingeniousways of concealing its own power, leaving the forms of democracyintact, and allowing the plutocrats or politicians to imaginethat they are cleverly controlling these forms whatever the outwardforms may be, all real power will come to be concentrated in thehands of those who understand the art of scientific manipulation."Bertrand Russell"The result of the manipulationof society by the Establishment elite has been four major warsin sixty years, a crippling national debt, abandonment of theConstitution, suppression of freedom and opportunity, and creationof a vast credibility gulf between the man in the street and Washington,D.C. While the transparent device of two major parties trumpetingartificial differences, circus-like conventions, and the clichéof "bipartisan foreign policy" no longer carries credibility,and the financial elite itself recognizes that its policies lackpublic acceptance, it is obviously prepared to go it alone withouteven nominal public support."Antony C. Sutton in his book WallStreet and the Rise of Hitler, 2002"We Americans are the ultimateinnocents. We are forever desperate to believe that this timethe government is telling us the truth."Sydney Schanberg"We're speaking here ofpeople who get virtually all their news from the shock-and-awetabloid weeklies, AM-radio talk shows, and television news programswhich, because of marketplace pressure, aim low in order to reachthe widest possible audience, resulting in short programs withlots of commercials, weather, sports, and entertainment. Thesenews sources don't necessarily have to explicitly state falsehoodsto produce distorted views; they need only channel to their audiencea continuous stream of statements from the government and conservative"experts" justifying the war as if they were neutralobservers; ignore contrary views except when an expert is on handto ridicule them and label them "conspiracy theories";and never put it all together in a coherent enlightening manner.[There is a] constant drip-drip of one- sided information, fromsources who can be described as stenographers for the powers-that-be."William Blum in his book "Freeingthe World to Death""Today Americans are ruledby propaganda. Americans have little regard for truth, littleaccess to it, and little ability to recognize it.Truth is an unwelcome entity. It is disturbing. It is off limits.Those who speak it run the risk of being branded "anti-American,""anti-semite" or "conspiracy theorist."Truth is an inconvenience for government and for the interestgroups whose campaign contributions control government.Truth is an inconvenience for prosecutors who want convictions,not the discovery of innocence or guilt.Truth is inconvenient for ideologues."Paul Craig Roberts, 2010"The United States hascommitted itself to reshaping the Middle East, so the region willno longer be a hotbed of terrorism, extremism, anti-Americanism,and weapons of mass destruction .... The first two battles ofthis new era are now over. The battles of Afghanistan and Iraqhave been won decisively and honorably."William Kristol, The Weekly Standard,April 28, 2003"Most Americans have noidea that what we are fed by the news media (televised and paper-printnews) is nothing more than a portrayal of what powerful corporations(those who pay the salaries of those who run mass media) wantus to believe, that what happens to pass as education is as oftenas not mere propaganda (e.g. that Americans are the good guysand their enemies are, without exception, always the bad guys),that what we learn in church may have very little or nothing todo with the truth, that what our parents teach us may be nothingmore than an accumulation of their own personal biases no doubta rather subtle modification of what they were taught by theirparents. And through such a process, governments and nations aroundthe world wield control as to what their citizens, believe, value,and do."Doug Soderstrom, 2005"Political intelligencemight be defined as the ability to see through the bullshit whichevery society, past, present and future, feeds its citizens frombirth on to assure the continuance of the prevailing ideology."William Blum in his book "Freeingthe World to Death""I've been a journalistfor about 25 years, and I was educated to lie, to betray, andnot to tell the truth to the public.But seeing right now within the last months how the German andAmerican media tries to bring war to the people in Europe, tobring war to Russia - this is a point of no return and I'm goingto stand up and say it is not right what I have done in the past,to manipulate people, to make propaganda against Russia, and itis not right what my colleagues do and have done in the past becausethey are bribed to betray the people, not only in Germany, allover Europe."Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, journalist andGerman political scientist, 2014[in his book and on public television stated that while workingas a journalist he was forced to print the work of intelligenceagents under his own name]"if the US uses force it'sbecause we are the United States of America; we are the indispensablenation. We see further and stand taller than other nations."Madeline Albright, Secretary ofState under Bill Clinton"The most powerful componentof any fear and disinformation campaign rests with the CIA, whichsecretly subsidizes authors, journalists and media critics, througha web of private foundations and CIA-sponsored front organizations.... Disinformation is routinely "planted" by CIA operativesin the newsroom of major dailies, magazines and TV channels. Outsidepublic relations firms are often used to create "fake stories"."Michel Chossudovsky in his book" America's War on Terrorism""Selling fear to the Americanpeople has become a mainstay of the press and of both politicalparties in this country. Taking a "tough on crime" stance,particularly in a climate of perpetual fear created by the "waron drugs" and the "war on terrorism," is alwaysa politically safe posture... By focusing on crime, attentionis effectively directed away from more divisive issues on whicha politician might have to take a stand that would cost them votes.Meanwhile, a fearful populace continues to surrender their civilrights and constitutional protections at an alarming rate, sothat their government may protect them from the rampant criminalityof the masses."David McGowan in his book "DerailingDemocracy""It takes a lot of repetitionwhile an American is growing up to inculcate this message intotheir young consciousness, and lots more repetition later on.The education of an American true-believer is ongoing, continuous- schoolbooks, comic books, church sermons, Hollywood films, allforms of media, all the time; hardened into historical concrete."William Blum"In the late 1940s andearly 1950s, Operation Mockingbird was a secret CIA effort toinfluence and control the American media, and thus to influenceand control the information received by the American people.... Frank Wisner, the director of the Office of Policy Coordination,a covert operations unit created under the National Security Council,recruited Philip Graham of the Washington Post to head the projectwithin the media industry. By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned'respected members of The New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and othercommunications vehicles.... Among the executives who lent their cooperation to the CIAwere Williarn Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System, HenryLuce of Tirne Inc., Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the New York Times,Barry Bingham Sr. of the LouisviIle Courier_Journal, and JamesCopley of the Copley News Service. Other organizations which cooperatedwith the CIA include the American Broadcasting Company, the NationalBroadcasting Company, the Associated Press, United Press International,Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps_Howard, Newsweek magazine,the Mutual Broadcasting System, the Miami Herald and the old SaturdayEvening Post and New York Herald Tribune.... Contrary to the notion that the CIA insidiously infiltratedthe journalistic community, there is ample evidence that America'sleading publishers and news executives allowed themselves andtheir organizations to become handmaidens to the intelligenceservices.... In 1975, the idea that the corporate media would lie and thatthe CIA would push fake stories for propaganda purposes was shockingbut, in 2017, not so much.Indeed, many things were shocking in 1975 that scarcely appearon the radar screen today. This is how far Americans have comedown a path of acceptance of the loss of rights or even the appearanceof honesty. This says nothing of the massive amount of controlthe CIA and other related interests have over the entertainmentindustry."Brandon Turbeville, 2017"Once the core assumptionsof a disinformation campaign have been embedded in the news chain,both the printed press and network TV establish their own self-sustainingroutine of fabricating the news."Michel Chossudovsky in his book" America's War on Terrorism""Media disinformation largelyserves the interests of a handful of global banks and institutionalspeculators which use their command over financial and commoditymarkets to amass vast amounts of money wealth."F. WIlliam Engdahl"Propaganda is to a democracywhat violence is to a dictatorship."William Blum in his book "RogueState"THINK TANKS"The Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) remains at the center of the small plutocracythat runs the United States and much of the world."Lawrence Shoup"The Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) took control of the ideological foundations ofthe American empire, encompassing the corporate, banking, political,foreign policy, military, media, and academic elite of the nationinto a generally cohesive overall world view. By altering one'sideology to that of promoting such an internationalist agenda,the big money that was behind it would ensure one's rise throughgovernment, industry, academia and media. There are divisionswithin the elite, predicated on the basis of how to use Americanimperial power, where to use it, on what basis to justify it,and other various methodological differences. The divide amongstelites was never on the questions of: should we use American imperialpower, why has America become an Empire, or should there evenbe an empire? If one takes such considerations to heart and questionsthese concepts, be it within the foreign policy establishment,intelligence, military, academia, finance, corporate world, ormedia; chances are, such a person is not a member of the CFR."Andrew Gavin Marshall"Before America had evenentered the war in late 1941 [World War II], the Council on ForeignRelations (CFR), the American branch of the Round Table groupsthat originated from the secret society of Cecil Rhodes, was planningon America entering the war. The CFR had essentially capturedUS foreign policy firmly in the grips of the banking elite. Theestablishment of the Federal Reserve (1913) ensured that the UnitedStates would become indebted to and owned by international bankinginterests, and thus, act in their interest. The Fed financed theUS role in World War I, provided the credit for speculation, whichled to the Great Depression, and massive consolidation for theinterests that own the Federal Reserve System. It then financedUS entry into World War II."Carroll Quigley, historian andGeorgetown University professor, in his book "Tragedy andHope""The formal membershipin the CFR [Council on Foreign Relations] is composed of closeto 1500 of the most elite names in the worlds of government, labor,business, finance, communications, the foundations, and the academy... and in spite the fact that it has staffed almost every keyposition of every administration since those of FDR - it is doubtfulthat one American in a thousand so much as recognizes the Council'sname, or that one in ten thousand can relate anything at all aboutits structure or purpose. Indicative of the CFR's power to maintainits anonymity is the fact that, despite its having been operativeat the highest levels for nearly fifty years and having from thebeginning counted among its members the foremost lions of theEstablishment communications media. Only a handful of articleson the Council [on Foreign Relations] have appeared in the nation'sgreat newspapers. Such anonymity - at that level - can hardlybe a matter of mere chance."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""For a long time I feltthat FDR had developed many thoughts and ideas that were his ownto benefit this country, the United States. But, he didn't. Mostof his thoughts, his political ammunition, as it were, were carefullymanufactured for him in advanced by the Council on Foreign Relations- One World Money group. Brilliantly, with great gusto, like afine piece of artillery, he exploded that prepared "ammunition"in the middle of an unsuspecting target, the American people,and thus paid off and returned his internationalist politicalsupport."Curtis Dall, FDR's son-in-law,as quoted in his book "My Exploited Father-in-Law""The CFR (Council on ForeignRelations), dedicated to one-world government, financed by a numberof the largest tax-exempt foundations, and wielding such powerand influence over our lives in the areas of finance, business,labor, military, education and mass communication media, shouldbe familiar to every American concerned with good government andwith preserving and defending the U.S. Constitution and our free-enterprisesystem. Yet, the nation's news media, usually so aggressive inexposures to inform our people, remain conspicuously silent whenit comes to the CFR, its members and their activities. The CFR is the establishment. Not only does it have influenceand power in key decision-making positions at the highest levelsof government to apply pressure from above, but it also financesand uses individuals and groups to bring pressure from below,to justify the high level decisions for converting the U.S. froma sovereign Constitutional Republic into a servile member stateof a one-world dictatorship."Rep. John R. Rarick of Louisiana,1971"The Trilateral Commissiondoesn't run the world, the Council on Foreign Relations does that."CFR member Winston Lord, U.S. Ambassadorto China during the Reagan Administration"In foreign affairs theCouncil on Foreign Relations, superficially an innocent forumfor academics, businessmen, and politicians, contains within itsshell, perhaps unknown to many of its members, a power centerthat unilaterally determines U.S. foreign policy. The major objectiveof this submerged - and obviously subversive - foreign policyis the acquisition of markets and economic power, for a smallgroup of giant multi-nationals under the virtual control of afew banking investment houses and controlling families."Antony C. Sutton in his book WallStreet and the Rise of Hitler, 2002"The Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) possesses an unrivalled and vast domestic networkof overlapping membership and directors with other leading "nonprofit"think-tanks and policy groups (Brookings, Carnegie, the WilsonCenter, the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation,the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the RAND Corporation.and many more), other private policy groups (including the U.S.Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council, and the Business Roundtable),leading lobbying firms, top Fortune 500 corporations, top privateequity and other non-bank investment firms, the top for-profitstrategic political risk and advisory corporations (includingKissinger Associates and the Albirght-Stonebridge Group), leadinguniversities (Harvard and Yale above all), major foundations (ledespecially by the Rockefeller Foundation), and top corporate mediaincluding numerous key connections with the New York Times, theWall Street Journal, and The Washington Post."Paul Street"Of some 1600 CFR [Councilon Foreign Relations] members, 120 either own or control the nation'smajor newspapers, magazines, radio and television networks, aswell as the most powerful book publishing companies. The interlockwith academia is immense.... CFR members virtually control the major foundations, whosegrants quite often are bestowed on persons or groups tied to theCFR.... The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been under virtualCFR control since its creation.... Of the CFR's 1974 membership, about 90 represented the majorWall Street international banking organizations. In addition,presidents, vice-presidents and chairmen of the boards of mostof the giant corporations are members of the CFR."Gary Allen in his book "Kissinger",1976"The Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) is the American Branch of a society which originatedin England ... (and) ... believes national boundaries should beobliterated and one-world rule established."Carroll Quigley, historian andGeorgetown University professor, in his book "Tragedy andHope""I believe that the Councilon Foreign Relations and its ancillary elitist groups are indifferentto communism. They have no ideological anchors. In their pursuitof a new world order, they are prepared to deal without prejudicewith a communist state, a socialist state, a democratic state,a monarchy, an oligarchy - its all the same to them."Senator Barry M. Goldwater in hisbook "With No Apologies""The most powerful cliquein these groups [Round Table Groups] - the Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) - have one objective in common: they want to bringabout the surrender of the sovereignty and the national independenceof the U.S. They want to end national boundaries and racial andethnic loyalties supposedly to increase business and ensure worldpeace. What they strive for would inevitably lead to dictatorshipand loss of freedoms by the people. The CFR was founded for "thepurpose of promoting disarmament and submergence of U.S. sovereigntyand national independence into an all-powerful one-world government."Harpers magazine, July 1958"The Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) has since the 1970s developed a large number ofinternational networks with wealthy and powerful "superclass"individuals and groups around the world. Relevant institutionshere include its British counterpart and sister group The RoyalInstitute of International Affairs, the elite European BilderbergGroup, the heavily corporate-permeated Trilateral Commission (combiningU.S., European, and Japanese elites who joined together to combatthe "excess of democracy" in the early 1970s), the G30(the Group of Thirty, a private gathering of top private and publicfinancial authorities from across the U.S., Europe, and Asia),the CFR's International Advisory Board (headed by super-wealthycapitalists from across the world), and a global CFR "Councilof Councils" bringing together the top neoliberal think-tanksfrom the world's richest 20 nations."Paul Street"The Council on ForeignRelations gets little publicity and is virtually unknown to thegeneral public. But it represents Big Government, Big Business,Big Banking, and the Big Media. At the apex of this power elitesits none other than David Rockefeller."Gary Allen in his book "Kissinger",1976"When you examine the Councilon Foreign Relations' member list, you will find that 90% eithersit on the Trilateral Commission or belong to the Bilderberg Group."Daniel Estulin in his book "TheBilderberg Group""The CFR [Council on ForeignRelations] established six years after the Federal Reserve wascreated, worked to promote an internationalist agenda on behalfof the international banking elite. It was to alter America'sconceptualization of its place within the world ­ from isolationistindustrial nation to an engine of empire working for internationalbanking and corporate American interests. Where the Fed took controlof money and debt, the CFR took control of the ideological foundationsof such an empire ­ encompassing the corporate, banking, political,foreign policy, military, media, and academic elite of the nationinto a generally cohesive overall world view. By altering one'sideology to that of promoting such an internationalist agenda,the big money that was behind it would ensure one's rise throughgovernment, industry, academia and media. The other major thinktanks and policy institutions in the United States are also representedat the CFR. They are constitutive of divisions within the elite,however, such divisions are predicated on the basis of how touse American imperial power, where to use it, on what basis tojustify it, and other various methodological differences. Thedivide amongst elites was never on the questions of: should weuse American imperial power, why has America become an Empire,or should there even be an empire? If one takes such considerationsto heart and questions these concepts, be it within the foreignpolicy establishment, intelligence, military, academia, finance,corporate world, or media; chances are, such a person is not amember of the CFR."Carroll Quigley, historian andGeorgetown University professor, in his book "Tragedy andHope""In foreign affairs theCouncil on Foreign Relations, superficially an innocent forumfor academics, businessmen, and politicians, contains within itsshell, perhaps unknown to many of its members, a power centerthat unilaterally determines U.S. foreign policy. The major objectiveof this submerged - and obviously subversive - foreign policyis the acquisition of markets and economic power (profits, ifyou will), for a small group of giant multi-nationals under thevirtual control of a few banking investment houses and controllingfamilies."Antony C. Sutton in his book "WallStreet and the Rise of Hitler""In the beginning, theCouncil on Foreign Relations was dominated by J.P. Morgan. Itis still controlled by international financiers. The Morgan groupgradually has been replaced by the Rockefeller consortium. Itis the most powerful group in America today. It is even more powerfulthan the federal government, because almost all of the key positionsin government are held by its members. In other words, it is theUnited States government."G. Edward Griffin in his book "TheCreature from Jekyll Island: a second look at the Federal Reserve""The CFR (Council on ForeignRelations) was founded for purpose of the submergence of U.S.sovereignty and national independence into an all-powerful one-worldgovernment."Harper's magazine, July 1958"The CFR (Council on ForeignRelations), established six years after the Federal Reserve wascreated, worked to promote an internationalist agenda on behalfof the international banking elite. Where the Fed took controlof money and debt, the CFR took control of the ideological foundationsof such an empire - encompassing the corporate, banking, political,foreign policy, military, media, and academic elite of the nationinto a generally cohesive overall world view."Carroll Quigley in his book "Tragedyand Hope""The Council on Foreign Relationsremains active in working toward its final goal of a governmentover all the world - a government which the Insiders - a globalfinancial elite - and their allies will control."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""[The goal of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is]to bring about the surrender of the sovereignty and the nationalindependence of the United States ... Primarily, they [CFR] wanta world banking monopoly from whatever power ends up in the controlof global government."Admiral Chester Ward, longtimeCouncil on Foreign Relations member"Trilateralists are membersof a private, though not secret, international organization puttogether by the wealthy banker, David Rockefeller, to stimulatethe Establishment dialogue between Western Europe, Japan and theUnited States. But here is the unsettling thing about the TrilateralCommission. The President-elect [Carter] is a member. So is theVice President-elect Walter F. Mondale. So are the new Secretariesof State, Defense and Treasury: Cyrus R. Vance, Harold Brown andW. Michael Blumenthal. So is Zibigniew Brzezinski, who is a formerTrilateral director and Carter's national security adviser, alsoa bunch of others who will make foreign policy for America inthe next four years."Washington Post, January 16, 1977"What the Trilaterals trulyintend is the creation of worldwide economic power superior tothe political governments of the nationstates involved .... Asmanagers and creators of the system, they will rule the future."Senator Barry Goldwater in hisbook 'With No Apologies'"Jimmy Carter is not thePresident of the United States. The Trilateral Commission is thePresident of the United States; I represent the Trilateral Commission."Henry Kissinger to the Prime Ministerof Canada"The Trilateralists havetaken charge of foreign policy-making in the Carter Administration,and already the immense power they wield is sparking some controversy.Active or former members of the Trilateral Commission now headevery key agency involved in mapping U.S. strategy for dealingwith the rest of the world."U.S. News and World Report"The Trilateral Commissionis intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidationof the commercial and banking interests by seizing control ofthe political government of the United States. The TrilateralCommission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seizecontrol and consolidate the four centers of power political, monetary,intellectual and ecclesiastical. What the Trilateral Commissionintends is to create a worldwide economic power superior to thepolitical governments of the nationstates involved. As managersand creators of the system, they will rule the future."Barry M. Goldwater from his memoirs"With No Apologies""The Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commissionand the Bilderberger Group, have prepared for and are now implementingopen world dictatorship... They are not fighting against terrorists.They are fighting against citizens."Dr. Johannes Koeppi, former GermanDefense Ministry official and adviser to NATO - from Dean Henderson'sbook "Big Oil & Their Bankers in the Persian Gulf""The Trilateral Commissionadmitted in their own publications that they intend to merge theU.S. and other NATO countries into a single world government controlledby the big corporations."Mark M. Rich in his book "TheHidden Evil: The Financial Elite's Covert War Against the CivilianPopulation""Right-wing think tanksproducing an incessant flow of market-oriented studies were establishedin the 1970s. Among them are the Heritage Foundation, the AmericanEconomic Institute for Public Policy Research, the American EnterpriseInstitute (AEI), the Georgetown Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies, and the Business Roundtable. ... These think tanks virtually created the new conservative movementof the 1970s.... The actual agenda of these corporate-funded think tanks isto (a) decrease government regulation of big business, (b) decreasetaxes for corporations and for the rich, (c) destroy the unions,and (d) increase profits."Helen Caldicott in her book "IfYou Love This Planet""If war aims are stated,which seem to be concerned solely with Anglo-American imperialism,they will offer little to people in the rest of the world. Suchaims would also strengthen the most reactionary elements in theUnited States and the British Empire. The interests of other peoplesshould be stressed, not only those of Europe, but also of Asia,Africa and Latin America. This would have a better propagandaeffect."Council on Foreign Relations documentfrom 1941"One of the best kept secretsis the degree to which a handful of giant conglomerates, all belongingto the secret Bilderberg Group, Council on Foreign Relations,NATO, the Club of Rome, and the Trilateral Commission, controlthe world's flow of information. They determine what we see ontelevision, hear on the radio and read in newspapers, magazines,books, or on the Internet."Daniel Estulin in his book "TheBilderberg Group""Conservative funding financesright-wing think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute,the Heritage Foundation, and the Cato Institute, which provideeasy jobs for conservatives who produce the sound bites and op-edsto fill up the mainstream news stories and editorial pages.Although many progressive think tanks exist (including the EconomicPolicy Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,and the World Policy Institute), media professionals don't liketo use them.... Conservative think tanks usually have more money than progressiveones, because the right is willing to serve wealthy corporateinterests. Conservative pundits are often quite willing to selltheir services. As intellectuals for hire, the right offers journalistsmouthpieces for corporate America with the veneer of neutralityprovided under the guise of a think tank."John K. Wilson in his book "Howthe Left Can Win Arguments and Influence People""A comprehensive Nexissearch for the twenty-five largest think tanks in U.S. news mediafor 2002 showed that explicitly conservative think tanks accountedfor nearly half of the 25,000 think-tank citations in the news,whereas progressive think tanks accounted for only 12 percent...The pro-business Right understood that changing media was a crucialpart of bringing right-wing ideas into prominence and their politiciansinto power."Robert W. McChesney in his book"The Problem of the Media""The proliferation of movementconservative think tanks since the 1970s means that it's possiblefor a movement intellectual to make quite a good living by espousingcertain positions. There's a price to be paid - you're expectedto be an apparatchik, not an independent thinker - but many considerit a good deal."Paul Krugman in his book "Conscienceof a Liberal""The organized intellectualpowers of the West -- namely, the principle think tanks and bankinginterests -- have sought to create a perfect global system ofgovernance, one in which power does not sway from nation to nation,or West to East, but rather that power is centralized globally...it is through crises -- economic, political, and social -- thatthis process of global governance can be rapidly accelerated."Andrew Gavin Marshall"Journalists have recusedthemselves from ranking the legitimacy of "experts,"so corporate and political front groups with lofty names havethe same opportunity to inject themselves into public debate asresearch institutions that still cling to old-fashioned standardsof evidence and accuracy. These "think tanks" manufacturedebate. That's what they do: Their aim is to create the illusionof controversy, even when the facts are indisputable, becausethey know how enslaved contemporary journalism is by the tyrannyof false equivalence. What's more, the louder you are, the moreoutrageous your claim, the less civil your discourse, the fartheryou stand from common ground, the more welcome you will be asa guest and a source. It is not necessary to be right; to makethe sale, it is only necessary to get attention."Martin Kaplan in the book "WhatOrwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics""Corporations and corporate foundations fund think tankswhich formulate policies which will be favorable to business.Corporate attorneys draft legislation which will make those policiesthe law of the land. Corporate political action committees payfor the election campaigns of the politicians who ensure thatsuch legislation becomes law, and lobbyists make sure the politiciansstay bought. Corporate executives are appointed to lead the regulatoryagencies which enforce (or dismantle) the laws that aren't favorableto business. National and multilateral trade and development agenciesdesign and subsidize an international trading system dominatedby the largest corporations. Governments and banks use publicmonies to subsidize and insure corporate investment."George Draffan in his book "TheElite Consensus""Wall Street, multinationalcorporations, international banks and wealthy people have formedelite groups to serve as vehicles for their interests. These includeThink Tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the TrilateralCommission, the Bilderbergers and others, which are interlockedwith the Tax-exempt Foundations and the Federal Reserve."Antony Sutton"In 2000, the think tankand war lobby Project for a New American Century (PNAC) proposeda massive augmentation in US military power. In laying out thisprogram, PNAC'S leadership recognized that the costly implementationof its far-reaching proposals to confirm, extend, and consolidatethe coercive machinery of US global dominance would depend ona massive transformation in public opinion - through somethingakin to the surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941."Anthony J. Hall in his book "Earthinto Property""The major think tanksof the nation, specifically the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)... are the policy-makers of the American Empire. Think tanksbring together elites from most power sectors of society ­the military, political, corporate, banking, intelligence, academia,media, etc. ­ and they discuss, debate and ultimately producestrategy blueprints and recommendations for American foreign policy.Individuals from these think tanks move in and out of the policy-makingcircles, creating a revolving door between the policy-plannersand those that implement them. The think tanks, in this context,are essentially the intellectual engines of the American Empire."Andrew Gavin Marshall, 2011Henry Kissinger / Zbigniew BrzezinskiTHE CONSIGLIERIESADVISORS/COUNSELORS TO CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS"Henry Kissinger is thegreatest living war criminal in the world today, with the bloodof millions of people in Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos and Chileand East Timor on his hands."George Galloway"Today, Americans wouldbe outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order;tomorrow, they will be grateful. This is especially true if theywere told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether realor promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is thenthat all people of the world will plead with world leaders todeliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears isthe unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rightswill be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-beinggranted to them by their world government."Henry Kissinger"It is Henry Kissinger'sbelief that by controlling food one can control people, and bycontrolling energy - especially oil - one can control nationsand their financial systems. By placing food and oil under internationalcontrol along with the world's monetary system, Kissinger is convinceda loosely knit world government can become a reality."Washington columnist Paul Scott,1976"Depopulation should bethe highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world."Henry Kissinger" Henry Kissinger was thehigh priest of imperialism and neocolonialism, animated by aninstinctive hatred for nationalist world leaders.... Kissinger was a Zionist, dedicated to economic, diplomaticand military support of Israeli aggression and expansionism tokeep the Middle East in turmoil, so as to prevent Arab unity andArab economic development."Webster Griffin Tarpley and AntonChaitkinin their book "George Bush : The Unauthorized Biography""I happen to believe thatHenry Kissinger was one of the most destructive Secretaries ofState in the modern history of this country. I am proud to saythat Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advicefrom Henry Kissinger. And in fact, Kissinger's actions in Cambodia,when the United States bombed that country, overthrew Prince Sihanouk,created the instability for Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to comein, who then butchered some three million innocent people, wasone of the worst genocides in the history of the world. So countme in as somebody who will not be listening to Henry Kissinger."Senator Bernie Sanders"Henry Kissinger, togetherwith his international political directorate known as KissingerAssociates, is the individual who stands at the intersection pointof every one of these networks: the back-channel with the SovietUnion, the drug and terror networks from Italy to Ibero-America,and the highest levels of finance - including his directorshipin American Express, the entity into which has merged a majorportion of Dope, command structure."DOPE, INC.: the international drugcartel, money-laundering, and state power, 1992"The issues are much tooimportant for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.... I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country goCommunist due to the irresponsibility of its own people.Henry Kissinger, about Chile underSalvador Allende"Oil is much too importanta commodity to be left in the hands of the Arabs."Henry Kissinger"I refuse to believe thata little fourthrate power like North Vietnam does not have a breakingpoint."Henry Kissinger"If you control the oil,you control entire nations. If you control the food, you controlthe people. If you control the money, your control the entireworld."Henry Kissinger"Jimmy Carter is not thePresident of the United States. The Trilateral Commission is thePresident of the United States; I represent the Trilateral Commission."Henry Kissinger"Although Henry Kissingerhas been historically a close ally of the most rabid factionsinside Israel and within the Zionist establishment in the UnitedStates, his primary allegiance through-out his political careerhas been to the British Crown and its intelligence and financialtentacles."DOPE, INC., the international drugcartel, money-laundering, and state power, 1992"if we can't control Latin America, how can we dominatethe world?"Henry Kissinger, 1970s"The CIA and the US StateDepartment remained primary sponsors of the Argentine militaryjunta, which was led by General Jorge Videla. On February 16,1976, six weeks before the coup, Robert Hill, the US ambassadorto Argentina, reported to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger thatthe plans for the coup were underway and that a public relationscampaign had been mounted that would cast the new military regimein a positive light."Paul L. William in his book "OperationGladio", 2015"While Kissinger's 1973oil shock had a devastating impact on world industrial growth,it had an enormous benefit for certain established interests -the major New York and London banks, and the Seven Sisters oilmultinationals of the United States and Britain. By 1974, Exxonhad overtaken General Motors as the largest American corporationin gross revenues. Her sisters, including Mobil, Texaco, Chevronand Gulf, were not far behind.The bulk of the OPEC dollar revenues, Kissinger's 'recycled petrodollars,'was deposited with the leading banks of London and New York, thebanks which dealt in dollars as well as international oil trade.Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Manufacturers Hanover, Bank of America,Barclays, Lloyds, Midland Bank - all enjoyed the windfall profitsof the oil crisis."William Engdahl in his book "ACentury of War""For America, the chiefgeopolitical prize is Eurasia. Eurasia is the globe's largestcontinent and is geopolitically axial. A power that dominatesEurasia would control two of the world's three most advanced andeconomically productive regions. A mere glance at the map alsosuggests that control over Eurasia would almost automaticallyentail African subordination.... It is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capableof dominating Eurasia and thus of also challenging America.Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his 1997book"'The Grand Chessboard""The three grand imperativesof imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintainsecurity dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliantand protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together."Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his 1997book"'The Grand Chessboard""The most immediate taskis to make certain that no state or combination of states gainsthe capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even todiminish significantly its decisive arbitration role."Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his 1997book"'The Grand Chessboard""The war on terror is beingused as a pretext and excuse for building up the US and NATO militaryand organizational machine in the region [Afghanistan and CentralAsia] and maintaining its open-ended presence there."Zbigniew Brzezinski"As America becomes anincreasingly multicultural society, it may find it more difficultto fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in thecircumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct externalthreat."Zbigniew Brzezinski, Council onForeign Relations, 1977"People, governments andeconomies of all nations must serve the needs of multinationalbanks and corporations."Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book"Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era""The nation-state as afundamental unit of man's organized life has ceased to be theprincipal creative force: International banks and multinationalcorporations are acting and planning in terms that are far inadvance of the political concepts of the nation-state."Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book"Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era""What is more importantin world history? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire?Some agitated Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe andthe end of the Cold War?"Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1998"Society would be dominatedby an elite which would not hesitate to achieve its politicalends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing publicbehavior and keeping society under close surveillance and control."Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book"Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era""For America, the chiefgeopolitical prize is Eurasia. Now a non-Eurasian power is preeminentin Eurasia-and America's global primacy is directly dependenton how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasiancontinent is sustained. To put it in a terminology that harkensback to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three greatimperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion andmaintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributariespliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together."Carter National Security AdvisorZbigniew Brzezinski wrote of the plans to control Eurasia, includingTurkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan"If the American peopleknew the truth about what we Bushes have done to the nation, wewould be chased down the street and lynched."George H W Bush to reporter SarahMcClendon, Dec. 1992"You can say anything youwant in a debate, and 80 million people hear it. If reportersthen document that a candidate spoke untruthfully, so what? Maybe200 people read it, or 2000 or 20,000."George H W Bush's press secretaryto reporters following the 1980 vice-presidential debate"George H W Bush's responseto the Gulf crisis of 1991 will be largely predetermined, notby any great flashes of geopolitical insight, but rather by hisconnection to the British oligarchy, to Henry Kissinger, to Israeliand Zionist circles, to Texas oilmen in his fundraising base,and to the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti royal houses"Webster Griffin Tarpley and AntonChaitkin in their book "George Bush : The Unauthorized Biography""You have a survivabilityof command and control, survivability of industrial potential,protection of a percentage of your citizens, and you have a capabilitythat inflicts more damage on the opposition than it can inflicton you."Vice-President George H W Bush,on how to win a nuclear war, 1980"It is quite clear thatone of the major challenges of the 1970s will be to curb the world'sfertility."President George H W BushTHE POLITICIANS"American leaders are perhapsnot so much immoral as they are amoral. It's not that they takepleasure in causing so much death and suffering. It's that theyjust don't care ... the same that could be said about a sociopath.As long as the death and suffering advance the agenda of the empire,as long as the right people and the right corporations gain wealthand power and privilege and prestige, as long as the death andsuffering aren't happening to them or people close to them ...then they just don't care about it happening to other people,including the American soldiers whom they throw into wars andwho come home-the ones who make it back alive-with Agent Orangeor Gulf War Syndrome eating away at their bodies. American leaderswould not be in the positions they hold if they were botheredby such things."William Blum in his book "KillingHope""Presidents Clinton andBush Jr. avoided the Vietnam War, Clinton through educationalprivilege, Bush through being the son of his father. PresidentObama never went to war. Vice Presidents Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney,and Joe Biden, like Clinton and Bush Jr., dodged the draft."David Swanson in his book "WarIs A Lie""U.S. leaders have nothingagainst those they regularly kill and impoverish. But they areproducts of a system that is indifferent to the fate of the "unpeople",whether in the Shah's Iran, Somoza's Nicaragua, Suharto's Indonesiaor the many other dictatorial regimes that enjoyed US support."Fred Branfman"Our leaders are cruelbecause only those willing to be inordinately cruel and remorselesscan hold positions of leadership in the foreign policy establishment.People capable of expressing a full human measure of compassionand empathy toward faraway powerless strangers do not become presidentof the United States, or vice president, or secretary of state,or national security adviser."William Blum"About ten days after 9/11,I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and DeputySecretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to someof the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, andone of the generals called me in. He said, 'Sir, you've got tocome in and talk to me a second.' I said, 'Well, you're too busy.'He said, 'No, no.' He says, 'We've made the decision we're goingto war with Iraq.' This was on or about the 20th of September.I said, 'We're going to war with Iraq? Why?' He said, 'I don'tknow.' He said, 'I guess they don't know what else to do.' SoI said, 'Well, did they find some information connecting Saddamto al-Qaeda?' He said, 'No, no.' He says, 'There's nothing newthat way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq.'He said, 'I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists,but we've got a good military and we can take down governments.'And he said, 'I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, everyproblem has to look like a nail.' So I came back to see him afew weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan.I said, 'Are we still going to war with Iraq?' And he said, 'Oh,it's worse than that.' He reached over on his desk. He pickedup a piece of paper. And he said, 'I just got this down from upstairs',meaning the Secretary of Defense's office, 'today.' And he said,'This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out sevencountries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon,Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran'."Wesley Clark, General of the UnitedStates Army, March 2007"You have not just a military-industrialcomplex, but a military-industrial-Congressional complex."Gareth Porter, 2007"President Dwight Eisenhower,in his Farewell Address, January 17, 1961 was originally planningto describe the phenomenon as the 'Military-Industrial-CongressionalComplex', however, 'Congressional' was dropped from the speechat the last minute, and it was simply referred to as the 'Military-IndustrialComplex'."Phillip F. Nelson, LBJ: The Mastermindof JFK's Assassination, 2010"Do American leaders reallybelieve the utterances that emanate from their mouths? When thewords "god" and "prayer" are regularly invokedin their talks, while American Hellfire missiles are sent screaminginto a city center or a village marketplace teeming with life...when they carry on endlessly about democracy and freedom, whileAmerican soldiers are smashing down doors, dragging off the men,humiliating the women, traumatizing the children... when theyproclaim the liberation of a people and the bringing forth ofa better life, while vast quantities of American depleted uraniumare exploding into a fine vapor which will poison the air, thesoil, the blood, and the genes forever."William Blum in is book "Freeingthe World to Death""Which nation's leaderssince 1945 have murdered, maimed, made homeless, tortured, assassinatedand impoverished the largest number of civilians who were notits own citizens? I have asked this question of Americans in everywalk of life since I discovered the bombing of Laos in 1969. It'sa simple matter of fact, not involving judgments of right andwrong, and I remain astonished at how most answer "the Russians,""the Chinese," or just have no idea that American leadershave killed more noncitizen civilians than the rest of the world'sleaders combined since 1945."Fred Branfman"The whole aim of practicalpolitics is to keep the populace alarmed by menacing it with anendless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. The urgeto save humanity is almost always only a false face for the urgeto rule it."H L Mencken, In Defense of Women,Dover Publications, 1918"The B-1 bomber has a pieceof it made, a piece of the plane made, in every single US state.Now, why? That's not an efficient way to make a product. So, itmust be serving some end. And the end, it turns out, that it servesis that the B-1 bomber was designed by its makers according toa process called political engineering, fancy word for distributingthe contracts and subcontracts to build a given weapons systemto as many states, as many congressional districts as possible,so that if this thing ever comes up for review, everybody's gettinga piece of the action, everybody's in on it. And as a result,when the questions arise - Do we need the B-1 bomber? Do we needto be spending this money? - there is a constituency built inin Congress that's going to keep that thing going."Eugene Jarecki, 2008"American foreign-policymakers are exquisitely attuned to the rise of a government, ora movement that might take power, that will not lie down and happilybecome an American client state, that will not look upon the freemarket or the privatization of the world known as "globalization",that will not change its laws to favor foreign investment, thatwill not be unconcerned about the effects of foreign investmentupon the welfare of its own people, that will not produce primarilyfor export, that will not allow asbestos, banned pesticides andother products restricted in the developed world to be dumpedonto their people, that will not easily tolerate the InternationalMonetary Fund or the World Trade Organization inflicting a scorched-earthpolicy upon the country's social services or standard of living,that will not allow an American or NATO military installationupon its soil... Given the proper pretext, such bad examples haveto be reduced to basket cases, or, where feasible, simply overthrown."William Blum in his book "RogueState"NEOCONSCHICKENHAWKS, WARMONGERS, PSYCHOPATHS"Neoconservatives are crazedpsychopaths willing to destroy Earth in behalf of American hegemony."zerohedge.com"The Plan is for the UnitedStates to rule the world. The overt theme is unilateralism, butit is ultimately a story of domination. It calls for the UnitedStates to maintain its overwhelming superiority and prevent newrivals from rising up to challenge it on the world stage. It callsfor dominion over friends and enemies alike. It says not thatthe United States must be more powerful, or most powerful, butthat it must be absolutely powerful."Vice-President Dick Cheney - lectureat West Point, June 2002"Killing in the name ofdemocracy is what Neocons call 'moral intervention'."Gilad Atzmon"This is total war. Weare fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them outthere. All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan,then we will do Iraq, then we take a look around and see how thingsstand. This is entirely the wrong way to go about it... If wejust let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely,and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but justwage a total war . . . our children will sing great songs aboutus years from now."neoconservative Richard Perle"Every ten years or so,the United States needs to pick up some crappy little countryand throw it against the wall, just to show the world we meanbusiness."neoconservative Michael Ledeen"I think Vice PresidentDick Cheney is insane. The neocons are insane. I don't know ofa sane one."Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Secretaryof the Treasury in the Reagan Administration"Everybody hates the Neocons,not only a majority of the American people, but the entire planet.And yet that numerically small group of people has somehow managedto put everybody in danger, due to their ugly vindictiveness,infinite arrogance and ideology-induced short-sightedness. Thatthis could ever have happened, and at a planetary scale, is adramatic testimony to the moral and spiritual decay of our civilization.There is a reason why the Neocons thrive in times of crisis: itallows them to hide behind the mayhem, especially when they arethe ones who triggered the mayhem in the first place. This meansthat as long as the Neocons are anywhere near power they willnever allow peace to break out, lest the spotlight be suddenlyshined directly upon them. Chaos, wars, crises - this is theirnatural habitat. Eventually, of course, they will be stopped andthey will be defeated, like all their predecessors in history.But think of the price mankind will have to pay."The Saker, 2017"At the turn of the millennium,the neocon faction was searching for new opportunities for conflictand violence. When those opportunities arrived, the neocons rejoicedand rushed into their favorite enterprise of sending other people'schildren into useless wars."Corey Robin, assistant professorof political science at Brooklyn College in the City Universityof New York"I think the level of casualtiesis secondary. All the great scholars who have studied Americancharacter have come to the conclusion that we are a warlike peopleand that we love war. What we hate is not casualties but losing."Michael Ledeen, American EnterpriseInstitute, 2003"Neocons as a group werefounded by Jews and are largely Jewish, hence their universalattachment to the state of Israel. They first rose into prominencewhen they obtained a number of national security positions duringthe Reagan Administration and their ascendancy was completed whenthey staffed senior positions in the Pentagon and White Houseunder George W. Bush."Philip Giraldi, 2017"The war on terrorism isdifferent than the Gulf War was, in the sense that it may neverend."Vice-President Dick Cheney"Support the overthrowof the terrorist mullahs of Iran. End the terrorist regime ofSyria. Regard Saudi Arabia and France not as friends but as rivals-maybeenemies. Withdraw support from the United Nations if it does notreform. Tighten immigration at home. Radically reorganize theCIA and FBI. Squeeze China and blockade North Korea to press thatmember of the axis of evil to abandon its nuclear program. Abandonthe illusion that a Palestinian state will contribute in any importantway to U.S. security."David Frum and Richard Perle intheir book "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror""Empirical studies revealthat authoritarians are frequently enemies of freedom, antidemocratic,anti-equality, highly prejudiced, mean-spirited, power hungry,Machiavellian, and amoral. They are also often conservatives withoutconscience.The factor that makes rightwingers faster than most people toattack others, and that seems to keep them living in an "attackmode," is their remarkable self-righteousness. They are sosure they are not only right, but holy and pure, that they arebursting with indignation and a desire to smite down their enemies."John Dean in his book "ConservativesWithout Conscience""We do not want stabilityin Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and even Saudi Arabia; we wantthings to change. The real issue is not whether, but how to destabilize."neoconservative Michael Ledeen"The good Lord did notsee fit simply to put oil under those countries friendly to theUnited States."Vice-President Dick Cheney"The lesson the neo-conslearnt from the Iraq war is not that it was disastrous. It wasonly disastrous for the dead and maimed Iraqis, our own dead andmaimed servicemen, and those whose country was returned to medievalism.It was a great success for the neo-cons, they made loads of moneyon armaments and oil. The lesson the neo-cons learned was notto give the public in the West any time to mount and organiseopposition. Hence the destruction of Libya was predicated on anentirely false "we have 48 hours to prevent the massacreof the population of Benghazi" narrative. Similarly thislatest orchestrated Syria "crisis" is being followedthrough into military action at a blistering pace, as the fourhorsemen sweep by, scything down reason and justice on the way."Craig Murray, 2018"The Persian Gulf willbe a primary focus of U.S. international energy policy... Americanefforts to obtain increased supplies of foreign oil will alsorequire the threat of or the use of force to dissuade hostileforces from attempting to obstruct the flow of petroleum to theUnited States. This, in turn, will require an enhanced U.S. capacityto operate militarily in areas of likely fighting over oil."Vice-President Dick Cheney"Our first objective isto prevent the re-emergence of a new rival... This is a dominantconsideration underlying the new regional defense strategy andrequires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominatinga region whose resources would, under consolidated control, besufficient to generate global power... First the US must showthe leadership necessary to establish and protect a new orderthat holds the promise of convincing potential competitors thatthey need not aspire to a greater role or pursue a more aggressiveposture to protect their legitimate interests."neocon Paul Wolfowitz in the "DefensePlanning Guidance""Neocons as a group werefounded by Jews and are largely Jewish, hence their universalattachment to the state of Israel. They first rose into prominencewhen they obtained a number of national security positions duringthe Reagan Administration and their ascendancy was completed whenthey staffed senior positions in the Pentagon and White Houseunder George W. Bush."Philip Giraldi, 2017"If we come to Baghdad,Damascus and Tehran as liberators, we can expect overwhelmingpopular support."Michael Ledeen, American EnterpriseInstitute, 2003"There is no doubt thatSaddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is nodoubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, againstour allies, and against us."Vice-President Dick Cheney"There's no debate in theworld as to whether they Iraqis have these nuclear weapons. Weall know that. A trained ape knows that."Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,Sept. 13, 2002"I don't believe anyonethat I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclearweapons."Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,May 14, 2003"The 2003 Iraq invasionended quickly with few civilian casualties and with little damageto Iraq's cities, towns or infrastructure."neocon Richard Perle"The neoconservatives representthe greatest danger ever faced by the United States and the world.Humanity has no greater enemy."Paul Craig Roberts - Reagan AdministrationAssistant Treasury Secretary"No country in the worldupholds the Geneva Conventions on the laws of armed conflict moresteadfastly than does the United States."neocon Douglas Feith"Make the American peoplerealize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists."Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,in an internal memo, 2007"Just as it is sometimesnecessary temporarily to resort to evil actions to achieve worthyobjectives, so a period of dictatorship is sometimes the onlyhope for freedom.... Paradoxically, preserving liberty may require the rule ofa single leader - a dictator - willing to use those dreaded 'extraordinarymeasures', which few know how, or are willing, to employ."neocon Michael Ledeen"The Project for a NewAmerican Century (PNAC) plan was regime change throughout theMiddle East, starting with Baghdad, Damascus, Tehran, and rollingon through the Middle East, ultimately even probably rolling onto Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The PNAC philosophy would use hard power, military power, principally,to initiate this and even continue it if they found it was necessaryto do so. That keeps the military-industrial complex alive, itkeeps Halliburton alive, it keeps Lockheed alive, it keeps theentire complex the United States had developed after the demiseof the Soviet Union, that I call the national security state,alive and well."Lawrence Wilkerson, former chiefof staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell"One can only hope thatwe turn the region into a cauldron, and faster, please. If everthere were a region that richly deserved being cauldronized, itis the Middle East today. If we wage the war effectively, we willbring down the terror regimes in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and eitherbring down the Saudi monarchy or force it to abandon its globalassembly line to indoctrinate young terrorists."neocon Michael Ledeen"Democracies will not sacrificeto protect their security in the absence of a sense of danger.And every time we create the impression that we and the Sovietsare cooperating and moderating the competition, we diminish thatsense of apprehension."neocon Richard Perle"No stages. This is totalwar. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of themout there. All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan,then we will do Iraq, then we take a look around and see how thingsstand. This is entirely the wrong way to go about it... If wejust let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely,and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but justwage a total war ... our children will sing great songs aboutus years from now."neocon Richard Perle"Iraq floats on a sea ofoil."neocon Paul Wolfowitz"I don't want to make aprediction, but you're going to find Iraqis out cheering Americantroops."neocon Paul Wolfowitz"A reasonable assessmentof the events in the United States over the past 50 years or sogives ample evidence of the application of the ideas in the "Protocolsof the Elders of Zion" in order to bring about the currentNeoconservative administration [Bush/Cheney]. Anyone who wishesto understand what has happened in the U.S. needs to read the"Protocols" to understand that some group of deviantindividuals took them to heart. The document, "Project ForA New American Century" produced by the Neoconservativesreads as if it had been inspired by the same schizoidal worldview."Andrew M. Lobaczewski in his book"Political Ponerology: a science on the nature of evil adjustedfor political purposes""In the Middle East andSouthwest Asia, our overall objective is to remain the predominantoutside power in the region and preserve U.S. and Western accessto the region's oil. "neocon Paul Wolfowitz"I'm not concerned aboutweapons of mass destruction. I didn't come to Iraq in a searchfor weapons of mass destruction. "neocon Paul Wolfowitz"The rapture evangelicalsand the neocons are euphoric at the prospect of nuclear war."Paul Craig Roberts - Reagan AdministrationAssistant Treasury Secretary and former associate editor of theWall Street JournalNATIONAL SECURITY STATE"The greatest purveyorof terror in the world today is the United States national securitystate."Michael Parenti"America cherishes herenemies. Without enemies, she is a nation without purpose anddirection. The various components of the National Security Stateneed enemies to justify their swollen budgets, to aggrandize theirwork, to protect their jobs, to give themselves a mission in theaftermath of the Soviet Union."William Blum in his book "RogueState""The first characteristicof a National Security State is that the military is the highestauthority. In a National Security State the military not onlyguarantees the security of the state against all internal andexternal enemies, it has enough power to determine the overalldirection of the society. In a National Security State the militaryexerts important influence over political, economic, as well asmilitary affairs."www.sourcewatch.org"The NSS [National SecurityState] is an instrument of class warfare, organized and designedto permit an elite, local and multinational, to operate withoutany constraint from democratic processes. This allows the bulkof the population to be treated as a mere cost of production."Edward S. Herman"In the 1960s, '70s, andearly '80s, U.S.-backed armed forces carried out military coupsthroughout Latin America, moving to obliterate leftist forcesand extirpate leftist ideas. The militaries installed a new formof rule - the national security state."J. Patrice McSherry in the book"Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in LatinAmerica""Until the latest of ourworld conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry...But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of nationaldefense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armamentsindustry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a halfmillion men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment.... This conjunction of an immense military establishment anda large arms industry is new in the American experience.... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisitionof unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrialcomplex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced powerexists and will persist."President Dwight Eisenhower's farewellspeech, 1961"The entire National Securitydoctrine centers on the existence of an "outside enemy",which is threatening the Homeland."Michel Chossudovsky, 2005"By the end of 1962, thenational security establishment in Washington D.C., which hadquickly come to know JFK as a skeptic during 1961, had come toview him as a heretic; and by November of 1963, the month he wasassassinated, they no doubt considered him an apostate, for heno longer supported most of the so-called "orthodox"views of the Cold War priesthood. ... The national security establishment wanted to turn the ColdWar against the USSR into a hot war, so that the U.S. could inflictpunishing and fatal blows upon its Communist adversaries on thebattlefield. It was this desire for hot war by so many withinthe national security establishment - their belief that conventionalproxy wars with the Soviet Bloc were an urgent necessity, andthat nuclear war with the USSR was probably inevitable - to whichPresident Kennedy was so adamantly opposed. And it was JFK's profounddetermination to avoid nuclear war by miscalculation, and to avoidcombat with conventional arms unless it was truly necessary, thatseparated him from almost everyone else in his administrationfrom 1961 throughout 1963."Douglas P. Horne, 2014"The US. National SecurityState refers to the Executive Office of the White House, the NationalSecurity Council (NSC), National Security Administration, CentralIntelligence Agency, Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation,and other such units that are engaged in surveillance, suppression,covert action, and forceful interventions abroad and at home."Michael Parenti in his book "AgainstEmpire""The term "nationalsecurity" has transformed American society for the worse.It has warped the morals and values of the American people. Ithas stultified conscience. It has altered the constitutional order.It has produced a democratically elected government that wieldstotalitarian powers. We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto round up people, including citizens, and take them to concentrationcamps, detention centers, or military dungeons where the governmentcan torture them, incarcerate them indefinitely, and even executethem as suspected terrorists. We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto send its military and intelligence forces into any countryanywhere in the world, kidnap people residing there, and transportthem to a prison for the purpose of torture, indefinite detention,and even execution. We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto sneak and peek into people's homes or businesses without warrants;to monitor their emails, telephone calls, and financial transactions;and to spy on the citizenry. We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto support, with money and armaments, totalitarian regimes allover the world and to enter into partnerships with them for thepurpose of torturing people whom the U.S. government has kidnapped.We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto assassinate anyone it wants, including American citizens, anywherein the world, including here in the United States. We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto impose sanctions and embargoes on any other nation and to severelypunish the American people and foreign citizens and foreign companieswho violate them. We now live in a country whose government wields the legal authorityto invade and occupy any country on earth, without a congressionaldeclaration of war, for any purpose whatever, including regimechange and the securing of resources. And it's all justified under the rubric of "national security"."Jacob G. Hornberger, 2016"Today, the United Statesspends more on military arms and other forms of "nationalsecurity" than the rest of the world combined. U.S. Ieaderspreside over a global military apparatus of a magnitude neverbefore seen in human history. In 1993 it included almost a half-milliontroops stationed at over 395 major military bases and hundredsof minor installations in thirty-five foreign countries, and afleet larger in total tonnage and firepower than all the othernavies of the world combined, consisting of missile cruisers,nuclear submarines, nuclear aircraft carriers, destroyers, andspy ships that sail every ocean and make port on every continent.U.S. bomber squadrons and long-range missiles can reach any target,carrying enough explosive force to destroy entire continents withan overkill capacity of more than 8,000 strategic nuclear weaponsand 22,000 tactical ones."Michael Parenti in his book "AgainstEmpire""The National SecurityState or Doctrine, generally referrs to the ideology and institutions(CIA, Department of Defense) established by the National SecurityAct of 1947, an enduring legacy of then President Harry S. Truman,in support of his doctrine "to support free peoples who areresisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outsidepressures".In his book "Brave New World Order" Jack Nelson-Pallmeyeridentified seven characteristics of a National Security State:The first characteristic of a National Security State is thatthe military is the highest authority. In a National SecurityState the military not only guarantees the security of the stateagainst all internal and external enemies, it has enough powerto determine the overall direction of the society. In a NationalSecurity State the military exerts important influence over political,economic, as well as military affairs.A second defining feature of a National Security State is thatpolitical democracy and democratic elections are viewed with suspicion,contempt, or in terms of political expediency. National SecurityStates often maintain an appearance of democracy. However, ultimatepower rests with the military or within a broader National SecurityEstablishment.A third characteristic of a National Security State is that themilitary and related sectors wield substantial political and economicpower. They do so in the context of an ideology which stressesthat 'freedom" and "development" are possible onlywhen capital is concentrated in the hands of elites.A fourth feature of a National Security State is its obsessionwith enemies. There are enemies of the state everywhere. Defendingagainst external and/or internal enemies becomes a leading preoccupationof the state, a distorting factor in the economy, and a majorsource of national identity and purpose.A fifth ideological foundation of a National Security State isthat the enemies of the state are cunning and ruthless. Therefore,any means used to destroy or control these enemies is justified.A sixth characteristic of a National Security State is that itrestricts public debate and limits popular participation throughsecrecy or intimidation. Authentic democracy depends on participationof the people. National Security States limit such participationin a number of ways: They sow fear and thereby narrow the rangeof public debate; they restrict and distort information; and theydefine policies in secret and implement those policies throughcovert channels and clandestine activities. The state justifiessuch actions through rhetorical pleas of "higher purpose"and vague appeals to "national security".Finally, the church is expected to mobilize its financial, ideological,and theological resources in service to the National SecurityState."www.sourcewatch.org"Ever since the UnitedStates' government was converted into a 'national-security state',it has been the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA that have run thegovernment, just like in countries governed by military dictatorships.... The federal government used to consist of three branches.But that quaint notion disintegrated when the federal governmentwas converted to a 'national-security state' after World War II.Even though it was done without a constitutional amendment, thatconversion effectively added a fourth branch of government tothe federal government - the national-security branch, which consistsof the NSA, the CIA, and the Pentagon.The addition of that fourth branch fundamentally altered the originalthree-branch concept, especially because the fourth branch quicklybecame the most powerful branch. The reason is because ultimatelygovernment is force, and the fourth branch is where the most forcewas concentrated within the new, altered governmental structure.In the United States' National Security State, the military, theCIA, and the NSA are in charge."Jacob Hornberger, 2018"After reading case afternauseating case of the atrocities committed in the name of nationalsecurity, and after recognizing the United States' involvementin the creation of military, police, and paramilitary agenciesresponsible for these horrors in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala,Brazil, Chile, Bolivia-seventeen Latin-American countries in all-onecomes to the conclusion either that the Americans who helped toestablish and run these military and police training programswere deranged or that they never considered the predictable resultsof their work-possibly didn't want to consider them."Penny Lernoux in her book "Cryof the People""Our leaders are cruelbecause only those willing to be inordinately cruel and remorselesscan hold positions of leadership in the foreign policy establishment.... People capable of expressing a full human measure of compassionand empathy toward faraway powerless strangers ... do not becomepresident of the United States, or vice president, or secretaryof state, or national security adviser or secretary of the treasury.Nor do they want to."William Blum in hsi book "RogueState""Just as the United Statestrained Latin American military and police in methods of fightingagainst "populism" in their countries, by this meanshelping to produce a "favorable climate of investment"by bringing into power National Security States, so a large, well-trained,and ruthless police is needed in the home country as it pushesa right-wing agenda that is contrary to the interests of a vastmajority."Edward Herman, 2004"The terrorism that wascommitted in the country [El Salvador] was overwhelmingly governmentalterrorism, committed by the Salvadoran army, the National Guard,and their death squads and affiliated agencies. They were responsiblefor 95 percent of the deaths, the guerrillas for only five percent.These were the same institutions that were the favorites of Washington- receiving its indoctrination and training and profiting fromits largess. El Salvador received six billion dollars in aid fromWashington in the period 1979 to 1992. This subsidy to the tinycountry during the government repression and terrorism came toaverage out at $100,000 for each member of its armed forces. Thissubsidy allowed the government to pay for the terrorist activitiescommitted by the security forces."Frederick H. Gareau in his book"State Terrorism and United States""Nesting within the executiveis that most virulent purveyor of state power: the national securitystate, an informal configuration of military and intelligenceagencies, of which the CIA is a key unit. The president operates effectively as head of the national securitystate as long as he stays within the parameters of its primarydedication which is the maximization of power on behalf of corporateinterests and capitalist global hegemony."Michael Parenti in his book "AgainstEmpire""As the imperial presidencyhas accrued power, surrounding the imperial presidency has cometo be this group of institutions called the National SecurityState. The CIA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Office of the Secretaryof Defense, the other intelligence agencies. Now, these have grownsince the end of World War Two into this mammoth enterprise."Andrew Bacevich, 2008"They have pillaged theworld. When the land has nothing left for men who ravage everything,they scour the sea. If an enemy is rich, they are greedy; if heis poor, they crave glory. Neither East nor West can sate theirappetite. They are the only people on earth to covet wealth andpoverty with equal craving. They plunder, they butcher, they ravish,and call it by the lying name of 'empire'. They make a desertand call it 'peace'."Publius Cornelius Tacitus - a historianof the Roman Empire"America is today the leaderof a world-wide anti-revolutionary movement in the defense ofvested interests. She now stands for what Rome stood for. Romeconsistently supported the rich against the poor in all foreigncommunities that fell under her sway; and, since the poor, sofar, have always and everywhere been far more numerous than therich, Rome's policy made for inequality, for injustice, and forthe least happiness of the greatest number."Arnold Toynbee,1961"Coming to grips with U.S./CIAactivities in broad numbers and figuring out how many people havebeen killed in the jungles of Laos or the hills of Nicaragua isvery difficult. But, adding them up as best we can, we come upwith a figure of six million people killed-and this is a minimumfigure. Included are: one million killed in the Korean War, twomillion killed in the Vietnam War, 800,000 killed in Indonesia,one million in Cambodia, 20,000 killed in Angola ... and 22,000killed in Nicaragua. These people would not have died if U.S.tax dollars had not been spent by the CIA to inflame tensions,finance covert political and military activities and destabilizesocieties."John Stockwell, CIA official inthe 1960s and 1970s"We thought we knew whatwould happen in Libya. We thought we knew what would happen inEgypt. We thought we knew what would happen in Iraq, and we guessedwrong. In each one of these countries the thing we have to consideris that there is some structure that's holding the society together.And as we learned, especially in Libya, when you remove the topand the whole thing falls apart . . . you get chaos."former Secretary of State ColinPowell"The American elite's unbounded,unquestioned, indeed unconscious sense of imperial entitlementand dominance -- based ultimately on war, the threat of war andthe profit from war -- is one of the defining characteristicsof our age. Our political and media elite cannot conceive of anend to empire. Our elites and their courtiers cannot imagine lifewithout a permanent war for global dominance, fueled by a gargantuanwar machine spread across hundreds and hundreds of bases implantedin more than 100 countries."Chris Floyd"Since the late 1940s,the United States has been deliberately engaged in an imperialproject, and anyone who would hold the office of the presidencyhas to be willing to serve that end. All presidents have to promotethe national security state, both domestically and in Americanforeign policy, if they wish to attain and hold on to power."Morris Berman"The basic and generallyagreed U.S. plan is unilateral world domination through absolutemilitary superiority."Anatol Lieven, Carnegie Endowmentfor International Peace"Because the United Statesdoes not look like a militarized country, it's hard for Americansto grasp that Washington is a war capital, that the United Statesis a war state, that it garrisons much of the planet, and thatthe norm for us is to be at war somewhere at any moment."Tom Engelhardt"The United States hasdiscarded pretensions to international legality and decency, andembarked on a course of raw imperialism run amok."William Rockler, Nuremberg Tribunalprosecutor"Since the fall of theBerlin Wall in November 1989, the Pentagon had been pursuing amilitary strategy for domination of the entire planet. It wascalled by the Pentagon, 'Full Spectrum Dominance' and as its nameimplied, its agenda was to control everything everywhere includingthe high seas air, space and even outer space and cyberspace."F. William Engdahl"The real motivation behindUS military interventions during the cold war was not Soviet deterrencebut the crushing of popular, indigenous nationalist movementsfor independence, and the establishment of US control over strategicregions."Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed from hisbook "Behind the War on Terror""The U.S. military actsin the interests of the corporate and financial elite, and thosecountries that do not submit to American economic hegemony aredeemed enemies, and the military is ultimately sent in to implement"regime change."Andrew Gavin Marshall"The Western banking systemcontrols a worldwide electronic banking network. The control ofmoney creation at a world level constitutes the ultimate instrumentof economic and social domination... The ultimate lever of theU.S.-NATO imperial design is to override and destroy nationalcurrencies."Michel Chossudovsky in the book"The Global Economic Crisis""Stop talking so much aboutdemocracy and instead support dictatorships of the right if theirpolicies are pro-American."U.S. Treasury Secretary GeorgeHumphrey, 1954"Through slick MadisonAvenue marketing techniques and careful study of genuine protestmovements, the US Government had perfected techniques for 'democratically'getting rid of any opponent, while convincing the world they werebrought down by spontaneous outbursts for freedom."F. William Engdahl"The CIA is not now norhas it ever been a central intelligence agency. It is the covertaction arm of the President's foreign policy advisers. In thatcapacity it overthrows or supports foreign governments while reporting"intelligence" justifying those activities... Disinformationis a large part of its covert action responsibility, and the Americanpeople are the primary target audience of its lies.... The Agency's task is to develop an intemational anti-communistideology. The CIA then links every egalitarian political movementto the scourge of intemational communism. This then prepares theAmerican people and many in the world community for the secondstage, the destruction of those movements. For egalitarianismis the enemy and it must not be allowed to exist."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""The "war on terrorism"purports to defend the American Homeland and protect the "civilizedworld". It is upheld as a "war of religion", a"clash of civilizations", when in fact the main objectiveof this war is to secure control and corporate ownership overthe region's extensive oil wealth, while also imposing under thehelm of the IMF and the World Bank, the privatization of stateenterprises and the transfer of the countries' economic assetsinto the hands of foreign capital."Michel Chossudovsky"It is the function ofthe CIA to keep the world unstable, and to propagandize and teachthe American people to hate, so we will let the Establishmentspend any amount of money on arms."John Stockwell, CIA official inthe 1960s and 1970s"If the Agency [CIA] actuallyreported the truth about the Third World, what would it say? Itwould say that the United States installs foreign leaders, armstheir armies, and empowers their police all to help those leadersrepress an angry, defiant people; that the CIA-empowered leadersrepresent only a small faction who kill, torture, and impoverishtheir own people to maintain their position of privilege."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""Almost from the beginning,the CIA engaged not only in the collection of intelligence information,but also in covert operations which involved rigging electionsand manipulating labor unions abroad, carrying on paramilitaryoperations, overturning governments, assassinating foreign officials,protecting former Nazis and lying to Congress."former Senator George McGovern,1987STATE TERRORISMTERROR, REGIME CHANGE, COVERT OPERATIONS,FALSE FLAGS, ASSASSINATIONS "The easiest way to gaincontrol of a population is to carry out acts of terror."Josef Stalin"There has been almostno coup or government overthrow since 1945 not led by the US."John McMurtry"The reason why there areonly a few nations that do false flags is that you need reallytop-of-the-line covert operations teams. The U.S. has certainlygot them, and a few NATO nations have them. The other problemthat you have is that you need total control over mainstream media.The United States does. Brittan does. Israel does. They can beassured when something goes down they are going to have a totallysympathetic global media that will work hand in glove with them,and that will block out uncomfortable questions and the like."Richard Dolan"The U.S. military actsin the interests of the corporate and financial elite, as thosecountries that do not submit to American economic hegemony aredeemed enemies, and the military is ultimately sent in to implement'regime change'."Andrew Gavin Marshall"In the United States,every single terrorist incident we have had has been a false flagor has been an informant pushed on by the FBI."Robert David Steele, former CIAagent"The easiest way to carryout a false flag attack is by setting up a military exercise thatsimulates the very attack you want to carry out . This is exactlyhow government perpetrators in the US and UK handled the 9/11and 7/7 "terror" attacks, which were in reality governmentattacks blamed on "terrorists"."Captain Eric H. May, former Armymilitary intelligence and public affairs officer, 2008"9/11 was an example ofstate-sponsored, false-flag, synthetic terrorism. The 9/11 eventswere organized and directed by a rogue network of high governmentand military officials of the United States, with a certain participationby the intelligence agencies of Britain and Israel, and with amore general backup from the intelligence agencies of the otherEchelon states Australia, New Zealand, Canada."Webster Griffin Tarpley in hisbook "9/11 Synthetic Terror - made in the USA""For many Americans, theidea that we are living in a country whose own leaders plannedand carried out the attacks of 9/11 is simply too horrible toentertain. Unfortunately, however, there is strong evidence insupport of this view."9/11 and American Empire : IntellectualsSpeak Outedited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott"Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz,Stephen Hadley, Elliott Abrams, and Condoleezza Rice ran the attacks[9/11].It was called a stand down, a false flag operation in order tomobilize the American public under false pretenses... it was toldto me by the general on the staff of Wolfowitz.I taught stand down and false flag operations at the nationalwar college, I've taught it with all my operatives so I knew exactlywhat was done to the American public."Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik , DeputyAssistant Secretary of State under Nixon, Ford and Carter"Sandy Hook was what isknown as an Integrated Capstone Event (ICE), and these eventsinvolve numerous federal and local agencies including local police.This "event" was a drill that was put on by DHS andFEMA as a training exercise to coordinate federal, state and localemergency response teams in the case of a mass-casualty event.This was just a simulated event for training purposes. The eventwas not a real school shooting, and nobody actually died at SandyHook."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017POWER: "At half past ninethis morning we were actually running an exercise for a companyof over a thousand people in London based on simultaneous bombsgoing off precisely at the railway stations where it happenedthis morning, so I still have the hairs on the back of my neckstanding up right now." BBC HOST: "To get this quite straight, you were running anexercise to see how you would cope with this and it happened whileyou were running the exercise?" POWER: "Precisely."Peter Power, former Scotland Yardanti-terrorism agent, who was a contract employee working in governmentexercises on the day of the July 2007 London railway bombings- interviewed by BBC"The owner of all three[World Trade Center] buildings was Larry Silverstein, who hadrecently doubled the insurance value of the Twin Towers. He statedin a PBS interview that he and the New York Fire Department agreedto a controlled demolition of WTC 7. Since skyscrapers are not[normally] wired for demolition -- unless someone intends to demolishthem -- Silverstein's statement is an admission that 9/11 wasan inside job."Captain Eric H. May, former Armymilitary intelligence and public affairs officer, 2008"[Operation Northwoods]The U.S. government declassified documents showing that in the1960's, the American Joint Chiefs of Staff signed off on a planto blow up American airplanes, and also to commit terrorist actson American soil, and then to blame it on the Cubans in orderto justify an invasion of Cuba."Washington's Blog, Global Research,2010"The Israeli embassy hadbeen advised in advance by Scotland Yard of an impending bombattack [London, July 7, 2005]:Just before the blasts, Scotland Yard called the security officerat the Israeli Embassy to say they had received warnings of possibleattacks.... Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned byhis embassy not to attend an economic conference. Netanyahu wasstaying at the Aidridge Hotel in Mayfair. The conference venuewas a few miles away at the Great Eastern Hotel close to the Liverpoolsubway station; where one of the bomb blasts occurred."Michel Chossudovsky in his book" America's War on Terrorism""The former Italian PrimeMinister, an Italian judge, and the former head of Italian counterintelligenceadmit that NATO, with the help of the Pentagon and CIA, carriedout terror bombings in Italy and other European countries in the1950s and blamed the communists, in order to rally people's supportfor their governments in Europe in their fight against communism."Washington's Blog, 2010"At least until 1978, theIsraeli secret service infiltrated Italian subversive organizationsand on more than one occasion gave arms, money and informationto the terrorist Red Brigades. The Israeli plan was to reduceItaly to a country torn by civil war so that the United Stateswould have to depend more on Israel for security in the Mediterranean."Italian senior magistrate FerdinandoImposimato"The United States hasthe remarkable ability to stage exercises simulating the exactevents that are actually taking place, such as the bombing exercisein Boston, and the hijacking exercise on September 11, 2001. TheUnited Kingdom must have this ability as well because they wererunning a drill simulating a bombing of London's subway stationsat the exact same time that there was an actual bombing of London'ssubway system. What a coincidence."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017"The truth about 9/11 isso horrific that if the American people actually were to learnthat truth they would completely lose confidence in their system,because the truth of matter is that a faction of power in theUnited States - the neoconservative faction - orchestrated theevents of September 11, 2001, as a New Pearl Harbor designed tolaunch their agenda of world domination and a rollback of freedomin the United States."Dr. Kevin Barrett"If you tell a lie bigenough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believeit. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the Statecan shield the people from the political, economic and/or militaryconsequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important forthe State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for thetruth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, thetruth is the greatest enemy of the State."Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Ministerof Propaganda"The high officials, mediaexecutives and military officers who are bound by law and ethicsto serve the American people have become a textbook example ofa grand conspiracy. To look at it from their point of view, theyare historic actors who are beyond good and evil, who must stimulatethe American people to a necessary geostrategic adventure by anymeans necessary. To them, the official account of the 9/11 'terror'attacks is what Plato once described as the 'noble lie,' a necessaryfalsehood told to a childlike public in order to direct it maturely."Captain Eric H. May, former Armymilitary intelligence officer"A terrorist is someonewho has a bomb but doesn't have an air force."William Blum in his book "RogueState""Terrorism in the modernera is the means by which oligarchies wage secret wars againstthe people which it would be politically impossible to wage openly.Oligarchy, in turn, always has one and the same political program:the purpose and program of oligarchy is to perpetuate oligarchy."Webster Griffin Tarpley in hisbook "9/11 Synthetic Terror - made in the USA""Just like every US presidentbefore him, just like those who ran other great powers, BarackObama became a murderer and a terrorist, because the US has amachine that spans the globe, that has the capacity to kill, andObama has kept it set on kill. He could have flipped the switchand turned it off. The President has that power, but he chosenot to do so."journalist Allan Nairn, 2010"Terrorism has replacedCommunism as the rationale for the militarization of the country,for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civilliberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to createhysteria."Howard Zinn in his book "Terrorismand War""What occurred in OklahomaCity was no different than what Americans rain on the heads ofothers all the time ... The bombing of the Murrah building wasnot personal, no more than when Air Force, Army, Navy or Marinepersonnel bomb or launch cruise missiles against government installationsand their personnel. ... Many foreign nations and peoples hateAmericans for the very reasons most Americans loathe me. Thinkabout that."Timothy McVeigh, Gulf War veteranwho bombed a government building in Oklahoma City in 1995 - ina letter to Rita Cosby, Fox News Correspondent, April 27 2001"There are many terroriststates in the world, but the United States is unusual in thatit is officially committed to international terrorism."Noam Chomsky"If they do it it's terrorism,if we do it, it's fighting for freedom."Anthony Quainton, the U.S. ambassadorto Nicaragua, 1984"After World War II, inthe name of containing Communism, the United States, mostly throughthe actions of local allies, executed or encouraged coups in,among other places, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentinaand patronized a brutal mercenary war in Nicaragua ... By theend of the Cold War, Latin American security forces trained, funded,equipped, and incited by Washington had executed a reign of bloodyterror - hundreds of thousands killed, an equal number tortured,millions driven into exile-from which the region has yet to fullyrecover."Greg Grandin in his book "Empire'sWorkshop""The trigger for militarycoups in Latin America was less the elite fear of Soviet encroachmentor guerrilla threats than fears of popular demands for socialreform and democratic change."J. Patrice McSherry in the book"Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in LatinAmerica""Since the end of worldWar II the United States has:* endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, mostof which were democratically elected* grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries* attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders * dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries * attempted to suppress a populist or nationalist movement in20 countries.Since 1945, the United States has carried out one or more of theabove-listed actions, on one or more occasions, in seventy-onecountries (more than one-third of the countries of the world),in the process of which the US has ended the lives of severalmillion people, condemned many millions more to a life of agonyand despair and has been responsible for the torture of countlessthousands.William Blum, 2016"It is unlikely the Hondurascoup took place without the knowledge of the U.S. military, whichhas a base in that country. The coup is a message from Latin Americanand U.S. 'ultraconservatives' to keep leftist governments in line."Ecuador's President Rafael Correa.July 2009"The Americans who engineeredcountless military coups, death squads and massacres in LatinAmerica never paid for their crimes - instead they got promotedand they're now running the 'War on Terror".Naomi Klein"The democratically electedpresident of Honduras Manuel Zelaya, had called for a new constitutionto replace the old one that was really set up by the oligarchyin favor of the very wealthy and the international companies.He also called for a 60 percent increase in the bottom wage rate,which had a huge impact on Dole and Chiquita, two of the biggestemployers in that company. They, along with a number of companiesthat have sweatshops in Honduras, strongly objected, very muchthe same way that they had objected to Aristide in Haiti, whenhe did something similar, and called in the military. The generalin charge of the military was a graduate of our School of theAmericas, this, you know, school that's famous for creating dictators,and they overthrew Zelaya. It was a classic CIA-sponsored typeof coup, very similar to what United Fruit had done in Guatemalain the early '50s. And, of course, United Fruit became Chiquita."John Perkins, 2009"The coups in Iran, Guatemala,South Vietnam, and Chile were not rogue operations. Presidents,cabinet secretaries, national security advisers, and CIA directorsapproved them. The first thing all four of these coups have incommon is that American leaders promoted them consciously, willfully,deliberately, and in strict accordance with the laws of the UnitedStates."Stephen Kinzer in his book "Overthrow:America's Century of Regime Change from Haiti to Iraq""Coups do not happen in LatinAmerica without the support of those with power in the US."Bill Quigley and Laura Raymond,2010" It was under Johnsonthat Washington began either to organize or patronize a cycleof coups starting in Brazil in 1964, continuing through Uruguay,Bolivia, and Chile, and ending in Argentina in 1976."Greg Grandin in his book "Empire'sWorkshop""The coup against Aristide,then, must be understood not in isolation, but as the culminationof activities that really began the minute he was re-elected in2000. Destabilization efforts by the U.S. government, active U.S.support for the creation of a so-called civil-society opposition,and eventually the invasion of Haiti by an armed band of criminalsand murderers were all part of a process designed to ensure thatHaiti would return fully to the fold of the U.S. empire and itsminions in Haiti."Bill Fletcher, Jr, 2004"The United States supportedauthoritarian regimes throughout Central and South America duringand after the Cold War in defense of its economic and politicalinterests.In tiny Guatemala, the Central Intelligence Agency mounted a coupoverthrowing the democratically elected government in 1954, andit backed subsequent rightwing governments against small leftistrebel groups for four decades. Roughly 200,000 civilians died.In Chile, a CIA-supported coup helped put General Augusto Pinochetin power from 1973 to 1990. In Peru, a fragile democratic government is still unraveling theagency's role in a decade of support for the now-deposed and disgracedpresident, Alberto K. Fujimori.The United States had to invade Panama in 1989 to topple its narco-dictator,Manuel A. Noriega, who, for almost 20 years, was a valued informantfor American intelligence."John Perkins in his book "Confessionsof Economic Hit Man""Jean-Bertrand Aristide'ssecond term as President of Haiti would end the same way as hadhis first had, cut short in a U.S.-backed coup d'état.Aristide's opposition to neoliberalism, his defiant stance towardsthe U.S. and France, and his enduring popularity with Haiti'spoor had made him a marked man from the very beginning of histerm in February 2001."Nik Barry-Shaw, 2008"On June 28, 2009, HonduranPresident Manuel Zelaya was awakened by gunfire. A coup was carriedout by US-trained military officers, including graduates of theinfamous US Army School of the Americas (WHINSEC) in Georgia.President Zelaya was illegally taken to Costa Rica. Democracy in Honduras ended as a de facto government of the richand powerful seized control. A sham election backed by the USconfirmed the leadership of the coup powers. The US and powerfullobbyists continue to roam the hemisphere trying to convince otherLatin American countries to normalize relations with the coupgovernment."Bill Quigley and Laura Raymond,2010"History is repeating itselfin Haiti, as democracy is being destroyed for the second timein the past fifteen years. Amazingly, the main difference seemsto be that this time it is being done openly and in broad daylight,with the support of the "international community" andthe United Nations... The US Agency for International Development and the InternationalRepublican Institute (the international arm of the RepublicanParty) had spent tens of millions of dollars to create and organizean opposition ... and to make Haiti under Aristide ungovernable.... Taking advantage of Haiti's desperate poverty and dependenceon foreign aid, it stopped international aid to the government,from the summer of 2000 until the 2004 coup."Mark Weisbrot, 2005"In March 1982, GeneralEfrain Rios Montt seized power in Guatemala in a military coup.An avowed fundamentalist Christian, he immediately impressed Washingtonwhere President Reagan hailed Rios Montt as "a man of greatpersonal integrity." But under Rios Montt, the slaughterin the countryside and selective assassinations in the citiesonly grew worse.By July 1982, Rios Montt had begun a new scorched-earth campaigncalled his "rifles and beans" policy. The slogan meantthat pacified Indians would get "beans," while all otherscould expect to be the target of army "rifles." In October,he secretly gave carte blanche to the feared "Archivos"intelligence unit to expand "death squad" operations.Based at the Presidential Palace, the "Archivos" mastermindedmany of Guatemala's most notorious assassinations.The U.S. embassy was soon hearing more accounts of the army conductingIndian massacres. However, during a swing through Latin America,Reagan discounted the mounting reports of hundreds of Mayan villagesbeing eradicated. On December 4, 1982, after meeting with dictatorRios Montt, Reagan hailed the general as "totally dedicatedto democracy" and asserted that Rios Montt's government was"getting a bum rap."On January 7, 1983, Reagan lifted the ban on military aid to Guatemalaand authorized the sale of $6 million in military hardware. Approvalcovered spare parts for UH-1H helicopters and A-37 aircraft usedin counterinsurgency operations. Radios, batteries and batterychargers were also in the package. State Department spokesmanJohn Hughes said political violence in the cities had "declineddramatically" and that rural conditions had improved, too.In February 1983, however, a secret CIA cable noted a rise in"suspect right-wing violence" with kidnappings of studentsand teachers. Bodies of victims were appearing in ditches andgullies. CIA sources traced these political murders to Rios Montt'sorder to the "Archivos" in October to "apprehend,hold, interrogate and dispose of suspected guerrillas as theysaw fit."Despite these grisly facts on the ground, the annual State Departmenthuman rights survey praised the supposedly improved human rightssituation in Guatemala. "The overall conduct of the armedforces had improved by late in the year" 1982, the reportstated."Robert Parry in his book "Secrecy& Privilege""The President of HaitiJean-Bertrand Aristide did not resign. He was abducted by theUnited States in the commission of a coup."Randall Robinson, the founder andformer director of TransAfrica, 2004"It is firm and continuingpolicy that Allende be overthrown by a coup. We are to continueto generate maximum pressure toward this end utilizing every appropriateresource. It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinelyand securely so that United States Government and American handbe well hidden."cable outlining CIA objectivesin Chile to the station chief in Santiago"In Indonesia in 1965 agroup of young military officers attempted a coup against theU.S.-backed military establishment and murdered six of seven topmilitary officers. The Agency seized this opportunity to overthrowSukarno and to destroy the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI),which had three million members. Estimates of the number of deathsthat occurred as a result of this CIA operation run from one-halfmillion to more than one million people."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""At the time of the RiosMontt coup d'etat in March 1982, the Israeli press referred tothe Montt coup as "the Israeli connection" because thatgroup was "trained and equipped by Israel"... Rios Montt himself told ABC News reporters that his coup hadbeen successful because "many of our soldiers were trainedby the Israelis"."Bishara Bahbah in her book "Israeland Latin America: The Military Connection""The U.S. wants to overthrowPresident Hugo Chavez to put Venezuela in line with their otherclients in Latin America and knock down the only government thatoffers an alternative foreign policy for the whole region. Theydon't want that alternative present. That's why this coup was planned, directed, and financed by theBush administration. It wasn't just the CIA. The assistant secretaryof state for Western hemisphere affairs was involved - I'm talkingabout the Cuban terrorist exile Otto Reich. I'm talking aboutpeople like Elliot Abrams, who was in the Reagan administrationand involved in justifying the killings in Central America, whichamounted to 300,000 deaths. I'm talking about John Negroponte,the U.S. ambassador to the UN, who was involved with the deathsquads in Honduras. You have thugs running U.S. policy in Latin America, who are capablenot only of overthrowing a government but engaging in the kindof violent repression that was launched in those 24 hours of thecoup against Hugo Chavez."James Petras interview, 2002"80 percent of the officerswho carried out the 1964 coup against President Goulart [Brazil]had been trained by the United States."Penny Lernoux in her book "Cryof the People""The moment of GuatamalanPresident Arbenz's fall is the moment history stopped in Guatemalaor took another course, the army withdrawing support for an electedgovernment that had relied upon it, joining in a CIA-supportedcoup replacing democrat with dictator, and beginning forty yearsof military repression."Kate Millett in her book "Politicsof Cruelty""Documents clearly show knowledge of the detailed plansfor the coup against Chávez, written by CIA financial andadvisory agencies like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National DemocraticInstitute (NDI) and the Center for International Private Enterprise(CIPE) financed all the groups, NGOs, trade unions, businesspeople,political parties and the media involved in the coup."Eva Golinger, 2008"In Guatemala, United Fruitsupported the CIA-backed 1954 military coup against PresidentJacobo Arbenz, a reformer who had carried out a land reform package.Arbenz' overthrow led to more than thirty years of unrest andcivil war in Guatemala."Nikolas Kozloff, 2009"On September 11, 1973,General Augusto Pinochet orchestrated a coup d'état, withthe aid and participation of the CIA, against the Allende governmentof Chile, overthrowing it and installing Pinochet as dictator.The next day, an economic plan for the country was on the desksof the General Officers of the Armed Forces who performed governmentduties. The plan entailed "privatization, deregulation andcuts to social spending," written up by "U.S.-trainedeconomists." These were the essential concepts in neoliberalthought, which, through the oil crises of the 1970s, would beforced upon the developing world through the World Bank and IMF."Andrew Gavin Marshall"The coups in Iran, Guatemala,South Vietnam, and Chile were all "what the President ordered."They were not rogue operations. Presidents, cabinet secretaries,national security advisers, and CIA directors approved them, authorizedby the 1947 law that created the CIA and assigned it "dutiesrelated to intelligence affecting the national security."The first thing all four of these coups have in common is thatAmerican leaders promoted them consciously, willfully, deliberately,and in strict accordance with the laws of the United States."Stephen Kinzer in his book "Overthrow:America's Century of Regime Change from Haiti to Iraq""Right wing American ideologuesand shell NGOs based out of Washington played a critical rolein the coup in Honduras in 2009, and are hell bent on stoppingthe growing populist movements throughout Latin America from gainingmore influence and power."Bill Quigley and Laura Raymond"The United States hasoverthrown governments in Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines,Nicaragua, Honduras, Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, Chile, Grenada,Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq, not to mention the Congo (1960);Ecuador (1961 & 1963); Brazil (1961 & 1964); the DominicanRepublic (1961 & 1963); Greece (1965 & 1967); Bolivia(1964 & 1971); El Salvador (1961); Guyana (1964); Indonesia(1965); Ghana (1966); and of course Haiti (1991 and 2004). We'vereplaced democracy with dictatorship, dictatorship with chaos,and local rule with US. domination and occupation."David Swanson in his book "WarIs A Lie""The U.S. military actsin the interests of the corporate and financial elite, as thosecountries that do not submit to American economic hegemony aredeemed enemies, and the military is ultimately sent in to implement"regime change." "Andrew Gavin Marshall"From 1945 to 2003, theUnited States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments,and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements fightingagainst intolerable regimes. In the process, the US bombed some25 countries, caused the end of life for several million people,and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair."William Blum in his book "KillingHope""The United States hasattacked, directly or indirectly, some 44 countries throughoutthe world since August 1945, a number of them many times. Theavowed objective of these military interventions has been to effect"regime change". The cloaks of "human rights"and of "democracy" were invariably evoked to justifywhat were unilateral and illegal acts."Professor Eric Waddell, GlobalResearch, 2007"Directing and encouragingethnic cleansing, playing one nationality off of another, bombingcivilian infrastructure and murdering civilians [in Yugoslaviain the 1990s] ­ these acts engaged in by the U.S. and itsNATO allies took place under the pleasant halo of 'humanitarianintervention.'"Paul D'Amato, Dissident Voice,2008"So how do you improvethe business climate in third world countries? Well, it's easy.You murder priests (that is, priests and other religiously orientedgroups who are involved too much with the concerns of the people- i.e., the "Marynollers," the Quakers, Catholic priestsinvolved in Liberation Theology, etc), you torture peasant organizers,you destroy popular organizations, you institute mass murder andrepression to crush any popular organizations (which might tryto help the poor). And that improves the investment climate. Sothere's a secondary correlation between American aid and the deteriorationof human rights. It's entirely natural that we should tend toaid countries that are egregious violators of fundamental humanrights and that torture their citizens, and that's indeed whatwe find."Noam Chomsky"The greatest myth concerningAmerican foreign policies is the deeply-held belief that no matterwhat the United States does abroad, no matter how bad it may look,no matter what horror may result, the American government meanswell. American leaders may make mistakes, they may blunder, theymay even on the odd occasion cause more harm than good, but theydo mean well. Their intentions are always honorable. Of that Americansare certain. They genuinely wonder why the rest of the world can'tsee how kind and generous and self-sacrificing America has been."author William Blum"The United States hasattacked, directly or indirectly, some 44 countries throughoutthe world since August 1945, a number of them many times. Theavowed objective of these military interventions has been to effect"regime change". The cloaks of "human rights"and of "democracy" were invariably evoked to justifywhat were unilateral and illegal acts."Professor Eric Waddell, The UnitedStates' Global Military Crusade (1945- ), Global Research, February2007"In the last decades ofthe twentieth century, self-interest, sovereignty and taking careof number one became the primary criteria for any serious provisionof support or resources to the globe's trouble spots. If the countryin question is of any possible strategic value to the world powers,then it seems that everything from covert operations to the outrightuse of overwhelming force is fair game. If it is not, indifferenceis the order of the day."former Lieutenant-General RomeoDallaire who commanaded the UN peacekeping force in Rwanda in1993-1994"The CIA had developeda program to assassinate the President of Zaire [later DemocraticRepublic of the Congo (DRC)] Patrice Lumumba. The operation, didn'twork. It was to give poison to Lumumba. And they couldn't finda setting in which to get the poison to him successfully in away that it wouldn't appear to be a CIA operation. Instead, theCIA chief of station in Zaire talked to Lumumba aide and Belgiansecurity police informer Joseph Mobutu about the threat that Lumumbaposed, and Mobutu had his men kill Lumumba."former CIA agent John Stockwell"All during the lengthof my fight for the independence of my country, I have never doubtedfor a single instant the final triumph of the sacred cause towhich my companions and myself have consecrated our lives. Butwhat we wish for our country, its right to an honorable life,to a spotless dignity, to an independence without restrictions,Belgian colonialism and its Western allies - who have found directand indirect support, deliberate and not deliberate among certainhigh officials of the United Nations, this organization in whichwe placed all our confidence when we called for their assistance- have not wished it.... History will one day have its say, but it will not be thehistory that Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nationswill teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipatedfrom colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history,and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, ahistory of glory and dignity."Patrice Lumumba's last letter tohis wife before his assassination, December 1960"Do American leaders reallybelieve the utterances that emanate from their mouths? When thewords "god" and "prayer" are regularly invokedin their talks, while American Hellfire missiles are sent screaminginto a city center or a village marketplace teeming with life...when they carry on endlessly about democracy and freedom, whileAmerican soldiers are smashing down doors, dragging off the men,humiliating the women, traumatizing the children... when theyproclaim the liberation of a people and the bringing forth ofa better life, while vast quantities of American depleted uraniumare exploding into a fine vapor which will poison the air, thesoil, the blood, and the genes forever."William Blum in is book "Freeingthe World to Death""The Americans who engineeredcountless military coups, death squads and massacres in LatinAmerica never paid for their crimes - instead they got promotedand they're now running the 'War on Terror".Naomi Klein"The coup against Aristide,then, must be understood not in isolation, but as the culminationof activities that really began the minute he was re-elected in2000. Destabilization efforts by the U.S. government, active U.S.support for the creation of a so-called civil-society opposition,and eventually the invasion of Haiti by an armed band of criminalsand murderers were all part of a process designed to ensure thatHaiti would return fully to the fold of the U.S. empire and itsminions in Haiti."Bill Fletcher, Jr, 2004"The United States... supportedauthoritarian regimes throughout Central and South America duringand after the Cold War in defense of its economic and politicalinterests.In tiny Guatemala, the Central Intelligence Agency mounted a coupoverthrowing the democratically elected government in 1954, andit backed subsequent rightwing governments against small leftistrebel groups for four decades. Roughly 200,000 civilians died.In Chile, a CIA-supported coup helped put General Augusto Pinochetin power from 1973 to 1990. In Peru, a fragile democratic government is still unraveling theagency's role in a decade of support for the now-deposed and disgracedpresident, Alberto K. Fujimori.The United States had to invade Panama in 1989 to topple its narco-dictator,Manuel A. Noriega, who, for almost 20 years, was a valued informantfor American intelligence."John Perkins in his book "Confessionsof Economic Hit Man""The United States hadinvaded small Caribbean and Central American countries on numerousoccasions throughout the 20th century. Indeed, before the onsetof Franklin Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy in the 1930s, Washingtonroutinely overthrew regimes it disliked."Ted Galen Carpenter, 2010"There appears to be somethingabout launching bombs or missiles from afar onto cities and peoplethat appeals to American military and political leaders. In partit has to do with a conscious desire to not risk American livesin ground combat. And in part, perhaps not entirely conscious,it has to do with not wishing to look upon the gory remains ofthe victims, allowing American GIs and TV viewers at home to clingto their warm fuzzy feelings about themselves and their government."William Blum in his book "RogueState""A Pentagon memo that describeshow we're going to take out seven countries in five years, startingwith Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and,finishing off with Iran."General Wesley Clark, DemocracyNow, March 2, 2007"We are not hated becausewe practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights.Weare hated because our government denies these things to peoplein Third World countries whose resources are coveted by our multinationalcorporations.That hatred we have sown has come back to hauntus in the form of terrorism and in the future, nuclear terrorism."Robert Bowman, Vietnam Veteran"The CIA orchestrated coup[s]in Guatemala in 1954 and the military occupations of the DominicanRepublic in 1965 and Grenada in 1983... Whatever other motivesmay have been involved, the Cold War provided the indispensablejustification for intervention. And for all the rhetoric aboutdemocracy and human rights that U.S. presidents employed duringthe struggle against communism, there was no indication that Washingtonwould later revert to the practice of coercing Latin Americancountries merely, in Woodrow Wilson's infamous words, to teachthose societies "to elect good men.""Ted Galen Carpenter, 2010"Since World War Two theUnited States has attempted to overthrow more than fifty foreigngovernments, it has dropped bombs on the people of around thirtycountries, has attempted to assassinate some sixty foreign leaders,helped to suppress dozens of populist or nationalist movements,has tortured many thousands, and seriously and illegally intervenedin one way or another in virtually every country on the planet,in the process of which the U.S. has caused the end of life forseveral million people, and condemned many millions more to alife of agony and despair."author William Blum, in a speechat the University of Vermont, November 2, 2007"Interventions are notagainst dictators but against those who try to distribute: notagainst Jiménez in Venezuela but Chávez, not againstSomoza in Nicaragua but the Sandinistas, not against Batista inCuba but Castro, not against Pinochet in Chile but Allende, notagainst Guatemala dictators but Arbenz, not against the shah inIran but Mossadegh."Johan Galtung, Norwegian founderof the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies"After World War II, inthe name of containing Communism, the United States, mostly throughthe actions of local allies, executed or encouraged coups in,among other places, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentinaand patronized a brutal mercenary war in Nicaragua ... By theend of the Cold War, Latin American security forces trained, funded,equipped, and incited by Washington had executed a reign of bloodyterror - hundreds of thousands killed, an equal number tortured,millions driven into exile-from which the region has yet to fullyrecover."Greg Grandin in his book "Empire'sWorkshop""The coups in Iran, Guatemala,South Vietnam, and Chile were all "what the President ordered."They were not rogue operations. Presidents, cabinet secretaries,national security advisers, and CIA directors approved them, authorizedby the 1947 law that created the CIA and assigned it "dutiesrelated to intelligence affecting the national security."The first thing all four of these coups have in common is thatAmerican leaders promoted them consciously, willfully, deliberately,and in strict accordance with the laws of the United States."Stephen Kinzer in his book "Overthrow:America's Century of Regime Change from Haiti to Iraq""American foreign-policymakers are exquisitely attuned to the rise of a government, ora movement that might take power, that will not lie down and happilybecome an American client state, that will not look upon the freemarket or the privatization of the world known as "globalization"as the highest good, that will not change its laws to favor foreigninvestment, that will not be unconcerned about the effects offoreign investment upon the welfare of its own people, that willnot produce primarily for export, that will not easily toleratethe International Monetary Fund or the World Trade Organizationinflicting a scorched-earth policy upon the country's social servicesor standard of living, that will not allow an American or NATOmilitary installation upon its soil. Given the proper pretext,such bad examples have to be reduced to basket cases, or, wherefeasible, simply overthrown."William Blum"Patrice Lumumba was thefirst elected Prime Minister and ascended to power in the Congoon June 30, 1960, the date of Congo' s independence from Belgium.Within ten weeks of being elected, Lumumba's government was deposedin a coup. He was subsequently imprisoned and assassinated onJanuary 17, 1961 by Western powers (United States, Belgium, France,England and the United Nations) in cahoots with local leaderssuch as Moise Tshombe and Joseph Desire Mobutu (Mobutu Sese Seko)."friendsofthecongo.org"The trigger for militarycoups in Latin America were fears of popular demands for socialreform and democratic change."J. Patrice McSherry in the book"Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in LatinAmerica""The result of neo-colonialismis that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather thanfor the development of the less developed parts of the world.Investment, under neo-colonialism, increases, rather than decreases,the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world.The struggle against neo-colonialism is not aimed at excludingthe capital of the developed world from operating in less developedcountries. It is aimed at preventing the financial power of thedeveloped countries being used in such a way as to impoverishthe less developed."Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana1957-1966U.S. Military and CIA Interventionssince World War IIIran (1953); Guatemala(1954);Thailand (1957); Laos (1958-60); the Congo (1960); Turkey (1960,1971 & 1980); Ecuador (1961 & 1963); South Vietnam (1963);Brazil (1964); the Dominican Republic (1963); Argentina (1963);Honduras (1963 & 2009); Iraq (1963 & 2003); Bolivia (1964,1971 & 1980); Indonesia (1965); Ghana (1966); Greece (1967);Panama (1968 & 1989); Cambodia (1970); Chile (1973); Bangladesh(1975); Pakistan (1977); Grenada (1983); Mauritania (1984); Guinea(1984); Burkina Faso (1987); Paraguay (1989); Haiti (1991 &2004); Russia (1993); Uganda (1996);and Libya (2011). This listdoes not include a roughly equal number of failed coups, nor coupsin Africa and elsewhere in which a U.S. role is suspected butunproven.from William Blum's book "KillingHope""On June 28, 2009, HonduranPresident Manuel Zelaya was awakened by gunfire. A coup was carriedout by US-trained military officers, including graduates of theinfamous US Army School of the Americas (WHINSEC) in Georgia.President Zelaya was illegally taken to Costa Rica. Democracy in Honduras ended as a de facto government of the richand powerful seized control. A sham election backed by the USconfirmed the leadership of the coup powers. The US and powerfullobbyists continue to roam the hemisphere trying to convince otherLatin American countries to normalize relations with the coupgovernment."Bill Quigley and Laura Raymond,2010"It is firm and continuingpolicy that Allende be overthrown by a coup.... We are to continueto generate maximum pressure toward this end utilizing every appropriateresource. It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinelyand securely so that United States Government and American handbe well hidden."cable outlining CIA objectivesin Chile to the station chief in Santiago"In Indonesia in 1965 agroup of young military officers attempted a coup against theU.S.-backed military establishment and murdered six of seven topmilitary officers. The Agency seized this opportunity to overthrowSukarno and to destroy the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI),which had three million members... Estimates of the number ofdeaths that occurred as a result of this CIA ... operation runfrom one-half million to more than one million people."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""80 percent of the officerswho carried out the 1964 coup against Brazilian President Goularthad been trained by the United States."Penny Lernoux in her book "Cryof the People""Documents written by theCIA clearly show knowledge of the detailed plans for the coupagainst Hugo Chávez in 2002... Financial and advisory agencieslike the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the InternationalRepublican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute(NDI) and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)financed all the groups, NGOs, trade unions, businesspeople, politicalparties and the media involved in the coup."Eva Golinger, 2008"Paul Kagame is possiblythe greatest mass murderer alive today. The fact that Paul Kagamecontinues to live and work freely in the world, unthreatened by"international justice", celebrated as the Abe Lincolnof his war-torn domain in central Africa, and highly regardedand honored in the United States, Britain, and Canada, shows usunambiguously that when the events in Rwanda 1994 are at issue,things as fragile as truth and historical clarity are only ableto survive as exiles from these powers."Edward S. Herman and David Peterson,2014"In Guatemala, United Fruitsupported the CIA-backed 1954 military coup against PresidentJacobo Arbenz, a reformer who had carried out a land reform package.Arbenz' overthrow led to more than thirty years of unrest andcivil war in Guatemala."Nikolas Kozloff, 2009"On September 11, 1973,General Augusto Pinochet orchestrated a coup d'état, withthe aid and participation of the CIA, against the Allende governmentof Chile, overthrowing it and installing Pinochet as dictator.The next day, an economic plan for the country was on the desksof the General Officers of the Armed Forces who performed governmentduties. The plan entailed privatization, deregulation and cutsto social spending, written up by U.S.-trained economists. Thesewere the essential concepts in neoliberal thought, which, throughthe oil crises of the 1970s, would be forced upon the developingworld through the World Bank and IMF."Andrew Gavin MarshallTHE ENFORCERSPENTAGON-NATO-SECURITYCOMPLEX"Coming to grips with U.S./CIAactivities in broad numbers and figuring out how many people havebeen killed in the jungles of Laos or the hills of Nicaragua isvery difficult. But, adding them up as best we can, we come upwith a figure of six million people killed-and this is a minimumfigure. Included are: one million killed in the Korean War, twomillion killed in the Vietnam War, 800,000 killed in Indonesia,one million in Cambodia, 20,000 killed in Angola, and 22,000 killedin Nicaragua. These people would not have died if U.S. tax dollarshad not been spent by the CIA to inflame tensions, finance covertpolitical and military activities and destabilize societies."John Stockwell, CIA official inthe 1960s and 1970s"The world of secret intelligenceagencies is a realm of falsehood, camouflage, deception, violence,unspeakable cruelty, treachery, and betrayal. It is the most desolateand grim sector of human endeavor, where no human values can subsist.It knows neither hope nor mercy nor redemption."Webster Griffin Tarpley in hisbook "9/11 Synthetic Terror - made in the USA""Fundamentally, the foundingfathers of U.S. intelligence were liars. The better you lied andthe more you betrayed, the more likely you would be promoted.. . . Outside of their duplicity, the only thing they had in commonwas a desire for absolute power. ... Dulles, Helms, Wisner werethe grand masters. If you were in a room with them, you were ina room full of people that you had to believe would deservedlyend up in hell."James Jesus Angleton, CIA counterintelligenceoperative"BCCI [Bank of Credit andCommerce International] would become the mixing bowl into whichPersian Gulf petrodollars were stirred with generous helpingsof drug money to finance worldwide covert operations for the CIAand its Israeli Mossad and British MI6 partners."Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""The CIA's control of theMSM (mainstream media) is so complete today that every evil governmentaction is immediately seconded, whether it be the lies about theattacks of September 11, 2001, the wars against Afghanistan, Iraq,Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc., the coup in Ukraine, the downing ofthe Malaysian jetliner, drone murders, the looting of the Americanpeople by the elites, alleged sarin gas attacks in Syria, theanti-Russia bashing - everything."Edward Curtin, 2017"There has been since almostthe earliest days of the Israeli state and the earliest days ofthe CIA a secret bond, basically by which Israeli intelligencedid jobs for the CIA and for the rest of American intelligence.You can't understand what's been going on with American covertoperations and the Israeli covert operations until you understandthis secret arrangement."journalist Andrew Cockburn"Intelligence agenciesand powerful business syndicates, which are allied with organizedcrime, are competing for the strategic control over the heroinroutes. The multi-billion dollar revenues of narcotics are depositedin the Western banking system. Most of the large internationalbanks, together with their affiliates in the offshore bankinghavens, launder large amounts of narco-dollars.This trade can only prosper if the main actors involved in narcoticshave "political friends in high places". Legal and illegalundertakings are increasingly intertwined; the dividing line between"business people" and criminals is blurred."Michel Chossudovsky in his book" America's War on Terrorism""Intelligence, government,and organized crime interests are intimately connected and operateoutside the law (and public scrutiny) to preserve and promotetheir self-interests. Regrettably, they all joined forces in 1963to eliminate the last American president who wasn't bought, sold,and controlled by the Globalist money interests."Michael Collins Piper"The Safari Club, formedby the intelligence services of Saudi Arabia, Israel, France,Iran, Egypt, and Morocco in 1976 - with a "wink and a nod"from the Central Intelligence Agency-was responsible for muchof the West's clandestine operations against the Soviet Unionin conflict zones extending from Afghanistan to Somalia and Angolato Nicaragua."Wayne Madsen, 2018"The cooperation and interpenetrationof the Anglo-American intelligence agencies is overwhelming andthoroughly institutionalized. The CIA and MI-6 are virtually Siamesetwins sharing a number of vital organs."Webster Griffin Tarpley in hisbook "9/11 Synthetic Terror - made in the USA""The hidden agenda behindthe Anglo-American "trans-Atlantic bridge" is to eventuallydisplace the Franco-German military conglomerates and ensure thedominance of the US military industrial complex (in alliance withBritain's major defense contractors).Moreover, this integration in the area of defense production hasbeen matched by increased cooperation between the CIA and Britain'sMI6 in the sphere of intelligence and covert operations, not tomention the joint operations of British and US Special Forces."Michel Chossudovsky in his book "America's War on Terrorism",2005"The CIA is not now norhas it ever been a central intelligence agency. It is the covertaction arm of the President's foreign policy advisers. In thatcapacity it overthrows or supports foreign governments while reporting"intelligence" justifying those activities... Disinformationis a large part of its covert action responsibility, and the Americanpeople are the primary target audience of its lies.... The Agency's task is to develop an intemational anti-communistideology. The CIA then links every egalitarian political movementto the scourge of intemational communism. This then prepares theAmerican people and many in the world community for the secondstage, the destruction of those movements. For egalitarianismis the enemy and it must not be allowed to exist."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""We live in an era in whichpolitical and social reality are incessantly manipulated by hugeand pervasive intelligence agencies - CIA, FBI, MI6, FSB (KGB), Mossad."Webster Griffin Tarpley in hisbook "9/11 Synthetic Terror - made in the USA""The very best CIA, Mossadand MI6 agents are recruited to become better paid private spooksfor multinational corporate and banking empires."Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""The Church committee reportmade it clear that the CIA had, directly or indirectly, been involvedin assassination plots, coups, or attempted coups against eightforeign leaders: Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba, Patrice Lumumbaof the Congo, Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, PresidentSalvador Allende and General René Schneider of Chile, PresidentNgo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, President François Duvalierof Haiti, and President Sukarno of Indonesia."David Wise in his book "TheAmerican Police State:The Government Against the People""Mounting numbers of victims,the millions of people whose lives have been trampled or splatteredby CIA operations are increasingly cynical of America. Becauseof the CIA the world is a more dangerous place. Americans havereduced credibility. Worst of all, by retaining the CIA we areaccepting ourselves as a harsh and ruthless people. It's the wronggame for a great nation."former CIA agent John Stockwell"The CIA and the US StateDepartment remained primary sponsors of the Argentine militaryjunta, which was led by General Jorge Videla. On February 16,1976, six weeks before the coup, Robert Hill, the US ambassadorto Argentina, reported to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger thatthe plans for the coup were underway and that a public relationscampaign had been mounted that would cast the new military regimein a positive light."Paul L. William in his book "OperationGladio", 2015"Between 1996 and 2002,the United States, planned, financed, and helped execute everymajor terrorist incident by Chechen rebels (and the Mujahideen)against Russia. Between 1996 and 2002, the United States, planned,financed, and helped execute every single uprising and terrorrelated scheme in Xinjiang."Sibel Edmonds, FBI Whistleblower,2010"The policy of guidingthe evolution of Islam and of helping them [Muslims] against ouradversaries worked marvelously well in Afghanistan against theRed Army. The same doctrines can still be used to destabilizewhat remains of Russian power, and especially to counter the Chineseinfluence in Central Asia."Graham Fuller, CIA spy"Al Qaeda has been supportedand financed from its inception in the early 1980s by the CIA."Michel Chossudovsky, 2012"Business people manipulatepolitical and social movements, including terrorists and counterterrorists,through instruments like the CIA, so they can make more money.The police keep resistant poor and black neighborhoods in lockdown.The FBI manipulates lost, insecure, and even intellectually disabledindividuals into attempting acts of terrorism, which they thenjump in to prevent. The CIA conducts false flag operations allover the world to enhance public fear of terrorists, even as theyarm and train them in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to overthrow electedgovernments."Douglas Valentine, 2017"The Association for ResponsibleDissent estimates that by 1987, six million people had died asa result of CIA covert operations ... Unlucky nations are targetedfor a wide variety of reasons: not only threats to American businessinterests abroad, but also liberal or even moderate social reforms,political instability, the unwillingness of a leader to carryout Washington's dictates, and declarations of neutrality in theCold War. "Steve Kangas,1994"It is the function ofthe CIA to keep the world unstable, and to propagandize and teachthe American people to hate, so we will let the Establishmentspend any amount of money on arms."John Stockwell, CIA official inthe 1960s and 1970s"Theodore Shackley oneof the CIA's most infamous agents, had helped to set up the herointrade in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and had overseenOperation Phoenix, which involved the killing of 40,000 noncombatantVietnamese who were suspected of collaborating with the Viet Cong.He also served as a principal figure in Nugan Hand Bank, overseeingthe deposit of billions in black funds into the Australian laundry.From Australia, he went to South America, where he took an activepart in Operation Condor by organizing death squads. In Chile,he teamed up with Stefano Delle Chiaie for the murder of SalvadorAllende."Paul L. William in his book "OperationGladio", 2015"The CIA's highly structuredassassination program in Vietnam - the Phoenix Program - is thetemplate for "the war on terror"."Edward Curtin, 2017"Secret CIA operationsconstitute the usually unseen efforts to shore up unjust, unpopular,minority governments, always with the hope that overt militaryintervention (as in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic) will notbe necessary. The more successful CIA operations are, the moreremote overt intervention becomes - and the more remote becomereforms. Latin America in the 1960s is all the proof one needs."Philip Agee in his book "CIADiary""In my 30 year historyin the Drug Enforcement Administration and related agencies, themajor targets of my investigations almost invariably turned outto be working for the CIA."Dennis Dayle, former chief of anelite DEA enforcement unit"It isn't only Gestapomaniacs who do inhuman things to people. The CIA is responsiblefor doing inhuman things on a massive scale to people all overthe world."former CIA agent John Stockwell"The CIA is not now norhas it ever been a central intelligence agency. It is the covertaction arm of the President's foreign policy advisers. In thatcapacity it overthrows or supports foreign governments while reporting"intelligence" justifying those activities... Disinformationis a large part of its covert action responsibility, and the Americanpeople are the primary target audience of its lies.... The Agency's task is to develop an intemational anti-communistideology. The CIA then links every egalitarian political movementto the scourge of intemational communism. This then prepares theAmerican people and many in the world community for the secondstage, the destruction of those movements. For egalitarianismis the enemy and it must not be allowed to exist."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""President Truman authorizedAllen Dulles to supervise the organization of the new agency (CIA).Dulles recruited almost exclusively the nation's elite: millionairebusinessmen, Wall Street bankers and lawyers, members of the nationalnews media, and Ivy League scholars. The new recruits includedDesmond Fitzgerald, Tracy Barnes, and Tommy "the Cork"Corcoran, three Harvard-trained Wall Street lawyers; Richard Bissell,a Yale economics professor; William F. Buckley, Jr., a Yale graduateand son of a prominent oil baron; Philip Graham, a Harvard graduateand future owner of the Washington Post ; William Colby, a graduateof Princeton and the Columbia Law School; and Richard Mellon Scaife,the principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune.... The first concern of the newly created Central IntelligenceAgency was funding (since it had received no allocation in thefederal budget), which would be solved with the implementationof the idea of Col. Paul E. Helliwell - the CIA could obtain fundsby working with the Mafia to import heroin to supply the blackcommunity in America's ghettos... World War II had disrupted internationalshipping and imposed tight waterfront security that made smugglingheroin into the United States almost impossible. Heroin supplieswere small and international crime syndicates had fallen intodisarray. But opiates were becoming the rage of the jazz scenein Harlem, and the demand for heroin was increasing day by dayamong black musicians in New York... Selling heroin to the blackjazz subculture would provide US intelligence with a steady supplyof revenue for Gladio operations in Europe throughout the postwarera. ... The Truman Administration had set aside no funds for covert,postwar operations in the federal budget. And the availibilityof funds would become the key weapon of the new agency. It alonecould provide the means to purchase the services of foreign agents,foreign politicians, and foreign assassins without the approvalof any elected official... The drug scheme would enable the CIAto make use of Charles "Lucky" Luciano and the SicilianMafia.... During the summer of 1947, the terms of the working relationshipbetween the CIA and the Mafia were ironed out."Paul L. William in his book "OperationGladio", 2015"The CIA had been runningthousands of operations over the years. There have been about3,000 major covert operations and over 10,000 minor operations,all designed to disrupt, destabilize, or modify the activitiesof other countries. But they are all illegal and they all disruptthe normal functioning, often the democratic functioning, of othersocieties. They raise serious questions about the moral responsibilityof the United States in the international society of nations."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Brutal dictators suchas the Shah of Iran in 1953, General Suharto in Indonesia in 1967,and Pinochet in Chile in 1973, were all installed in power bythe CIA, and relied on American support and weapons to hold onto power. Their dependence on U.S. support all but guaranteeda friendly regime."David Model in his book "Lyingfor Empire""If the Agency [CIA] actuallyreported the truth about the Third World, what would it say? Itwould say that the United States installs foreign leaders, armstheir armies, and empowers their police all to help those leadersrepress an angry, defiant people; that the CIA-empowered leadersrepresent only a small faction who kill, torture, and impoverishtheir own people to maintain their position of privilege."Ralph McGehee in his book "DeadlyDeceits""There is no war on terrorism.If there was, the Royal Marines and the SAS would be stormingthe beaches of Florida, where more CIA-funded terrorists, ex-LatinAmerican dictators and torturers, are given refuge than anywhereon earth."John Pilger"The Third World War isa war that has been fought by the United States against the ThirdWorld. It began when the CIA was founded in 1947 and continuestoday. As wars go, it has been the second or third most destructiveof human life in all of history, after World War I and World WarII."former CIA agent John Stockwell"In country after country,from Mexico and Honduras to Panama and Peru, the CIA helped setup or consolidate intelligence agencies that became forces ofrepression, and whose intelligence connections to other countriesgreased the way for illicit drug shipments."Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshallin their book "Cocaine Politics""The CIA's control of theMSM (mainstream media) is so complete today that every evil governmentaction is immediately seconded, whether it be the lies about theattacks of September 11, 2001, the wars against Afghanistan, Iraq,Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc., the coup in Ukraine, the downing ofthe Malaysian jetliner, drone murders, the looting of the Americanpeople by the elites, alleged sarin gas attacks in Syria, theanti-Russia bashing - everything."Edward Curtin, 2017"Almost from the beginning,the CIA engaged not only in the collection of intelligence information,but also in covert operations which involved rigging electionsand manipulating labor unions abroad, carrying on paramilitaryoperations, overturning governments, assassinating foreign officials,protecting former Nazis and lying to Congress."former Senator George McGovern,1987"The CIA's involvementin planning assassinations goes back at least to 1954, when itprepared a manual for killings as part of a U.S.-run coup againstthe leftist government of Guatemala."David Wise, 2009"The CIA had developeda program to assassinate Congolese President Patrice Lumumba,The program they developed, the operation, didn't work. They didn'tfollow through on it. It was to give poison to Lumumba. And theycouldn't find a setting in which to get the poison to him successfullyin a way that it wouldn't appear to be a CIA operation. And so,they gave up on it. They got cold feet. And instead, they handledit by the chief of station talking to Mobutu about the threatthat Lumumba posed, and Mobutu going out and killing Lumumba,having his men kill Lumumba."former CIA agent John Stockwell"The CIA's involvementin the trafficking of heroin goes back to the predecessor organizationOSS and its involvement with the Italian mafia, the Cosa Nostrain Sicily and Southern Italy. Later on when they were fightingcommunists in France, they got in tight with the Corsican brotherhood...As things changed in the world the CIA got involved with the Kuomintangtypes in Burma who were drug runners because they were resistingthe drift towards communism there. The same thing happened laterin Latin America.Thanks to the CIA's assistance, Marseilles became the new centerof the heroin industry. By 1951, the Corsican and Sicilian Mafiastook control of the waterfront and opened their first opium refineries.The French connection to the Sicilian Mafia and the American crimefamily of Lucky Luciano had been established.... From Marseilles, heroin was shipped on freighters to Cubaunder CIA protection."Victor Marchetti inhis book TheCIA and the Cult of Intelligence"Fifty years ago the CIAcoined the term "conspiracy theory" as a weapon to beused to dismiss the truths expressed by critics of its murderof President Kennedy, and those of Malcom X, MLK, and RFK. Allthe media echoed the CIA line."Edward Curtin, 2017"Mounting numbers of victims,the millions of people whose lives have been trampled or splatteredby CIA operations are increasingly cynical of America. Becauseof the CIA the world is a more dangerous place. Americans havereduced credibility. Worst of all, by retaining the CIA we areaccepting ourselves as a harsh and ruthless people. It's the wronggame for a great nation."former CIA agent John Stockwell"In every country, embassiesare used for spying. So, it would be dumb for a country to putits real intelligence-gathering officers inside an embassy orconsulate or attaché', because that is the first placea hosting nation is going to look for spies. So, the number oneplace the United States and other countries place their intelligence-gatheringofficers and informants is NGOs. In Russia, Central Asia, theCaucasus, and elsewhere in the world, United States' NGOs - over90% of them - are operations bases for the CIA."Sibel Edmonds"CIA Chief of CounterIntelligenceJames Jesus Angleton, assuming this post in 1954 under the guidanceof Allen Dulles and Richard Helms, managed a 'second CIA' withinthe CIA.".. Angleton formed an extremely close relationshipwith the Mossad and David Ben-Gurion, and was fully aware of theIsraeli Prime Minister's hatred for JFK. Angleton became so intimatewith the Israelis that he even helped them develop their secretnuclear program, while the CIA and Mossad became as one in theMiddle East - a virtually indistinguishable entity working inunison to carry out their mutual goals."Michael Collins Piper"The owners of the WashingtonPost long ago acknowledged that the Post is the government's voiceto the people. In 1981, Katherine Graham, who owns the Post andNewsweek announced that her editors would "cooperate withthe national security interests. "National security in thiscontext means "CIA."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Our strategy must nowrefocus on precluding the emergence of any future global competitor...Our first objective is to prevent the emergence of a new rival,either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere.... The United States must account sufficiently for the interestsof the advanced industrial nations to discourage them from challengingour leadership or seeking to overturn the established politicaland economic order... We must maintain the mechanisms for deterringpotential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regionalor global role.Therefore it is of fundamental importance to preserve NATO asthe primary channel for U.S. influence."US Defense Planning Guidance, 1994-99"The U.S.-NATO-Israel axisconstitutes the most powerful military alliance in world history.America's allies are the NATO member states, NATO associate memberStates and partners under the Istanbul Initiative (including Israel),the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Partnership for Peace, and variousother bilateral agreements (New Zealand, Australia, Colombia,Mongolia, Singapore). All in all, the U.S.-NATO-Israel militaryaxis includes more than fifty countries."Michel Chossudovsky in the book"The Global Economic Crisis""You make yourself ridiculousby thinking you can do anything. The world is divided in two.There are the communists on that side and on this side the freeworld. The Russians and the Americans, no one else. What are we.Americans. Behind me there is the government, behind the governmentis NATO, behind NATO is the U.S. You can't fight us, we are Americans."inspector Basil Lambrou, speakingto prisoners before torturing them, during the US-supported Greekdictatorship in the 1960s"The Clinton administrationis revamping NATO and redefining its mission in order to makeit an instrument of American world engagement as peacekeeper,peacemaker, and policeman."William Pfaff, 1999"The U.S.-NATO destructionof Yugoslavia established a precedent for military attack, cloakedin the disguise of democracy and human rights, against any sovereigncountry that might have the temerity to stand up to the encroachmentof TNCs."Social Justice magazine, 2000"I didn't know the NorthAtlantic extended to Afghanistan. And the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO) is being turned into the French Foreign Legionfor the White House."Tony Benn, former member of BritishPartliament"The NATO military allianceis a world encompassing threat. It is now conducting various formsof hybrid warfare against Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela,Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and most of Africa. They have destroyeddirectly or are largely responsible for the destruction of theUSSR, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and too manyto name in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Destruction is thefate that each nation on earth can expect unless it pays homageand obeisance to NATO's neo-feudal overlords who promise protectionin return for national servitude, and for the complete surrenderof their people and natural resources to increase the rate ofprofit for the capital that controls the NATO military machine."Christopher Black, 2017"Israel is expected toeventually join the European Union. The E.U.'s enlargement istied into the process of NATO expansion. Israel and the E.U. willboth manage, from an economic and political standpoint, the westernouter periphery of the "Arc of Instability" under theframework of a Mediterranean Union.The Mediterranean Union is tied to "energy security."It is a process towards the economic domination of the Mediterraneanby the European Union.The balkanization of Lebanon and Syria servethe interests of Western energy corporations, amongst a host ofother interests. The envisioned redrawn borders for the MiddleEast that are tied to the Mediterranean Union and the Projectfor the "New Middle East" are designed to secure energycorridors, "pacify" the region's population, and ultimatelyset the stage for the economic colonization of the new weakerstates.Israeli security concerns through the Yinon Plan would be integratedinto the equation, but only because of the regional security roleTel Aviv serves for the U.S. and the European Union.This process of dividing and economically absorbing is similarto the pattern imposed in the former Yugoslavia by the Franco-Germanentente and the Anglo-American alliance through the E.U. and NATO.Brute force is being used as the muscle behind neo-liberal economicpolicies. NATO is playing a major role in enforcing the establishmentof the Mediterranean Union and the creation of the "New MiddleEast.""Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, 2008"The wars in Yugoslaviathroughout the 1990s served as a justification for the continuedexistence of NATO in the world, and to expand American imperialinterests in Eastern Europe.... The war [Yugoslavia]-1990s] created a raison d'êtrefor the continued existence of NATO in a post-Cold War world,as it desperately tried to justify its continued existence anddesire for expansion."Andrew Gavin Marshall, 2009"A process of degenerationis well underway in the present day, led largely by the US andits coterie of allies among the NATO alliance and oil-rich Arabdictatorships. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Yemenare but some of the evil fruit from the poison that is coursingthrough international relations."Finian Cunningham , 2015"A close look at the map ofEurasia began to suggest what was at stake for Washington in Eurasia.The goal was not only the strategic encirclement of Russia througha series of NATO bases... All of this had the overarching goalof enabling NATO to control energy routes and networks betweenRussia and the EU."F. William Engdahl in his book"Full Spectrum Dominance""The U.S.-NATO militaryagenda serves to endorse a powerful business elite which relentlesslyovershadows and undermines the functions of civilian government."Michel Chossudovsky and AndrewGavin Marshall in the book "The Global Economic Crisis""[The] North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO) and affilated and allied military blocs [areexpandng] into and throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus,Central and South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Africa, theso-called Greater Middle East and beyond.NATO is the first attempt in history to establish an aggressiveglobal military formation, one which currently includes a thirdof the nations of the world either as members or partners, hasmembers and partners on five continents and has conducted activeoperations on four, with the potential to expand its reach intothe remaining two where it has not yet officially intruded itself."Rick Rozoff"NATO is the armed fistnot only of the United States and its allies, but of the capitalistsof those nations who are prepared to strike against any country,capitalist or socialist, that stands in their way of obtainingprofit."Christopher Black, 2017"The main heroin supplyroutes from the NATO-dominated Afghanistan [are a] land heroinroute through Turkey, Bulgaria, Kosovo or Bosnia, [and a] maritimeheroin route via Mediterranean trade lines to the island of Corsica.... How many tons of heroin were intercepted on merchant vesselsin Mediterranean during more than ten years of the operation ActiveEndeavour? ... Not a single gram... In 2003-2009 155 merchantvessels were boarded and checked by NATO inspection teams. Theydid not find anything.... Why is NATO is wasting stupendous resources on a purposelessoperation [Operation Active Endeavor]? The answer is evident:both NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) andActive Endeavour are perfectly complying with their real mission:to ensure total control over production, transportation and distributionof illegal drugs."www.voltairenet.org/, April1 ,2012"The drug activities ofthe US - and the US-led NATO - are tightly linked with the NATOexpansion and the creation of US military bases in the protectoratesestablished along the drug-trafficking and pipeline routes."by Elena Ponomareva"Since the early 19th century,when the first European settlers began arriving in what was tobecome the western states of the United States of America, thishas been an imperial nation, a conquering nation; annihilationof natives, acquisition, expansion, a society made safe for thefreest of enterprise; belief in American "exceptionalism",a people providentially exempted from the dark side of human nature;all this in the American blood, the nation's myths, its songs,its national character."William Blum in his book "Freeingthe World to Death""Since the late 1940s,the United States has been deliberately engaged in an imperialproject, and anyone who would hold the office of the presidencyhas to be willing to serve that end. All presidents have to promotethe national security state, both domestically and in Americanforeign policy, if they wish to attain and hold on to power."Morris Berman"Neo-colonialism is theworst form of imperialism. For those who practise it, it meanspower without responsibility, and for those who suffer from it,it means exploitation without redress. In the days of old-fashionedcolonialism, the imperial power had at least to explain and justifyat home the actions it was taking abroad. In the colony thosewho served the ruling imperial power could at least look to itsprotection against any violent move by their opponents. With neo-colonialismneither is the case.Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first postcolonialpresident"Imperialism is the processwhereby the dominant investor interests in one country bring tobear their economic and military power upon another nation orregion in order to expropriate its land, labor, natural resources,capital, and markets-in such a manner as to enrich the investorinterests. Empires do not just pursue "power for power'ssake." There are real and enormous material interests atstake, fortunes to be made many times over."Michael Parenti, 2010"The United States is castin the role of Praetorian Guard, protecting the interests of theglobal financial order against fractious elements in the ThirdWorld."former CIA agent John Stockwell"For centuries the rulinginterests of Western Europe and later on North America and Japanwent forth with their financiers---and when necessary their armies---tolay claim to most of planet Earth, including the labor of indigenouspeoples, their markets, their incomes (through colonial taxationor debt control or other means), and the abundant treasures oftheir lands: their gold, silver, diamonds, copper, rum, molasses,hemp, flax, ebony, timber, sugar, tobacco, ivory, iron, tin, nickel,coal, cotton, corn, and more recently: uranium, manganese, titanium,bauxite, oil.... Empires are enormously profitable for the dominant economicinterests of the imperial nation but enormously costly to thepeople of the colonized country. In addition to suffering thepillage of their lands and natural resources, the people of thesetargeted countries are frequently killed in large numbers by theintruders."Michael Parenti, 2010"If the structure of imperialismgives the United States the power to impose its will in many foreignlocales, its institutions and intelligentsia will, as a matterof course, normalize and support the ensuing projection of power."Edward S. Herman, 2002"The United States hasbeen inching toward imperialism and militarism for many years.Our leaders, disguising the direction they were taking, cloakedtheir foreign policies in euphemisms such as "lone superpower?'"indispensable nation?' "reluctant sheriff?' "humanitarianintervention?' and "globalization?' With the advent of theGeorge W. Bush administration and particularly after the assaultsof September 11, 2001, however, these pretenses gave way to assertionsof the second coming of the Roman Empire."Chalmers Johnson in his book "Sorrowsof Empire""The primary goals of U.S.imperialism have always been to open up investment opportunitiesto U.S. corporations and to allow such corporations to gain preferentialaccess to crucial natural resources."John Bellamy Foster and RobertW. McChesney in the book "Pox Americana""The broader function ofempire is simply imperialism. It's this kind of ideology thathas grown up in the wake of the cold war, propounded quite openlyby what we are calling neoconservatives in America, which identifiesthe United States as a colossus athwart the world, a new Rome,beyond good and evil. We no longer need friends. We don't needinternational law. Like the old Roman phrase, "It doesn'tmatter whether they love us or not, so long as they fear us."That's very much the ideology that's at work today."Chalmers Johnson in the book "HijackingCatastrophe""The U.S. has over 200incidents in which it have put our troops into other countriesto force them to our will."former CIA agent John Stockwell"Tallying only the deathtoll inflicted by US. armed forces or U.S.-backed surrogate forcesaround the world, the estimates are as follows: 3,000,000 in Vietnam,1,000,000 in Cambodia, 1,000,000 in Mozambique, 500,000 to 1,000,000in Indonesia, 600,000 in Angola, 300,000 in Laos, 250,000 in EastTimor, 200,000 in Iraq, 200,000 in Afghanistan, 150,000 in Guatemala,100,000 in Nicaragua, 90,000 in El Salvador, and tens of thousandsin Chile, Argentina, Zaire, Iran (under the Shah), Colombia, Bolivia,Brazil, Panama, Somalia, South Yemen, Western Sahara, and othercountries."Michael Parenti in his book "Dirty Truths""Imperialism and militarismwill ultimately breach the separation of powers created to preventtyranny and defend liberty. The United States today, like theRoman Republic in the first century BC, is threatened by an out-of-controlmilitary-industrial complex and a huge secret government controlledexclusively by the president."Chalmers Johnson in his book "Nemesis""There is a firm determinationto maintain a world in which United States capitalism will feelat home. War in Indochina, the fantastic waste of vast militaryspending, the encouragement of assassinations of foreign leaders,support of reactionary regimes the world over, bribes and corruption,as well as the domestic repression necessary to maintain imperialismabroad - political trials of dissenters, FBI-CIA harassment ofradicals, and wiretaps - are all the result of and testimony tothe destructive nature of imperialism."Lawrence H. Shoup and William Minterin their book "Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on ForeignRelations and United States Foreign Policy""The Roman Empire producedfew exportable goods. Material innovation, whether through entrepreneurialismor technological advancement, all but ended long before the finaldissolution of the Empire. Meanwhile the costs of military defenseand the pomp of Emperors continued. Financial needs continuedto increase, but the means of meeting them steadily eroded. Inthe end due to economic failure, even the armor of soldiers deterioratedand the weaponry of soldiers became so obsolete to the extentthat the enemies of the Empire had better armor and weapons aswell as larger forces. The decrepit social order offered so littleto its subjects that many saw the barbarian invasion as liberationfrom onerous obligations to the ruling class."Alfred Toynbee"According to the DefenseDepartment's 2007 Base Structure Report, we maintain 823 militaryfacilities in 39 foreign countries, and another 86 facilitiesin seven U.S. territories."Paul Waldman, 2008"Because the United Statesdoes not look like a militarized country, it's hard for Americansto grasp that Washington is a war capital, that the United Statesis a war state, that it garrisons much of the planet, and thatthe norm for us is to be at war somewhere at any moment."Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch, 2009"The West is habituatedto the idea that the world is its world; that the internationalcommunity is its community; that international institutions areits institutions; that the world currency - namely the dollar- is its currency; that universal values are its values; thatworld history is its history; and that the world's language -namely English - is its language. The assumption has been thatthe adjective 'Western' naturally and implicitly belongs in frontof each important noun. That will no longer be the case."Martin Jacques in his book "WhenChina Rules the World""Business people manipulatepolitical and social movements, including terrorists and counterterrorists,through instruments like the CIA, so they can make more money.The police keep resistant poor and black neighborhoods in lockdown.The FBI manipulates lost, insecure, and even intellectually disabledindividuals into attempting acts of terrorism, which they thenjump in to prevent. The CIA conducts false flag operations allover the world to enhance public fear of terrorists, even as theyarm and train them in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to overthrow electedgovernments."Douglas Valentine, 2017"The UN plays a very importantrole. But if we don't like it, we always have the option of followingour own national security interests, which I assure you we willdo if we don't like what's going on."Secretary of State Madeleine Albrightin an interview in 1998"Since the end of worldWar II the United States has:* endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, mostof which were democratically elected;'* grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries* attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders * dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries * attempted to suppress a populist or nationalist movement in20 countries.Since 1945, the United States has carried out one or more of theabove-listed actions, on one or more occasions, in seventy-onecountries (more than one-third of the countries of the world),in the process of which the US has ended the lives of severalmillion people, condemned many millions more to a life of agonyand despair and has been responsible for the torture of countlessthousands."William Blum"Washington desperatelyneeds to stop the rollback of American power, stop the erosionof the dollar, block the economic integration of Eurasia and LatinAmerica, keep Russia from trading amicably with Euripe. It willdo anything to maintain its grip. All of its remote wars in far-offsavage lands, of no importance to America or Americans, are tothis purpose. A militarized America threatens Russia, threatensChina, threatens Iran, threatens North Korea, threatens Venezuela,expands NATO, on and on.America has been hijacked."Fred Reed, 2018"The Plan is for the UnitedStates to rule the world. The overt theme is unilateralism, butit is ultimately a story of domination. It calls for the UnitedStates to maintain its overwhelming superiority and prevent newrivals from rising up to challenge it on the world stage. It callsfor dominion over friends and enemies alike. It says not thatthe United States must be more powerful, or most powerful, butthat it must be absolutely powerful. "Vice-President Dick Cheney - WestPoint lecture, June 2002"A process of degenerationis well underway in the present day, led largely by the US andits coterie of allies among the NATO alliance and oil-rich Arabdictatorships. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Yemenare but some of the evil fruit from the poison that is coursingthrough international relations."Finian Cunningham , 2015"US Special OperationsForces are deployed in 132 countries.... America's empire is built of 800 bases in more than 70 countriesand territories.... More than 73% of the world's dictators are currently beingsponsored through the military assistance provided by US taxpayers."Martin Berger, 2018"While securing corporatecontrol over extensive oil reserves and pipeline routes alongthe Eurasian corridor on behalf of the AngloAmerican oil giants,Washington's ultimate objective is to eventually destabilize andthen colonize both China and Russia. This means the takeover oftheir national financial systems and the control over monetarypolicy, leading eventually to the imposition of the US dollaras the national currency."Michel Chossudovsky, 2005"It would be some timebefore I fully realized that the United States sees little needfor diplomacy. Power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacyThe Roman Empire had no need for diplomacy. Nor does the UnitedStates."Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-Generalof the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996"For the world as a whole,the CIA has now become the bogey that communism has been for America.Wherever there is trouble, violence, suffering, tragedy, the restof us are now quick to suspect the CIA had a hand in it. Our phobiaabout the CIA is, no doubt, as fantastically excessive as America'sphobia about world communism; but in this case, too, there isjust enough convincing guidance to make the phobia genuine. Infact, the roles of America and Russia have been reversed in theworld's eyes. Today America has become the nightmare."Arnold Toynbee, the British historian,quoted in the New York Times of May 7, 1971"We first fought in thename of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugsand terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change."Serj Tankian"U.S. and Western imperialismis the root cause of the "refugee crisis". Everydaymen, women, and children are killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan,U.S. and Western-backed militias in Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia,European and North American mining and oil conglomerates in Centraland Western Africa, or are starved to death in Yemen by the U.S.-backedArab blockade of the country. Until the genocidal aims of U.S.imperialism, with the support of Canada, Australia, the EuropeanUnion, and regional allies, are defeated, the "war on terror"will continue to make life too unbearable for working people inAsia, Africa, and the Middle East to remain in their home countries."T.J. Petrowski, 2015"The America of wealthand privilege is hooked on war, without regular and ever-strongerdoses of war it can no longer function properly, that is, yieldthe desired profits. The President has already pointed his fingerat those whose turn will soon come, namely, the "axis ofevil" countries: Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, North Korea,and of course that old thorn in the side of America, Cuba. Welcometo the 21st century. Welcome to the brave new era of permanentwar."Jacques R. Pauwels, 2003"What's the point of havingthis superb military that you're always talking about if we can'tuse it?"Madeline Albright, Secretary ofState under Bill Clinton"By one estimate, as manyas four million Muslims have died or been killed as a result ofthe ongoing conflicts that Washington has either initiated orbeen party to since 2001.There are, in addition, millions of displaced persons who havelost their homes and livelihoods, many of whom are among the humanwave currently engulfing Europe. There are currently an estimated2,590,000 refugees who have fled their homes from Afghanistan,370,000 from Iraq, 3,880,000 million from Syria, and 1,100,000from Somalia. The United Nations Refugee Agency is expecting atleast 130,000 refugees from Yemen as fighting in that countryaccelerates. Between 600,000 and one million Libyans are livingprecariously in neighboring Tunisia.... Significantly, the countries that have generated most of therefugees are all places where the United States has invaded, overthrowngovernments, supported insurgencies, or intervened in a civilwar."Philip Giraldi, 2015"The U.S., with $37.8 billionin arms sales ... controlled 68.4% of the global arms market in2008... with 70% of the market, the U.S. actually has what, inany other field, would qualify as a monopoly position."Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch, 2009"In the wars in Iraq, Libya,Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and Syria, America has destroyed anysignificant progress those nations had made in education, healthcare,infrastructure such as water treatment and electricity, postalservices, courts. By degrading the standards of living for peoplein perceived "hostile" nations, America's ruling eliteempowers itself, while claiming that it has ensured the safetyand prestige of the American people. Sometimes it is even ableto convince the public that its criminal actions are "humanitarian"and designed to liberate the people in nations it destroys."Douglas Valentine, 2017"The US government hasnot publicly identified - nor even estimated - the number of Iraqis,Afghanis, Libyans and Syrians it has killed, or caused to be killed,during its invasions, occupations, and CIA-led insurgencies. Neitheris anyone in the media publicly counting the number of Muslimsthe US has killed, crippled, rendered homeless, starved, driveninto poverty and despair, and/or condemned to disease and insanity.... US leaders have sought to keep the ugliness of these wars- the mangled bodies, the burned-off faces, the squalid refugeecamps, the abused captives -out of the press and away from thepublic's consciousness, in order to preserve the pretense of moralsuperiority that defines American "exceptionalism."Guy Debord"The "Anglo-Americanaxis" in defense and foreign policy is the driving forcebehind the military operations in Central Asia and Middle East.This rapprochement between London and Washington is consistentwith the integration of British and American business interestsin the areas of banking, oil and the defense industry."Michel Chossudovsky in his book" America's War on Terrorism""Yes, over 100 people diedin Paris (November 2015). While thousands are dying in Yemen,every month... While 17,000 already vanished in Iran - victimsof West-sponsored terrorism... While hundreds of thousands havebeen dying in Libya and Syria... While millions have been dyingin Somalia and Iraq... While some 10 millions already died ina looted and raped DRC (the Democratic Republic of Congo) ...All of them victims of Western assaults and banditry or of Western-sponsoredterrorism directly."Andre Vltchek, 2015"Washington is responsiblefor the destruction of Yugoslavia and Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq,Libya, Somalia, and part of Syria. Washington has enabled SaudiArabia's attack on Yemen, Ukraine's attack on its former Russianprovinces, and Israel's destruction of Palestine and the Palestinianpeople."Paul Craig Roberts, 2016"America is the most destructivenation in history. We have overthrown more than 50 foreign governments,we have attempted to assassinate or have assassinated more than50 foreign leaders, we have bombed more than 35 countries, wehave interfered in the elections of dozens of countries."William BlumTHE BENEFICIARIES"War against a foreigncountry only happens when the moneyed classes thank they are goingto profit from it."George Orwell"The military-industrialcomplex, the big bankers and the transnationals are the ones thatreally govern in the United States."Eva Golinger, 2008MILITARY-CORPORATE-INTELLIGENCE-MEDIACOMPLEX"Like all members of themilitary profession, I never had an original thought until I leftthe service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animationwhile I obeyed the orders of the higher-ups. This is typical witheveryone in the military service."General Smedley Butler"So important did militaryspending and the military-industrial sector become during WorldWar II and the Cold War that they have become fundamental to theU.S. economy, U.S. economic growth and above all U.S. technologicaldevelopment. Despite its often almost incredible wastefulnessand corruption, this military spending has also been in some waysa kind of unacknowledged but rather successful state industrialdevelopment strategy in a country whose free market ideology meantthat it could not formally adopt or admit to such a strategy."David Edwards - Burning All Illusions"My guess is that, likeit or not, or want it or not, we are going to go to war becausethat is the only solution Bush and his people can see. The direprospect that opens, therefore, is that America is going to becomea mega-banana republic where the army will have more and moreimportance in our lives .... And before it is all over, democracy,noble and delicate as it is, may give way .... Indeed, democracyis the special condition ... we will be called upon to defendin the coming years. That will be enormously difficult becausethe combination of the corporation, the military and the completeinvestiture of the flag with mass spectator sports has set upa pre-fascistic atmosphere in America already."Norman Mailer"Approximately 60,000 militarypersonnel were used as human subjects in the 1940s to test twochemical agents, mustard gas and lewisite [blister gas]. Mostof these subjects were not informed of the nature of the experimentsand never received medical follow-up after their participationin the research. Additionally, some of these human subjects werethreatened with imprisonment at Fort Leavenworth if they discussedthese experiments with anyone, including their wives, parents,and family doctors. For decades, the Pentagon denied that theresearch had taken place, resulting in decades of suffering formany veterans who became ill after the secret testing."a report of the US Congress, 1994"I would only hope thatanyone considering joining the military today ... realize thatthey have a higher calling than serving their country: to restorefaith in our system of governance, before they make themselvesready to fight and kill and die in the United States of America,knowing that they may end up dying for a lie."Adam Kokesh, with the Marine Corpscivil affairs unit, 2008"War is largely a matterof money. Bankers lend money to foreign countries and when theycannot repay, the President sends Marines to get it. I know--I'vebeen in eleven of these expeditions."General Smedley Butler, 1931"We in the U.S. militaryare held to a high standard. Like the early Romans, we are expectedto do the right thing, and when we don't, to make it right again... And it's why each civilian casualty for which we are evenremotely responsible sets back our efforts to gain the confidenceof the Afghan people, months, if not years. It doesn't matterhow hard we try to avoid hurting the innocent, and we do try veryhard. It doesn't matter how proportional the force we deploy,how precisely we strike. It doesn't even matter if the enemy hidesbehind civilians. What matters are the death and destruction thatresult and the expectation that we could have avoided it ... Losethe people's trust, and we lose the war ... I see this sort oftrust being fostered by our troops all over the world. They arebuilding schools, roads, wells, hospitals and power stations.They work every day to build the sort of infrastructure that enableslocal governments to stand on their own. But mostly, even whenthey are going after the enemy, they are building friendships.They are building trust. And they are doing it in superb fashion."General Michael Mullen, chairmanof the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2009"If we had a draft - ormerely the threat of a draft - we would not be in Iraq or Afghanistan.But we don't have a draft so it's safe for most of the nationto be mindless about waging war. Other people's children are goingto the slaughter."Bob Herbert , New York Times, August25, 2009"in our lifetimes, theAmerican military establishment has virtually become an autonomoussystem. It is today an entirely mercenary-voluntary-force increasinglyseparate from all but the transnational corporate interests itprotects."William F. Pepper in his book "AnAct of State: the Execution of Martin Luther King""Our military organizationtoday bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessorsin peace time, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II orKorea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United Stateshad no armaments industry. American makers of ploughshares could,with time as required, make swords as well. But now we can nolonger risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we havebeen compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vastproportions. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a largearms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city,every state house, and every office of the federal government.We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet wemust not fail to comprehend its grave implicationsIn the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisitionof unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrialcomplex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced powerexists and will persist.We must never let the weight of this combination endanger ourliberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing forgranted; only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compelthe proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery ofdefense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that securityand liberty may prosper together."President Dwight Eisenhower's FarewellAddress, 1961"It is no longer a questionof controlling a military-industrial complex, but rather, of keepingthe United States from becoming a totally military culture."Jerome Weisner, president emeritusof the Massachusetts Institute of Technology"The so-called "defense"corporations are multinational conglomerates that have no greatloyalty to the United States. They are in fact no longer U.S.corporations but transnational entities loyal only to themselves."former CIA agent John Stockwell"President Dwight Eisenhower,in his Farewell Address, January 17, 1961 was originally planningto describe the phenomenon as the 'Military-Industrial-CongressionalComplex', however, 'Congressional' was dropped from the speechat the last minute, and it was simply referred to as the 'Military-IndustrialComplex'."Phillip F. Nelson, LBJ: The Mastermindof JFK's Assassination, 2010"The military-industrialcomplex warmly welcomed the wars against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan,and Iraq as good for business. Actions just short of war, suchas bombings and missile strikes, are also giant bazaars for sellingthe wares of the armaments manufacturers."Chalmers Johnson, Sorrows of Empire"The armed forces haveembedded themselves so deeply into the country that they havealmost become the country. America is little more than a fundingmechanism for what may be called the military-industrial-intelligence-media-Israelicomplex. Some of these entities belong to the military (NSA).Some depend on it (Lockheed-Martin). Some use it to their ownends (Israel), But the military is the central infection fromwhich the other symptoms flow. Congress? A storefront, a subcommitteeof the Knesset. Factories, jobs, contracts, towns depend on militaryspending. "Fred Reed, 2018"Those in power are blinddevotees to private enterprise. They accept that degree of socialismimplicit in the vast subsidies to the military-industrial-complex,but not that type of socialism which maintains public projectsfor the disemployed and the unemployed alike."William O.Douglas, US Supreme CourtJustice from 1939-1975"The military-industrialcomplex has become a rich source of' places to "retire"for high-ranking military officers, just as many executives ofdefense contractors receive appointments as high-ranking officialsin the Pentagon. This "circulation of elites" tendsto undercut attempts at congressional oversight of either theDefense Department or defense contractors. The result is an almosttotal loss of accountability for public money spent on militaryprojects of any sort."Chalmers Johnson, Sorrows of Empire"The military-industrialcomplex is a vast cesspool of mismanagement, waste, and transgressionsnot only bordering on but often entering deeply into criminalconduct. The great arms firms have managed to slough off muchof the normal risks of doing business in a genuine market, passingon many of their excessive costs to the taxpayers while stillrealizing extraordinary rates of return on investment."Robert Higgs, a senior fellow inpolitical economy at the Independent Institute"During the Harry Trumanadministration the military-industrial complex insisted on, andgot, a permanent war economy - one that generates vast wealthfor American defense contractors."Morris Berman, Dark Ages America"The Pentagon has longhad a conflict of interest. The Department of Defense builds theweapons of war. Yet the department also supervises and funds 85percent of the intelligence effort to identify threats that thoseweapons, at least theoretically, are designed to counter. Thus,political pressure for more business from states and congressionaldistricts containing defense industries leads the U.S. governmentto inflate external threats to justify ever greater defense spending.The Pentagon helps generate such political pressure by distributingdefense contracts and subcontracts, not on the basis of the bestor most efficient defense companies, but to companies in as manystates and congressional districts as possible. Such is the way the military-industrial complex - identified bypresident and former general Dwight Eisenhower - works."Ivan Eland, 2008"The iron triangle of theair force, Congress, and the military-industrial complex, sanctifiedby the high-tech jobs it offers to American workers, is drivingour country toward bankruptcy. For some, it is tempting to continuethe lucrative practice of buying arcane space technologies thatdo not work - missile defenses, for example - simply because itkeeps people employed. Meanwhile, our democracy is undercut bymembers of Congress who use the lavish "campaign contributions"they receive - bribes by any other name - to buy elections. Theonly public business these bought- and-paid-for congressmen attendto is providing a legal veneer for munitions makers' unquestionedaccess to the tax venues of the government."Chalmers Johnson in his book Nemesis"The military/industrial/governmentalcomplex is perfectly positioned to profit handsomely from boththe endless war on terror and the privatization of public resources,with nary a complaint from government officials and next to nomeaningful media coverage of the long term ramifications of such'profit centers'."Geraldine Perry, 2009"Since 1945, what you callthe military-industrial complex has been a terribly importantvehicle in American development. It has been the center of whatwe call military Keynesianism. It's the one sector where deficitfinancing was thoroughly permitted, and it was the one sectorunder Reagan that expanded immensely and has never been let goof, in spite of the end of the Cold War."David Harvey, 2009"In the summer of 1963,the leaders of the military-industrial complex could see stormclouds on their horizon. After JFK's American University addressand his quick signing of the Test Ban Treaty with Khrushchev,corporate power holders saw the distinct prospect in the not distantfuture of a settlement in the Cold War between the United Statesand the Soviet Union. ... In [the] direction of U.S.-Soviet disarmament lay the diminishedpower of a corporate military system that for years had controlledthe United States government. In his turn toward peace, Kennedywas beginning to undermine the dominant power structure that Eisenhowerhad finally identified and warned against so strongly as he leftthe White House."James Douglass, author of the book'JFK and the Unspeakable"The congressional-military-industrialcomplex has enormous power that is basically unchecked. It hasbecome a real and constant danger to this country, certainly tothe democratic republic that we like to think we are."Lawrence Wilkerson, 2009"Retired senior officerswith financial ties to the military-industrial complex teamedup with the Pentagon to sell the case for war on the major newsnetworks. Ultimately, the rottenest apples are at the top of thebarrel, and that's certainly the case in the military. The meninvolved in the military analyst program were, by and large, retiredgenerals, many of them retired four-stars. They were sending Americankids into harm's way to line their own pockets."Jeff Huber, 2009"By the year 2000, thewarning of President Dwight Eisenhower about the power of themilitary-industrial complex was all too real. In our lifetimes,the American military establishment has virtually become an autonomoussystem. It is today an entirely mercenary - voluntary - forceincreasingly separate from all but the transnational corporateinterests it protects."William F. Pepper in his book AnAct of State - the Execution of Martin Luther King, 2003"President Dwight Eisenhowerwarned of the increasing power and influence of the military industrialcomplex and it seems his worst fears have come true. He believedin a strong national defense, but warned that the building upof permanent military and weapons industries could prove dangerousif their influence got out of hand. After all, if you make yourmoney on war, peace does you no good. With trillions of dollarsat stake, there is tremendous incentive to keep the decision makersfearful of every threat in the world, real or imagined, presentor future, no matter how ridiculous and far-fetched."Ron Paul, 2009"An evolving military-industrialcomplex, a partnership of interlocking government and corporatenetworks, has used public wealth to enrich itself. The manufacturingpart of this complex rarely produces anything people live in,wear, or eat - armaments do not meet civilian needs. In fact,there exists a dramatic gulf between a healthy economy and a socialorder based on military spending."Saul Landau and Nelson P. Valdes,2010"I have grave difficultybelieving that that any president can bring under control thePentagon, the secret intelligence agencies, the military-industrialcomplex. The Department of Defense is not, today, a departmentof defense. It's an alternative seat of government on the southbank of the Potomac River. And, typical of militarism, it's expandinginto many, many other areas in our life that we have, in our traditionalpolitical philosophy, reserved for civilians."Chalmers Johnson, 2010"Washington has a vestedinterest in preserving the status quo, no matter how much it costsor where it leads. For the military-industrial complex, thereare contracts to win and buckets of money to be made. For thosewho dwell in the bowels of the national security state, thereare prerogatives to protect. For elected officials, there arecampaign contributors to satisfy. For appointed officials, civilianand military, there are ambitions to be pursued."Andrew Bacevich, 2010"Because of the enormousdollar potential of the war in Vietnam to the great military-industrialcomplex of the United States and because of other threats to thepower elite, it had become absolutely necessary, for them, tobring about a coup d'etat (JFK assassination) on the streets ofDallas."L. Fletcher Prouty, JFK: The CIA,Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, 1996"The military-industrialcomplex today finances and dominates both political parties, aswell as dominating our international policy."Peter Dale Scott, 2011"President Eisenhower recognizedthat the United States was turning into a military-industrial-congressionaldominated national security state. And the Republicans have cheeredthat transmogrification. They've gained their political powerfrom helping it move in the right direction when it needs to bemoved. The Republican Party leadership live, drink, breath andsleep the military-industrial complex. They love war because itkeeps them in power."Lawrence Wilkerson"The ideology that militaryactivities may become a profitable enterprise leads to the realizationthat peace is the main enemy of the military-industrial complex.The military-industrial complex would be put out of business bylasting peaceful conditions because the development, production,marketing and use of military equipment would be not needed."Julie Lévesque, 2014"'Controlled' wars tendto safeguard the fortunes of war profiteers and beneficiariesof military spending - mainly the military-security-industrialcomplex and major banks."Ismael Hossein-Zadeh, 2014"The ability of privatemilitary companies who profit massively from war to finance elections,lobby the government and manipulate public opinion representsa dangerous evolution of the military-industrial complex."Jeremy Kuzmarov, 2014"Today only the US armedforces are capable of backing the dollar, and their primary functionis to make sure that there is continued demand for them. America'sclassical military-industrial complex was long ago transformedinto a military-banking complex."Valentin Katasonov, 2015"American leadership isruthlessly pursuing immoral wars all over the world with the intentof creating outside enemies to focus public anger on, as a consciousdiversion away from the criminality happening domestically. Asan added bonus, the intelligence-military-industrial complex makesan incredible sum of money. The end result: serfs are distractedwith inane nationalistic fervor, while the "elites"earn billions."Michael Krieger, 2015"Once the Cold War ended,the ruling class sought enemies to keep their military-industrialcomplex and Wall Street financiers enriched and happy. 9/11 wasused to further that agenda, as the war on terror will never end.Perpetual conflict is a chief goal of the establishment. Bothparties continue to promote war and increase the profits of themilitary-industrial complex."blacklistednews.com, 2015"Continuing small wars(or the threat thereof) are essential for the corporate componentof the military-industrial-congressional complex. These companieshave no alternative means to survive."former Pentagon insider FranklinC. "Chuck" Spinney"The American citizenryhas no say over the military-industrial complex, which is autonomousand out of control. If the Complex wants war with Russia or China,we will have war with Russia or China.The military-industrial complex drives foreign policy, and indirections of no benefit to America or Americans.We are being forced to pay through the nose for endless wars thatdo more to fund the military industrial complex than protect us,pork barrel projects that produce little to nothing, and a policestate that serves only to imprison us within its walls."Fred Reed, 2018"The normal profits ofa business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, andsometimes even twelve per cent. But wartime profits, that is anothermatter - twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteenhundred per cent-the sky is the limit. All that the traffic willbear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it.Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressedinto speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "wemust all put our shoulder to the wheel," but the profitsjump and leap and skyrocket-and are safely pocketed."General Smedley Butler, 1936"The real motives behindmost of U.S foreign policy as measured by the kinds of countriesU.S. Ieaders support and the kinds of countries or political movementsthey try to destroy is to keep the world safe for the Fortune500. To make sure that the transnational corporations and internationalglobal finance capital continues to control the land, labor, resources,and markets of most of the world, and ultimately, all of the worldon terms that are extremely favorable to them. The goal is todestroy, to obliterate, to thwart any social movement or nationalleader who is trying for an alternative way of using the land,the labor, the natural resources, the markets, the capital ofhis or her country."Michael Parenti"U.S. foreign policy islargely directed towards serving the transnational corporations."James Petras and Henry Veltmeyerin their book "Globalization Unmasked""The corporate-dominated economyand the transnational corporate state had consolidated its powerover almost every aspect of public and private life, and undera formal globalization movement the transnational corporationswere extending their tentacles all over the planet.Footsoldiers like Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, the ever-dutifulBush family, Helmut Kohl, and a list of Japanese leaders had diligentlykept the faith. Working with the timeworn International MonetaryFund (IMF), the World Bank and ultimately with the new engineof globalization, the World Trade Organization, they ensured thatthe interests of capital were nowhere endangered by the needsof the world's three billion poor to eat, have shelter, clothing,sanitation, medical care, and education."William F. Pepper in his book "AnAct of State: the Execution of Martin Luther King""This empire that we'vecreated really has an emperor, and it's not the president of thiscountry. it doesn't really matter whether we have a Democrat ora Republican in the White House or running Congress; the empiregoes on, because it's really run by what I call the corporatocracy,which is a group of men who run our biggest corporations. Thisisn't a conspiracy theory. They don't need to conspire. They allknow what serves their best interest. But they really are theequivalent of the emperor, because they do not serve at the wishof the people, they're not democratically elected, they don'tserve any limited term. They essentially answer to no one, excepttheir own boards, and most corporate CEOs actually run their boards,rather than the other way around. And they are the power behindthis."John Perkins, 2007"It is in the interestof the corporate elites to accept dissent and protest as a featureof the system inasmuch as they do not threaten the establishedsocial order. The purpose is not to repress dissent, but, on thecontrary, to shape and mould the protest movement, to set theouter limits of dissent. To maintain their legitimacy, the economicelites favor limited and controlled forms of opposition To beeffective, however, the process of "manufacturing dissent"must be carefully regulated and monitored by those who are theobject of the protest movement "Michel Chossudovsky, 2010"Ronald Reagan .. was mostdefinitely a global empire builder, a servant of the corporatocracy...He would cater to the men who shuttled back and forth from corporateCEO offices to bank boards and into the halls of government. Hewould serve the men who appeared to serve him but who in factran the government - men like Vice President George H. W. Bush,Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of Defense CasparWeinberger, Richard Cheney, Richard Helms, and Robert McNamara.He would advocate what those men wanted: an America that controlledthe world and all its resources, a world that answered to thecommands of that America, a U.S. military that would enforce therules as they were written by America, and an international tradeand banking system that supported America as CEO of the globalempire."John Perkins in his book "Confessionsof Economic Hit Man"THE BANKERS"War is largely a matterof money. Bankers lend money to foreign countries and when theycannot repay, the President sends Marines to get it. I know, I'vebeen in eleven of these expeditions."General Smedley Butler, 1931"During the past two centurieswhen the peoples of the world were gradually winning their politicalfreedom from the dynastic monarchies, the major banking familiesof Europe and America were actually reversing the trend by settingup new dynasties of political control through the formation ofinternational financial combines. These banking dynasties hadlearned that all governments must have sources of revenue fromwhich to borrow in times of emergency. They had also learned thatby providing such funds from their own private resources, theycould make both kings and democratic leaders tremendously subservientto their will."Carroll Quigley in his book "Tragedyand Hope""Nothing drives governmentdeeply into debt like a war; and it has not been an uncommon practiceamong international bankers to finance both sides of the bloodiestmilitary conflicts."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""The goal is control. They[international banking cartel] want all of us enslaved to debt,they want all of our governments enslaved to debt, and they wantall of our politicians addicted to the huge financial contributionsthat they funnel into their campaigns. Since the elite also ownall of the big media companies, the mainstream media never letsus in on the secret that there is something fundamentally wrongwith the way that our system works."Karen Hudes was Senior Counselin the legal department of the World Bank for more than 20 years"What is really going onis that the world's resources are being dominated by this an internationalbanking cartel."Karen Hudes was Senior Counselin the legal department of the World Bank for more than 20 years"The merchant bankers ofLondon had already at hand in 1810-1850 the Stock Exchange, theBank of England, and the London money market... In time they broughtinto their financial network the provincial banking centers, organizedas commercial banks and savings banks, as well as insurance companies,to form all of these into a single financial system on an internationalscale which manipulated the quantity and flow of money so thatthey were able to influence, if not control, governments on oneside and industries on the other."Carroll Quigley in his book "Tragedyand Hope""The real menace of ourRepublic is the invisible government, which like a giant octopussprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation. Todepart from mere generalizations, let me say that at the headof this octopus are the Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests anda small group of powerful banking houses generally referred toas the international bankers. The little coterie of powerful internationalbankers virtually run the United States government for their ownselfish purposes.They practically control both parties, write political platforms,make catspaws of party leaders, use the leading men of privateorganizations, and resort to every device to place in nominationfor high public office only such candidates as will be amenableto the dictates of corrupt big business.These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interestscontrol the majority of the newspapers and magazines in this country.They use the columns of these papers to club into submission ordrive out of office public officials who refuse to do the biddingof the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government.It operates under cover of a self-created screen [and] seizesour executive officers, legislative bodies, schools, courts, newspapersand every agency created for the public protection."New York City Mayor John F. Hylanduring a speech, 1922"The influence of financialcapitalism and of the international bankers who created it wasexercised both on business and on governments, but could havedone neither if it had not been able to persuade both these toaccept two "axioms" of its own ideology. Both of thesewere based on the assumption that politicians were too weak andtoo subject to temporary popular pressures to be trusted withcontrol of the money, system; accordingly, the sanctity of allvalues and the soundness of money must be protected in two ways:by basing the value of money on gold and by allowing bankers tocontrol the supply of money."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""International bankerscreated the central banks of the world (including the FederalReserve), and they use those central banks to get the governmentsof the world ensnared in endless cycles of debt from which thereis no escape. Government debt is a way to "legitimately"take money from all of us, transfer it to the government, andthen transfer it into the pockets of the ultra-wealthy."Michael Snyder, 2013"The substantive financialpowers of the world were in the hands of investment bankers (alsocalled "international" or "merchant" bankers)who remained largely behind the scenes in their own unincorporatedprivate banks. These formed a system of international cooperationand national dominance which was more private, more powerful,and more secret than that of their agents in the central banks.This dominance of investment bankers was based on their controlover the flows of credit and investment funds in their own countriesand throughout the world. They could dominate the financial andindustrial systems of their own countries by their influence overthe flow of current funds through bank loans, the discount rate,and the re-discounting of commercial debts; they could dominategovernments by their control over current government loans andthe play of the international exchanges. Almost all of this powerwas exercised by the personal influence and prestige of men whohad demonstrated their ability in the past to bring off successfulfinancial coupes to keep their word, to remain cool in a crisis,and to share their winning opportunities with their associates.In this system the Rothschilds had been preeminent during muchof the nineteenth century, but, at the end of that century, theywere being replaced by J. P. Morgan whose central office was inNew York, although it was always operated as if it were in London."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""The Four Horsemen of Banking[Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup] ownthe Four Horsemen of Oil [Shell, Chevron, British Petroleum, Exxon], in tandem with Deusche Bank, Banque Paribas, Barclays and otherEuropean old money behemoths... These same Four Horsemen of Bankingare also among the top 10 stock holders of virtually every Fortune500 corporation. "Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""In the United States,five banks control half the economy: JP Morgan Chase, Bank ofAmerica, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs Group collectivelyheld $8.5 trillion in assets at the end of 2011, which equalsroughly 56% of the U.S. economy. This data was according to centralbankers at the Federal Reserve. In 2007, the assets of the largestbanks amounted to 43% of the U.S. economy."Andrew Gavin Marshall, 2012"In the period up to 1931,bankers, especially the Money Power controlled by the internationalinvestment bankers, were able to dominate both business and government.They could dominate business, especially in activities and inareas where industry could not finance its own needs for capital,because investment bankers had the ability to supply or refuseto supply such capital."Carroll Quigley, historian andGeorgetown University professor, in his book "Tragedy andHope""International financierPaul Warburg masterminded establishment of the Federal Reserveto put control over nation's economy in hands of internationalbankers. The Federal Reserve controls the money supply, whichallows manipulators to create alternate cycles of boom and bust,ie., a roller coaster economy. This allows those in the know tomake fabulous amounts of money, but even more important, allowsthe insiders to control the economy and further centralize powerin the federal government."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""[The] period, 1884-1933,was the period of financial capitalism in which investment bankersmoving into commercial banking and insurance on one side and intorailroading and heavy industry on the other were able to mobilizeenormous wealth and wield enormous economic, political, and socialpower. Popularly known as "Society," or the "400,"they lived a life of dazzling splendor. ... The influence of these business leaders was so great thatthe Morgan and Rockefeller groups acting together, or even Morganacting alone, could have wrecked the economic system of the countrymerely by throwing securities on the stock market for sale, and,having precipitated a stock-market panic, could then have boughtback the securities they had sold but at a lower price. Naturally,they were not so foolish as to do this, although Morgan came veryclose to it in precipitating the "panic of 1907."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""This world is not runby the Presidents or the Prime Ministers. It is run by the globalcorporations and the banks. For it is these entities that controlthe money supply and it is these entities that decide which countrylives or falls."the dailybell.com"The power of investmentbankers over governments rests on a number of factors, of whichthe most significant, perhaps, is the need of governments to issueshort-term treasury bills as well as long-term government bonds.Just as businessmen go to commercial banks for current capitaladvances to smooth over the discrepancies between their irregularand intermittent incomes and their periodic and persistent outgoes(such as monthly rents, annual mortgage payments, and weekly wages),so a government has to go to merchant bankers (or institutionscontrolled by them) to tide over the shallow places caused byirregular tax receipts."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""Eventually internationalbankers actually owned as private corporations the central banksof the various European nations. The Bank of England, Bank ofFrance and Bank of Germany were not owned by their respectivegovernments, as almost everyone imagines, but were privately ownedmonopolies granted by the heads of state, usually in return forloans."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""The merchant bankers ofLondon had already at hand in 1810-1850 the Stock Exchange, theBank of England, and the London money market when the needs ofadvancing industrialism called all of these into the industrialworld which they had hitherto ignored. In time they brought intotheir financial network the provincial banking centers, organizedas commercial banks and savings banks, as well as insurance companies,to form all of these into a single financial system on an internationalscale which manipulated the quantity and flow of money so thatthey were able to influence, if not control, governments on oneside and industries on the other. The men who did this, lookingbackward toward the period of dynastic monarchy in which theyhad their own roots, aspired to establish dynasties of internationalbankers and were at least as successful at this as were many ofthe dynastic political rulers. The greatest of these dynasties,of course, were the descendants of Meyer Amschel Rothschild (1743-1812)of Frankfort, whose male descendants, for at least two generations,generally married first cousins or even nieces. Rothschild's fivesons, established at branches in Vienna, London, Naples, and Paris,as well as Frankfort, cooperated together in ways which otherinternational banking dynasties copied but rarely excelled."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""The Hong Kong and ShanghaiBank (HSBC), remains the largest and least controlled clearinghousebank for the opium trade.John Coleman in his book "Conspirators'Hierarchy: The Story of the Committee of 300""In addition to their powerover government based on government financing and personal influence,bankers could steer governments in ways they wished them to goby other pressures. Since most government officials felt ignorantof finance, they sought advice from bankers whom they consideredto be experts in the field. The history of the last century showsthat the advice given to governments by bankers, like the advicethey gave to industrialists, was consistently good for bankers,but was often disastrous for governments, businessmen, and thepeople generally. Such advice could be enforced if necessary bymanipulation of exchanges, gold flows, discount rates, and evenlevels of business activity."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""The bankers control theworld's major corporations, media, intelligence agencies, thinktanks, foundations and universities."Henry Makow"In the Bolshevik Revolutionwe have some of the world's richest and most powerful men financinga movement which claims its very existence is based on the conceptof stripping of their wealth, men like the Rothschids, Rockefellers,Schiffs, Warburgs, Morgans, Harrimans, and Milners. But obviouslythese men have no fear of international Communism. It is onlylogical to assume that if they financed it and do not fear it,it must be because they control it."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""It is in the pecuniaryinterests of the international bankers to centralize politicalpower - and this centralization can best be achieved within acollectivist society, such as socialist Russia, national socialistGermany, or a Fabian socialist United States.There can be no full understanding and appreciation of twentieth-centuryAmerican politics and foreign policy without the realization thatthis financial elite effectively monopolizes Washington policy."Antony C. Sutton in his book "WallStreet and the Rise of Hitler""The Warburgs, Kuhn Loebs,Goldman Sachs, Schiffs and Rothschilds have intermarried intoone big happy banking family. The Warburg family - which controlsDeutsche Bank and BNP- tied up with the Rothschilds in 1814 inHamburg, while Kuhn Loeb powerhouse Jacob Schiff shared quarterswith Rothschilds in 1785. Schiff immigrated to America in 1865.He joined forces with Abraham Kuhn and married Solomon Loeb'sdaughter. Loeb and Kuhn married each others sisters and the KuhnLoeb dynasty was consummated. Felix Warburg married Jacob Schiff'sdaughter. Two Goldman daughters married two sons of the Sachsfamily, creating Goldman Sachs. In 1806 Nathan Rothschild marriedthe oldest daughter of Levi Barent Cohen, a leading financierin London."Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""The structure of financialcontrols created by the tycoons of 'Big Banking' and 'Big Business'...was of extraordinary complexity, one business fief being builton another, both being allied with semi-independent associates,the whole rearing upward into two pinnacles of economic and politicalpower, of which one, centered in New York, was headed by J. P.Morgan and Company and the other, in Ohio, was headed by the Rockefellerfamily. When the two cooperated, as they generally did, they couldinfluence the economic life of the country to a large degree andcould almost control its political life, at least at the Federallevel. They caused the "panic of 1907" and the collapseof two railroads, one in 1914 and the other in 1929."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""In foreign affairs theCouncil on Foreign Relations, superficially an innocent forumfor academics, businessmen, and politicians, contains within itsshell, perhaps unknown to many of its members, a power centerthat unilaterally determines U.S. foreign policy. The major objectiveof this submerged - and obviously subversive - foreign policyis the acquisition of markets and economic power (profits, ifyou will), for a small group of giant multi-nationals under thevirtual control of a few banking investment houses and controllingfamilies."Antony C. Sutton in his book "WallStreet and the Rise of Hitler""There is a special breedof international financiers whose success typically is built uponcertain character traits. Those include cold objectivity, immunityto patriotism, and indifference to the human condition. That profileis the basis for proposing a theoretical strategy, called theRothschild Formula, which motivates such men to propel governmentsinto war for the profits they yield... As long as the mechanismof central banking exists, it will be to such men an irresistibletemptation to convert debt into perpetual war and war into perpetualdebt."G. Edward Griffin in his book "TheCreature from Jekyll Island""CPA Thomas D. Schauf statesthat ten banks control all twelve Federal Reserve Bank branches.He names N.M. Rothschild of London, Rothschild Bank of Berlin,Warburg Bank of Hamburg, Warburg Bank of Amsterdam, Lehman Brothersof New York, Lazard Brothers of Paris, Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York,Israel Moses Seif Bank of Italy, Goldman Sachs of New York andJP Morgan Chase Bank of New York."Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""Capital must protect itselfin every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debtsmust be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible.When, through the process of law, the common people lose theirhomes, they will become more docile and more easily governed throughthe strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealthunder leading financiers. These truths are well known among ourprincipal men who are now engaged in forming an imperialism togovern the world. By dividing the voter through the politicalparty system, we can get them to expend their energies in fightingfor questions of no importance. It is thus by discreet actionwe can secure for ourselves that which has been so well plannedand so successfully accomplished."American's Banker Association,1924"In the latter half ofthe 1800s European financiers were in favor of an American CivilWar that would return the United States to its colonial status.The Civil War, lasted from 1861 until 1865 ... during which, Congressalso set up a national bank, putting the government into partnershipwith the banking interests, guaranteeing their profits."Andrew Gavin Marshall, Global Research"Our global banking systemis a global cartel, a "super-entity" in which the world'smajor banks all own each other and own the controlling sharesin the world's largest multinational corporations.... This is the real "free market," a highly profitableglobal banking cartel, functioning as a worldwide financial Mafia."Andrew Gavin Marshall, 2012"The global banking cartel,centered at the IMF, World Bank and Federal Reserve, have paidoff politicians and dictators the world over [Including Washington].In country after country, they have looted national economiesat the expense of local populations, consolidating wealth in unprecedentedfashion ­ the top economic one-tenth of one percent is currentlyholding over $40 trillion in investible wealth, not counting anequally significant amount of wealth hidden in offshore accounts."David DeGraw, 2011"The modern banking systemmanufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps themost astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented.Banking was conceived in inequity and born in sinBankers own theearth. Take it away from them but leave them the power to createmoney, and, with a flick of a pen, they will create enough moneyto buy it back againTake this great power away from them and allgreat fortunes like mine will disappear, for then this would bea better and happier world to live inBut, if you want to continueto be the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery,then let bankers continue to create money and control credit."Sir Josiah Stamp (1880-1941), Presidentof the Bank of England in the 1920_s, the second richest man inBritain, speaking at the Commencement Address of the Universityof Texas in 1927"The real menace of ourrepublic is the invisible government, which, like a giant octopus,sprawls its slimy length over our city, state and nation. At thehead is a small group of banking houses generally referred toas 'international bankers.' This little coterie of powerful internationalbankers virtually run our government for their own selfish ends."John F. Hylan, 1922, Mayor of NewYork, in a speech"The world's money-lendersbecame experts at parasitic high finance and got rich throughthe explosive growth of fractional reserve banking. These peoplehave dominated the economies of nations through such institutionsas the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve System, the Bank ofInternational Settlements (BIS), and other central and commercialbanks, currency and commodity exchanges, and stock and bond markets.... The bankers on the one hand and the political racketeers onthe other merged over a century ago under the oversight of figuresassociated with the creation of the Anglo-American Empire, suchas Cecil Rhodes, Lord Alfred Milner, Colonel Mandell House, WinstonChurchill, the House of Windsor, and the Rothschilds, Schiffs,Morgans, Harrimans, Rockefellers, Myers, and Bushes."Richard C. Cook, 2008"The big bankers of theworld, who practice the terrorism of money, are more powerfulthan kings and field marshals, even more than the Pope of Romehimself. They never dirty their hands. They kill no one: theylimit themselves to applauding the show.Their officials, international technocrats, rule our countries:they are neither presidents nor ministers, they have not beenelected, but they decide the level of salaries and public expenditure,investments and divestments, prices, taxes, interest rates, subsidies,when the sun rises and how frequently it rains."Eduardo Galeano"International investmentbankers took seats on the boards of directors of industrial firms,as they had already done on commercial banks, savings banks, insurancefirms, and finance companies. From these lesser institutions theyfunneled capital to enterprises which yielded control and awayfrom those who resisted. These firms were controlled through interlockingdirectorships, holding companies, and lesser banks. They engineeredamalgamations and generally reduced competition, until by theearly twentieth century many activities were so monopolized thatthey could raise their noncompetitive prices above costs to obtainsufficient profits to become self-financing.But before that stage was reached a relatively small number ofbankers were in positions of immense influence in European andAmerican economic life."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""While wars and revolutionshave been useful to international bankers in gaining or increasingcontrol over governments, the key to such control has always beencontrol of money. You can control a government if you have itin your debt; a creditor is in a position to demand the privilegesof monopoly from the sovereign. Money-seeking governments havegranted monopolies in state banking, natural resources, oil concessionsand transportation. However, the monopoly which the internationalfinanciers most covet is control over a nation's money."Gary Allen in his book "NoneDare Call It Conspiracy""Hundreds of years ago,bankers began to specialize, with the richer and more influentialones associated increasingly with foreign trade and foreign-exchangetransactions. Since these were richer and more cosmopolitan andincreasingly concerned with questions of political significance,such as stability and debasement of currencies, war and peace,dynastic marriages, and worldwide trading monopolies, they becamethe financiers and financial advisers of governments.Moreover, since their relationships with governments were alwaysin monetary terms and not real terms, and since they were alwaysobsessed with the stability of monetary exchanges between onecountry's money and another, they used their power and influenceto do two things: (1) to get all money and debts expressed interms of a strictly limited commodity-ultimately gold; and (2)to get all monetary matters out of the control of governmentsand political authority, on the ground that they would be handledbetter by private banking interests."Carroll Quigley, in his book "Tragedyand Hope""On September 1, 1894,we will not renew our loans under any consideration. On September1st we will demand our money. We will foreclose and become mortgageesin possession. We can take two-thirds of the farms west of theMississippi, and thousands of them east of the Mississippi aswell, at our own price."American Bankers Association, 1891"History records that themoney changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit,and violent means possible to maintain their control over governmentsby controlling money and it's issuance."James Madison, 1820"The money powers preyupon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in timesof adversity. It is more despotic than a monarchy, more insolentthan autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy. It denouncesas public enemies all who question its methods or throw lightupon its crimes. I have two great enemies, the Southern Army infront of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one atmy rear is my greatest foe.Abraham Lincoln"If the American peopleever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency,first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks...will deprivethe people of all property until their children wake-up homelesson the continent their fathers conquered... The issuing powershould be taken from the banks and restored to the people, towhom it properly belongs."Thomas Jefferson"We must keep the peoplebusy with political antagonisms... By dividing the electorate... we'll be able to have them spend their energies at strugglingamongst themselves on questions that, for us, have no importancewhatsoever.... Let us make use of the courts... When through the law's intervention,the common people shall have lost their homes, they will be moreeasy to control and more easy to govern, and they shall not beable to resist the strong hand of the Government acting in accordancewith ... the control of the leaders of finance."United States Bankers magazine,1892"I fear that foreign bankerswith their ... tortuous tricks will entirely control the exuberantriches of America and use it systematically to corrupt moderncivilization. They will not hesitate to plunge the whole [world]into wars and chaos in order that the earth should become theirinheritance."Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor ofGermany, after the assassination of President Lincoln, 1863"The banking cartel succeedsin creating "false" prices for commodities such as oil,gold and silver through their creation of bogus paper markets(futures, ETFs, etc.), in which sometimes a hundred times or moreof the commodity is bought and sold in paper form than existsin real physical form."F. WIlliam Engdahl"With the exception ofa few thousand very powerful people, the entire world's population,all seven billion of us, are trapped ... trapped into a criminaldebt creating banking 'system' that has taken hundreds of yearsto perfect and to come to fruition. This 'system' results in enslavementand servitude. It creates dreadful unhappiness amongst ordinarydecent people and causes wars, debt, starvation, pollution andenvironmental destruction. It feeds on greed, fear and division.It forces people onto the corporate treadmills of mass mindlessproduction and mass mindless consumption. It uses lies, deception,intimidation and entrapment at all times. It is a system thatis so clever and so cunning that most of the world is completelyoblivious to its existence. It is a system that allows a few winnersat the expense of a huge number of losers. It is a system thatconsiders itself to be unbeatable and indestructible and is nowso arrogant that it believes it can control everything and everyoneon its terms. It is a system where psychopaths and sociopathscan flourish. And without question the center of this system,the heart of this global corporate beast is the innocent soundingSquare Mile known as the City of London."Justin Walker"Here are the card-carryingshareholders in the `Federal' Reserve Corporation: RothschildBanks of London and Berlin, Lazard Brothers Bank of Paris, Isreal,Moses Sieff Banks Of Italy, Warburg Bank of Hamburg and Amsterdam,Lehman Brothers Bank of new York, Kuhn Loeb Bank Of New York,Chase Manhattan Bank Of New York, Goldman Sachs Bank Of New York."Miles Franklin Newsletter"The world's money-lendersbecame experts at parasitic high finance and got rich throughthe explosive growth of fractional reserve banking. These peoplehave dominated the economies of nations through such institutionsas the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve System, the Bank ofInternational Settlements (BIS), and other central and commercialbanks, currency and commodity exchanges, and stock and bond markets.... The bankers on the one hand and the political racketeers onthe other merged over a century ago under the oversight of figuresassociated with the creation of the Anglo-American Empire, suchas Cecil Rhodes, Lord Alfred Milner, Colonel Mandell House, WinstonChurchill, the House of Windsor, and, as examples of familiesinvolved, the Rothschilds, Schiffs, Morgans, Harrimans, Rockefellers,Myers, and Bushes."Richard C. Cook, 2008"Every country suspendedthe gold standard at the outbreak of the war [WWI]... This removedthe automatic limitation on the supply of paper money. Then eachcountry proceeded to pay for the war by borrowing from the banks.The banks created the money which they then lent by merely givingthe Government a deposit of any size against which the Governmentcould draw checks. The banks were no longer limited in the amountof credit they could create because they no longer had to payout gold for checks on demand. Thus the creation of money in theform of credit by the banks was limited only by the demands ofits borrowers."Carroll Quigley, historian andGeorgetown University professor, in his book "Tragedy andHope""Before World War I, twoopposing systems of political economy competed for dominance inthe United States. One operated out of Wall Street, the New Yorkfinancial district that came to be the symbol of American finance.Its most important address was 23 Wall Street, known as the "Houseof Morgan." J. P. Morgan was an agent of powerful Britishbanking interests. The Wizards of Wall Street and the Old Worldbankers pulling their strings sought to establish a national currencythat was based on the "gold standard," one created privatelyby the financial elite who controlled the gold. The other systemdated back to Benjamin Franklin and operated out of Philadelphia...The Philadelphia faction favored a bank on the model establishedin provincial Pennsylvania, where a state loan office issued andlent money, collected the interest, and returned it to the provincialgovernment to he used in place of taxes. President Abraham Lincolnreturned to the colonial system of government-issued money duringthe Civil War; but he was assassinated, and the bankers reclaimedcontrol of the money machine. The silent coup of the Wall Streetfaction culminated with the passage of the Federal Reserve Actin 1913."Ellen Brown in her book "Webof Debt""You can count the numberof banks that own half of all the wealth in the U.S. economy onjust one hand. There are just five of them: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Theirtotal assets equal 8.5 trillion, which is 56% of our entire economy."Thom Hartmann"Only low echelon drugdealers get caught with drug money in their hands. The elite -Drexel Burnham, Credite Suisse, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC)- escape detection... American Express was and still is a conduitfor laundering drug money."John Coleman in his book "Conspirators'Hierarchy: The Story of the Committee of 300""A competent war on drugsmust begin with a war against the banking institutions and bankerswho 'launder' Dope, Inc.'s ill-gotten gains...Shut down the drugmoney-laundering by the major Anglo-American banks, and the dopecartel would choke to death on its own profits... Dope, Inc.'svulnerable flank is the international network of banks and otherfinancial institutions that 'launder' the cartel's $558 billionper year in gross revenue... Action by governments against thedrug bankers could rapidly shut down Dope, Inc."from the book "Dope. Inc.",Executive Intelligence Review,1978"By 2000 four giant banksemerged to rule the US financial roost. JP Morgan Chase and Citigroupwere kings of capital on the East Coast. Together they control52.86% of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Bank of America andWells Fargo reigned supreme on the West Coast.During the 2008 banking crisis these firms got even bigger, takingon distressed assets for pennies on the dollar. Barclays tookover Lehman Brothers. JP Morgan Chase got Washington Mutual. Bankof America was handed Merrill Lynch and Countrywide, while WellsFargo got the nation's 5th biggest bank- Wachovia."Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""The powers of financialcapitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than tocreate a world system of financial control in private hands ableto dominate the political system of each country and the economyof the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in afeudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting inconcert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetingsand conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank forInternational Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bankowned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselvesprivate corporations."Carroll Quigley in his book 'Tragedyand Hope"The eight largest U.S.financial companies (JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America,Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp, Bank of New York Mellonand Morgan Stanley) are 100% controlled by ten shareholders andwe have four companies always present in all decisions:BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard and Fidelity.In addition, the Federal Reserve is comprised of 12 banks, representedby a board of seven people, which comprises representatives ofthe "big four," which in turn are present in all otherentities.In short, the Federal Reserve is controlled by four large privatecompanies: BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard and Fidelity. Thesecompanies control U.S. monetary policy (and world) without anycontrol or "democratic" choice.www.theglobalelite.org, 2013"States, most especiallythe large hegemonic ones, such as the United States and GreatBritain, are controlled by the international central banking system,working through secret agreements at the Bank for InternationalSettlements (BIS), and operating through national central banks(such as the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve)... The sameinternational banking cartel that controls the United States todaypreviously controlled Great Britain and held it up as the internationalhegemon. When the British order faded, and was replaced by theUnited States, the US ran the global economy. However, the sameinterests are served. States will be used and discarded at willby the international banking cartel; they are simply tools."Carroll Quigley in his book "Tragedyand Hope""The institutional changeswhich the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act (FSMA) broughtabout, including the concentration and centralization of powerin the hands of a small number of financial giants, largely contributedto Wall Street's unswerving quest for global financial domination.The tendency was towards a worldwide financial supermarket controlledby a handful of global financial institutions which penetrateand permeate the fabric of national economies. The sweeping deregulationof U.S. banking imparted unprecedented powers to Wall Street'sfinancial conglomerates to acquire and take over banking institutionsall over the world."Andrew Gavin Marshall, Global Research"Since 2008, bad debt frombanks, corporations, and private investors was in transferredfrom the balance sheets of private banks to the balance sheetsof the central banks as a result of nine years of bailout viaQE (quantitative easing), zero interest rate free money, and otherpolicies of the central banks. The central banks bailed out thecapitalist system in 2008-09 by shifting the bad debts to themselves.In the course of the last 9 years, the private system loaded itselfup on still more debt than it had in 2007. Can the central banks,already bloated with $20 trillion bail out bankers and friendsonce again? That's the question. Attempting to unload the $20trillion to make room for the next bailout-as the central banksnow propose to do-may result, however, in precipitating the nextcrisis.... After eight years of treating symptoms and not the disease,the global financial system has become addicted to super-low ratesand to continued central bank excess liquidity provisioning. Whatstarted in 2008 as a massive, somewhat coordinated central banklender of last resort experiment - i.e. global bank bailout -has over the past eight years evolved into a more or less permanentsubsidisation of the private banking and financial systems bycentral banks. The system has become addicted to free money.... What happened was an unprecedented acceleration in financialasset markets as equity and bond prices surged for eight years,high end real estate prices rose to prior levels, derivativesboomed, gold and crypto-currencies escalated in value, and incomeinequality soared to record levels - all fueled by the massive$10 trillion central bank liquidity injections that drove interestrates to zero or below."Jack Rasmus , 2017"Capital must protect itselfin every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debtsmust be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible.When, through the process of law, the common people lose theirhomes, they will become more docile and more easily governed throughthe strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealthunder leading financiers. These truths are well known among ourprincipal men who are now engaged in forming an imperialism togovern the world. By dividing the voter through the politicalparty system, we can get them to expend their energies in fightingfor questions of no importance. It is thus by discreet actionwe can secure for ourselves that which has been so well plannedand so successfully accomplished."American's Banker Association,1924"The debt crisis of theearly 1980s unleashed a wave of corporate mergers, buyouts andbankruptcies. These changes then paved the way for the consolidationof a new generation of financiers clustered around the large merchantbanks, the institutional investors, stock brokerage firms andlarge insurance companies. In this process, commercial bankingfunctions have coalesced with those of the investment banks andstock brokers, leading to the consolidation of a handful of globalfinancial conglomerates."Andrew Gavin Marshall, Global ResearchBIG OIL "Everyone knows that theIraq war is largely about oil."Alan Greenspan, former chairmanof the Federal Reserve, 2008"After 1971, a White Housepolicy was initiated, under the effective control of Henry Kissinger,to control the economies of the nations and to reduce their populations,rather than to facilitate technology transfer and industrial growth.The strategy was to force the price of the cartelized world oilup by about a factor of four, recover the Arab oil receipts backinto the British and American central banks, and lend them tothe Third World to acquire control over those countries. To thisend, the Bilderberg group, containing the world's top financialand political insiders, met privately in Saltsjoebaden, Swedenin May 1973 to discuss how the coming flood of oil dollars wasto be handled. ... The great bulk of the petro-dollars were repatriated in purchasingU.S. government debt and in deposit accounts in Chase Manhattan,Citibank, et al. From there they were loaned to the Third World,which could not otherwise buy the fuel they needed to survive,whence many of those countries became enslaved to the bankers,and forced to follow their edicts on how to run their countries.F William Engdahl in his book "ACentury of War" reviewed in the book "How The World Really Works" byAlan Jones"The dollar's current strengthis supported by the requirement of the Organization of the PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC), secured originally by a secret agreementbetween the United States and Saudi Arabia, that all OPEC oilsales be denominated in dollars."Peter Dale Scott in his book "TheRoad to 9/11""Over the long haul, sinceWorld War II, oil interests have dictated the general dispositionof U.S. foreign policy."Peter Dale Scott"If you want to know whorules the world, just think of two words: "Oil Bankers."The western financial institutions that dominate the world economycan all be traced back to fossil fuels. The House of Rockefeller,tied in with Exxon-Mobil, sucessor of Standard Oil, along withthe House of Morgan now exercise their titanic power via an entitycalled Chase Bank. HSBC Bank is closely tied to British Petroleum.The British banking dynasty known as the Rothschilds is closelytied in with Royal Dutch Shell."Caleb Maupin, 2018"We must never make itappear as if we went into Iraq for its oil."Republican Arizona Senator JonKyl"Since the Bush-CheneyAdministration took office in January 2001, controlling the majoroil and natural gas fields of the world had been the primary,though undeclared, priority of US foreign policy... Not only theinvasion of Iraq, but also the toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan,had nothing to do with 'democracy,' and everything to do withpipeline control across Central Asia and the militarization ofthe Middle East."F. William Engdahl"The United States handledthe quadrupling of oil prices in the 1970s by arranging, by meansof secret agreements with the Saudis, to recycle petrodollarsback into the U.S. economy. The first of these deals assured aspecial and ongoing Saudi stake in the health of the U.S. dollar;the second secured continuing Saudi support for the pricing ofall OPEC oil in dollars. These two deals assured that the U.S.economy would not be impoverished by OPEC oil price hikes. Theheaviest burdens would be borne instead by the economies of lessdeveloped countries."Peter Dale Scott, 2003"One of the verboten topicsis oil. Do you notice how it is almost never mentioned in thepress as a real reason we went into Iraq. When is the last timeyou heard any major media outlet talking about it? Was there evera magazine cover that asked -- Was it About the Oil? Can you imagineWolf Blitzer asking this question of a government official?... Do Americans realize that the rest of the world, is absolutelyconvinced we went in for the oil?Cenk Uygur, 2008"We had virtually no economicoptions with Iraq, because the country floats on a sea of oil."Paul Wolfowitz, 2008"In April 2005 Sudan'sgovernment announced it had found oil in South Darfur, a majorgeopolitical event which major US and European media "forgot"to mention when discussing the sudden new "Darfur conflict."Washington, using US Secretary of State Colin Powell, an African-American,to deliver the message, began accusing the Khartoum regime of"genocide" in Darfur, though no independent proof wasgiven. Only Washington and the NGO's close to it used the term"genocide" to describe Darfur. If they could get a popularacceptance of the charge of genocide, it opened the possibilityfor drastic "regime change" interventions by NATO andby Washington in Sudan's sovereign affairs. The Washington Darfursmear campaign soon enlisted Hollywood stars like George Clooneyin this effort. Washington and NATO launched a campaign to arguefor a de facto NATO occupation of the region.In 2004, Chad's dictator Idriss Deby launched the initial strikethat set off the conflict in Darfur, using members of his elitePresidential Guard who originate from the province. He providedall-terrain vehicles, arms and anti-aircraft guns to Darfur rebelsfighting the Khartoum government in southwest Sudan. The US militarysupport to Deby was the trigger for the Darfur bloodbath. Khartoumreacted and the ensuing tragic debacle was unleashed in full force.... In 2011 a new "republic" was declared in southernSudan titled The Republic of South Sudan. It (conveniently forthe Pentagon) controlled a major part of Sudan's oil flows toChina."F. William Engdahl, 2014"Only in an America dumbeddown by constant propaganda about our innate moral superioritywill anyone any longer believe that we didn't invade Iraq forthe oil."Robert Scheer, 2008"In Colombia, we are fightinga war (supposedly on drugs but in fact financed in part by drugs)with a drug proxy - the corrupt Colombian army and its even morecorrupt paramilitary auxiliaries. In 2001 Colombian governmentsources estimated that 40 percent of Colombian cocaine exportswere controlled by rightwing paramilitary warlords and their traffickingallies. Meanwhile the amount controlled by the Revolutionary ArmedForces of Colombia (FARC), the target of the U.S. "war ondrugs," was estimated by the Colombian government to be 2.5percent."Peter Dale Scott, 2003"The United States is notinterested in the oil in that region from Iraq. That's just utternonsense."Donald Rumsfeld, US. Secretaryof Defense, interview with Al Jazeera TV, February 25, 2003"We're there in Iraq becausethat part of the world controls the world supply of oil, and whoevercontrols the supply of oil would have a stranglehold on the Americaneconomy and indeed on the world economy."Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney,1990"Regardless of whetherwe say so publicly, we will go to war, because Saddam sits atthe center of a region with more than 60 percent of all the world'soil reserves."Anthony H. Cordesman, senior analystat Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies"After U.S. troops capturedBaghdad in April 2003, they were ordered to protect the Oil Ministryeven as looters ransacked priceless antiquities from Iraq's nationalmuseums and stole explosives from unguarded military arsenals."Jason Leopold, Global Research,2009"As of 2006, Libya hadthe largest proven oil reserves in Africa, some 35%, larger eventhan Nigeria."F. William Engdahl, 2014"The US-led war in thebroader Middle East Central Asian region consists in gaining controlover more than sixty percent of the world's reserves of oil andnatural gas. The Anglo-American oil giants also seek to gain controlover oil and gas pipeline routes out of the region. Muslim countriesincluding Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates,Qatar, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan,Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, possess between 66.2 and 75.9 percentof total oil reserves."Michel Chossudovsky, 2012"Right after World WarII ... the United States moved to dominate a global system forthe production and distribution of oil. Starting with the TrumanDoctrine in 1946, U.S. geostrategic thinking was oil based. Whatbegan as a strategy for containment of the Soviet Union has becomemore and more nakedly a determination to control the oil resourcesof the world. This pursuit has progressively deformed the domesticU.S. economy, rendering it more and more unbalanced and dependenton heavy military expenditures in remote and ungovernable areas-mostrecently Afghanistan."Peter Dale Scott, 2003"Washington and the NewYork banks had exchanged their flawed postwar Bretton Woods goldexchange system for a new, highly unstable petroleum-based dollarexchange system, which, unlike the gold exchange system, theyreckoned they could control. Henry Kissinger and the financialestablishment of London and New York had in effect replaced theold gold exchange standard of the postwar world with their own'petrodollar standard.'"William Engdahl in his book "ACentury of War""The American habit oftraining, arming, and financing its drug-trafficking allies inorder to help secure oil resources abroad has been a major factorin the huge increase in global illicit drug trafficking sinceWorld War II."Peter Dale Scott, 2003"The oil market is now corneredby five major companies - Exxon-Mobil, Chevron-Texaco, BritishPetroleum-Amoco-Arco, Royal Dutch Shell and Conoco-Phillips -which control over 60 percent of refinery output.... The operating strategy ... is to force independent refinersout of business, tighten gasoline supplies, and then jack up theprice. Finally, when the profit skyrockets, take ads in newspapersto claim that the profit is reasonable."Ravi Batra in his book "TheNew Golden Age", 2007"Drug networks are importantfactors in the politics of every continent. The United Statesreturns repeatedly to the posture of fighting wars in areas ofpetroleum reserves with the aid of drug-trafficking allies - drugproxies - with which it has a penchant to become involved."Peter Dale Scott in his book "Drugs,Oil, and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, andIndochinaTHE DEEP STATE"The term 'Deep State'describes a system composed of high-level elements within theintelligence services, military, security, judiciary and organizedcrime. ... It is a hybrid association of elements of government and partsof top-level finance and industry that is effectively able togovern the United States without reference to the consent of thegoverned as expressed through the formal political process."former congressional staff memberMike Lofgren"The "deep state"refers to a parallel secret government, organized by the intelligenceand security apparatus, financed by drugs, and engaging in illicitviolence, to protect the status and interests of the militaryagainst threats from intellectuals, religious groups, and occasionallythe constitutional government.... The "deep state" refers to the wider interface inAmerica between the public, the constitutionally established state,and the deep forces behind it of wealth, power, and violence outsidethe government. You might call it the back door of the Publicstate, giving access to dark forces outside the law."Peter Dale Scott"The "deep state"consists of individuals across all elements within and externalto the government, who in the aggregate are able to leverage governmentcapabilities while violating, with impunity, all Constitutionalchecks and balances. Related to this is the matter of fundingand reach - if you follow the money, where do you end up? FromNew York banks to Texas energy to global drugs, there is a criminalnetwork that is above the law and above the state."Daniel Sheehan"America's deep state issomething of a hybrid creature that operates along a New Yorkto Washington axis.... The U.S.-style deep state includes key players in the policeand intelligence agencies, the military, the treasury and justicedepartments and in the judiciary. It is structured to materiallyreward those who play along.... Even though government is needed to implement desired policies,the banksters comprise the truly essential element, capable ofproviding genuine rewards for compliance. As corporate interestsincreasingly own the media, little dissent comes from the FourthEstate as the process plays out while many of the proliferatingWashington think tanks that provide deep state "intellectual"credibility are similarly funded by defense contractors.... The cross fertilization that is essential to make the deepstate system work takes place through the famous revolving doorwhereby senior government officials enter the private sector ata high level. In some cases the door revolves a number of times,with officials leaving government before returning in an evenmore elevated position. This has been characteristic of the rise of the so-called neoconservatives.Along the way, those select individuals are protected, promotedand groomed for bigger things. The senior government officials,ex-generals, and high level intelligence operatives who participatefind themselves with multi-million dollar homes for their retirementyears, cushioned by a tidy pile of investments."Philip Giraldi, 2016"By the end of 1962, thenational security establishment in Washington D.C., which hadquickly come to know JFK as a skeptic during 1961, had come toview him as a heretic; and by November of 1963, the month he wasassassinated, they no doubt considered him an apostate, for heno longer supported most of the so-called "orthodox"views of the Cold War priesthood. ... The national security establishment wanted to turn the ColdWar against the USSR into a hot war, so that the U.S. could inflictpunishing and fatal blows upon its Communist adversaries on thebattlefield. It was this desire for hot war by so many withinthe national security establishment - their belief that conventionalproxy wars with the Soviet Bloc were an urgent necessity, andthat nuclear war with the USSR was probably inevitable - to whichPresident Kennedy was so adamantly opposed. And it was JFK's profounddetermination to avoid nuclear war by miscalculation, and to avoidcombat with conventional arms unless it was truly necessary, thatseparated him from almost everyone else in his administrationfrom 1961 throughout 1963."Douglas P. Horne, 2014"The long-time tendencyof business and government to become more intricately and deeplyinvolved with each other has now reached a new point of explicitness.The two cannot now be seen clearly as two distinct worlds."John Stuart Mills in his book ThePower Elite"The "Deep State"is a parallel secret government, organized by a covert factionof the intelligence agencies, operated by a splinter cell of theUnited States military-industrial complex, financed through boththe major banks, and the sale of illegal drugs, weapons, and humantrafficking. They are international in their reach, owe no allegianceto any particular country, and are unbelievably ruthless in theprotection of their interests."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017"The Deep State has a lifeof its own, like the government itself. It's composed of top-echelonemployees of a dozen Praetorian agencies, like the FBI, CIA, andNSA, top generals, admirals, and other military operatives, long-termcongressmen, senators, and directors of important regulatory agencies.But Deep State is much broader than just the government. It includesthe heads of major corporations, all of whom are heavily involvedin selling to the State and enabling it. That absolutely includesSilicon Valley, although those guys at least have a sense of humor,evidenced by their "Don't Be Evil" motto. It also includesall the top people in the Fed, and the heads of all the majorbanks, brokers, and insurers. Add the presidents and many professorsat top universities, which act as Deep State recruiting centers,all the top media figures, of course, and many regulars at thingslike Bohemian Grove and the Council on Foreign Relations. Theyepitomize the status quo, held together by power, money, and propaganda."Doug Casey, financial analyst"The deep forces dominatingboth political parties in the United States are now so powerful,so affluent, and above all so invested in the profits from war-making,that a president is farther than ever from challenging this power- even as it becomes more and more clear that America's era ofworld dominance, like Britain's before it, is drawing to a close."Peter Dale Scott"There is an amorphousgroup of unelected corporate lawyers, bankers, and intelligenceand military officials who form an American "deep state,"setting real limits on the rare politicians who ever try to getout of line. They collaborate with and nurture their deep statecounterparts in other countries, to whom they feel far more loyaltythan their fellow citizens. The minions of the deep state hateand fear even the mildest moves towards democracy, and fight againstit by any means available to them. They're not all-powerful anddon't get exactly what they want, but on the issues that mattermost they almost always win in the end. And while all this ismostly right there in the open, discernible by anyone who's curiousand has a library card, if you don't go looking you will neverhear a single word about it."Jon Schwarz"The deep state wins nomatter who is in power by creating bipartisan-supported moneypits within the system. Unending wars and simmering though hardto define threats together invite more spending on national securityand make for good business. Monetizing the completely unnecessaryand hideously expensive global war on terror benefits the seniorgovernment officials, beltway industries and financial servicesthat feed off it. Because it is essential to keep the money flowing,the deep state persists in promoting policies that otherwise makeno sense, to include the unwinnable wars currently enjoying marqueestatus in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. The deep state knows thata fearmongered public will buy its product and does not even haveto make much of an effort to sell it."Philip Giraldi, 2016"John Stuart Mills wrotein his 1956 masterpiece The Power Elite, that America was ruledby those who control the "strategic command posts" ofsociety-the big corporations, the machinery of the state, andthe military establishment. These dominant cliques were drawntogether by their deep mutual stake in the "permanent wareconomy" that had emerged during the Cold War. Though political tensions could flare within the power elite,Mills wrote, there was a remarkable unity of purpose among theseruling groups. The top corporate executives, government leaders,and high-ranking military officers moved fluidly in and out ofone another's worlds, exchanging official roles, socializing inthe same clubs, and educating their children at the same exclusiveschools.... Within this system of American power, Mills saw corporatechiefs as the first among equals. Long interlocked with the federalgovernment, corporate leaders came to dominate the "politicaldirectorate" during World War II. The United States had largelybecome a democracy in form only. More than half of a century beforethe John Roberts-era Supreme Court that legally sanctioned corporatecontrol of the electoral process."David Talbot"Wall Street may be theultimate owner of the Deep State and its strategies, if for noother reason than that it has the money to reward government operativeswith a second career that is lucrative beyond the dreams of avarice- certainly beyond the dreams of a salaried government employee."former congressional staff memberMike Lofgren"The United States of Americais not exactly deep state Turkey, but any democracy can be subvertedby particular interests hiding behind the mask of patriotism buttressedby phony international threats. Ordinary Americans frequentlyask why politicians and government officials appear to be so obtuse,rarely recognizing what is actually occurring in the country.That is partly due to the fact that the political class livesin a bubble of its own creation but it might also be because manyof America's leaders actually accept and benefit from the factthat there is an unelected, un-appointed and unaccountable presencewithin the system that actually manages what is taking place frombehind the scenes. That would be the American deep state."Philip Giraldi, 2016"The deep state is intimatelyconnected by a web of money, mutual goals, and careerism to specificand very powerful elements of corporate America. These elementsinclude the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, and SiliconValley. [The spy agencies are completely dependent on Silicon Valley'stechnology, communications backbones, and cooperation to performtheir mission.]"Mike Lofgren in his book The DeepState, 2016"Dick Cheney and DonaldRumsfeld were a part of the permanent, though hidden, nationalsecurity apparatus of the United States, inhabitants of a worldin which Presidents come and go, but America always keeps on fighting."Peter Dale ScottTHE VICTIMSCHILDREN, FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES,SOCIETIES, NATIONS"Tallying only the deathtoll inflicted by US. armed forces or U.S.-backed surrogate forcesaround the world, the estimates are as follows: 3,000,000 in Vietnam,1,000,000 in Cambodia, 1,000,000 in Mozambique, 500,000 to 1,000,000in Indonesia, 600,000 in Angola, 300,000 in Laos, 250,000 in EastTimor, 200,000 in Iraq, 200,000 in Afghanistan, 150,000 in Guatemala,100,000 in Nicaragua, 90,000 in El Salvador, and tens of thousandsin Chile, Argentina, Zaire, Iran (under the Shah), Colombia, Bolivia,Brazil, Panama, Somalia, South Yemen, Western Sahara, and othercountries."Michael Parenti in his book "Dirty Truths""Coming to grips with U.S./CIAactivities in broad numbers and figuring out how many people havebeen killed in the jungles of Laos or the hills of Nicaragua isvery difficult. But, adding them up as best we can, we come upwith a figure of six million people killed-and this is a minimumfigure. Included are: one million killed in the Korean War, twomillion killed in the Vietnam War, 800,000 killed in Indonesia,one million in Cambodia, 20,000 killed in Angola, and 22,000 killedin Nicaragua. These people would not have died if U.S. tax dollarshad not been spent by the CIA to inflame tensions, finance covertpolitical and military activities and destabilize societies."John Stockwell, CIA official inthe 1960s and 1970s"The CIA's control of theMSM (mainstream media) is so complete today that every evil governmentaction is immediately seconded, whether it be the lies about theattacks of September 11, 2001, the wars against Afghanistan, Iraq,Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc., the coup in Ukraine, the downing ofthe Malaysian jetliner, drone murders, the looting of the Americanpeople by the elites, alleged sarin gas attacks in Syria, theanti-Russia bashing - everything."Edward Curtin, 2017"Since the end of worldWar II the United States has:* endeavored to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, mostof which were democratically elected;'* grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries* attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders * dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries * attempted to suppress a populist or nationalist movement in20 countries.Since 1945, the United States has carried out one or more of theabove-listed actions, on one or more occasions, in seventy-onecountries (more than one-third of the countries of the world),in the process of which the US has ended the lives of severalmillion people, condemned many millions more to a life of agonyand despair and has been responsible for the torture of countlessthousands."William Blum"Mounting numbers of victims,the millions of people whose lives have been trampled or splatteredby CIA operations are increasingly cynical of America. Becauseof the CIA the world is a more dangerous place. Americans havereduced credibility. Worst of all, by retaining the CIA we areaccepting ourselves as a harsh and ruthless people. It's the wronggame for a great nation."former CIA agent John Stockwell"If Nuremberg were applied,then every post-war American president would have been hanged."Noam Chomsky"U.S. and Western imperialismis the root cause of the "refugee crisis". Everydaymen, women, and children are killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan,U.S. and Western-backed militias in Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia,European and North American mining and oil conglomerates in Centraland Western Africa, or are starved to death in Yemen by the U.S.-backedArab blockade of the country. Until the genocidal aims of U.S.imperialism, with the support of Canada, Australia, the EuropeanUnion, and regional allies, are defeated, the "war on terror"will continue to make life too unbearable for working people inAsia, Africa, and the Middle East to remain in their home countries."T.J. Petrowski, 2015"By one estimate, as manyas four million Muslims have died or been killed as a result ofthe ongoing conflicts that Washington has either initiated orbeen party to since 2001.There are, in addition, millions of displaced persons who havelost their homes and livelihoods, many of whom are among the humanwave currently engulfing Europe. There are currently an estimated2,590,000 refugees who have fled their homes from Afghanistan,370,000 from Iraq, 3,880,000 million from Syria, and 1,100,000from Somalia. The United Nations Refugee Agency is expecting atleast 130,000 refugees from Yemen as fighting in that countryaccelerates. Between 600,000 and one million Libyans are livingprecariously in neighboring Tunisia.... Significantly, the countries that have generated most of therefugees are all places where the United States has invaded, overthrowngovernments, supported insurgencies, or intervened in a civilwar."Philip Giraldi, 2015"In the wars in Iraq, Libya,Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and Syria, America has destroyed anysignificant progress those nations had made in education, healthcare,infrastructure such as water treatment and electricity, postalservices, courts. By degrading the standards of living for peoplein perceived "hostile" nations, America's ruling eliteempowers itself, while claiming that it has ensured the safetyand prestige of the American people. Sometimes it is even ableto convince the public that its criminal actions are "humanitarian"and designed to liberate the people in nations it destroys."Douglas Valentine, 2017"Washington is responsiblefor the destruction of Yugoslavia and Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq,Libya, Somalia, and part of Syria. Washington has enabled SaudiArabia's attack on Yemen, Ukraine's attack on its former Russianprovinces, and Israel's destruction of Palestine and the Palestinianpeople."Paul Craig Roberts, 2016"This is a very hard choice,but ... we think the price is worth it."U.S. Ambassador to the UN MadeleineAlbright when asked whether she considered the deaths of halfa million Iraqi children a reasonable result of U.S. sanctions"The United States andits officials aided and abetted by others engaged in a continuingpattern of conduct from August 6, 1990 until this date to impose,maintain and enforce extreme economic sanctions and a strict militaryblockade on the people of Iraq for the purpose of injuring theentire population, killing its weakest members, infants, children,the elderly and the chronically ill, by depriving them of medicines,drinking water, food, and other essentials in order to maintaina large US military presence in the region, and dominion and controlover its people and resources including oil.... The United States, its President Bill Clinton and other officials,the United Kingdom and its [former] Prime Minister John Majorand other officials have committed a crime against humanity asdefined in the Nuremberg Charter against the population of Iraq.... The United States, its President Bill Clinton and other officials,the United Kingdom and its Prime Minister John Major and otherofficials have committed genocide as defined in the Conventionagainst Genocide against the population of Iraq including genocideby starvation and sickness through use of sanctions."International Court On Crimes AgainstHumanity Committed by the UN Security Council, Madrid, November1996"American air power poundedthe hell out of Iraqi armor and buildings with depleted uraniumrounds... I have been in and around buildings destroyed by depleteduranium rounds, as well as vehicles, armored personnel carriers,tanks and corpses... During the invasion, we were also exposedto severe sandstorms, which meant that we were breathing in sandfor days, sand that more than likely contained depleted uranium."James Gilligan, United States MarineCorps, 2008"The Charter of the InternationalMilitary Tribunal at Nuremberg was the institution that triedNazi war leaders for their crimes [WWII]. Among the crimes listedin the charter were "crimes against peace," "warcrimes," and "crimes against humanity" Crimes "againstpeace" were defined as "planning, preparation, initiationor waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of internationaltreaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a commonplan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing."David Swanson in his book "WarIs A Lie""Libya was the most prosperousand successful nation in Africa... It had one of the biggest reservesof gold in the world before NATO's takeover. A big bulk of thosereserves is now sitting in the vaults of the Bank of England -the Bank of Rothschilds - in the City of London.... NATO, US, France, UK, Qatar, and every other nation involvedin the overthrow of Gaddafi's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya took a thriving,first-rate, self-reliant Arab nation and turned it into a miserablefailed state with Al-Qaeda and ISIS savages terrorizing its populationand balkanizing Libya.... The Europeans' violent and shameful history in the last 500years alone has been responsible for 100-year long religious wars,colonialism, imperialism, ethnocentrism, World War I, World WarII, the Holocaust, the degradation of the environment, greed andpredatory capitalism. So, the people who have been responsible for 500 years of theft,rape, and murder, literally all over the world from the Americas,Africa, the Middle East, Subcontinent and East Asia, are supposedto be the moral compass of the world.Alexander Azadgan, 2018"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime, it is the supreme internationalcrime, differing only from other war crimes in that it containswithin itself the accumulated evil of the whole.... The very essence of the Charter is that individuals have internationalduties which transcend the national obligations of obedience imposedby the individual state. He who violates the laws of war cannotobtain immunity while acting in pursuance of the authority ofthe state if the state in authorizing action moves outside itscompetence under international law,"International Military Tribunalat Nuremberg, Germany - 1946"If the Nuremberg lawswere applied, then every post-war American president would havebeen hanged."Noam Chomsky"After years of disclosuresby government investigations, media accounts and reports fromhuman rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as towhether the current administration has committed war crimes, theonly question that remains to be answered is whether those whoordered the use of torture will be held to account."Major General Antonio Taguba ledthe investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison"The people of Fallujah,Iraq are experiencing higher rates of cancer, leukemia, infantmortality, and sexual mutations than those recorded among survivorsin Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the years after those Japanese citieswere incinerated by US atomic bomb strikes in 1945.... In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 newbornbabies, 24 percent of whom were dead within the first seven days,a staggering 75 percent of the dead babies were classified asdeformed.... The US military's decision to heavily deploy depleted uraniumwas a wanton act of brutality, poisoning an entire generationof children not yet born in 2004."Tom Eley, Information Clearinghouse,2010"Henry Kissinger was largelyresponsible for bombing to death 600,000 peasants in Cambodiain 1969-73.John Pilger, 2009"People in the US, no moreor less so than in other countries, don't want to look with cleareyes upon the transgressions or crimes that their own countrymenhave perpetrated on others. There is a denial movement in virtuallyevery country whose people have undertaken eliminationist assaults."Daniel Jonah Goldhagen"Soldiers are paid killers.Young men and women are suckered into a life of evil through propagandaand the labeling of heroic to a man in costume who kills for moneyand the life of honor by accepting ordered killings for money,prestige, and pensions. ... These poor young men and woman propagandized into an undeadethical status lied to about what is noble, virtuous, courageous,honorable, decent, and good to the point that they're rollinghand grenades into children's rooms and the illusion that, thatis going to make the world a better place. We have to stare thisin the face if we want to remember why these people died. Theydid not die to set us free. They did not die to make the worlda better place. They died because we are ruled by sociopaths."Stefan Molyneux, Canadian blogger"Washington puts foreignleaders on trial for war crimes, while committing war crimes everyday."Paul Craig Roberts"If the worst crime thatcan be committed against an individual is murder, then the worstpossible crime is organized, deliberate, self-righteous, massmurder. 'War' is just a word that governments use to make massmurder and theft seem acceptable."Adam Kokesh"A group of soldiers in1968 went into a village [[Mai Lai in Vietnam].They had been in Vietnam for three months and lost about 10% oftheir people, maybe 10 or 15 to accidents, killings and bombings,and they thought they would meet the enemy. There were 550 women,children and old men, and they executed them all. It took a day.They stopped in the middle and they had lunch."Seymour Hersh, 2005"We are told that we arefighting terrorists, but the real terrorist was me, and the realterrorism was this occupation (of Iraq).... Those who send us to war do not have to pull the trigger orlob a mortar round. They don't have to fight the war; they merelyhave to sell the war. They need a public that is willing to sendtheir soldiers into harm's way. They need soldiers willing tokill and be killed without question.... The billionaires, the "ruling class" that profitfrom human suffering, care only about expanding their wealth,controlling the world's economy, understand that their power liesonly in their ability to convince us that war, oppression, andexploitation are in our interests. They understand that theirwealth is dependent on their ability to convince the "workingclass" to die to control the wealth of another country. Andconvincing us to kill and die is based on their ability to makeus feel that we are somehow superior.... Poor and working people in this country are sent to kill poorand working people in another country to make the rich richer.Without racism, soldiers would realize they have more in commonwith the Iraqi people than with the billionaires that send usto war.... Our real enemies are not in some distant land whose nameswe don't know and cultures we don't understand. The enemy is peoplethat we know very well, and people that we can identify. The enemyis a system that wages war when it's profitable. The enemy isthe CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, it's theinsurance companies who deny us health care when it's profitable,it's the banks who take away our homes when it's profitable.... Our enemy is not five thousand miles away. They are righthere at home. If we organize we can stop this war, we can stopthis government, and we can create a better world."Mike Prysner, former U.S. Soldier"If Bradley Manning hadcommitted war crimes in Iraq instead of exposing them, he wouldbe a free man today."author William Blum"In the end, as in thebeginning, Nixon and Kissinger remained blind to the human costsof their actions - a further price of power. The dead and maimedin Vietnam and Cambodia - as in Chile, Bangladesh, Biafra, andthe Middle East - seemed not to count as the President and hisnational security adviser battled the Soviet Union, their misconceptions,their political enemies, and each other."Seymour Hersh in his book "Priceof Power""Our most deadly enemiesare not in caves and compounds abroad but in the corporate boardroomsand governmental offices where decisions are made that consignmillions to death and misery-not deliberately, but as the collateraldamage of the lust for profit and power."Howard Zinn, 2002"The Bush Administrationclearly knew that the laws of war were supposed to apply to prisonersapprehended by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, butthey found every legal loophole to find ways it didn't apply tothe US side... It's clear to me these actions came down from thevery top. Denying prisoners of war humane treatment is the greatestbreach of the Geneva Convention. It's a war crime."Claire Tixeire, a human rightsattorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, 2008"Which nation's leaderssince 1945 have murdered, maimed, made homeless, tortured, assassinatedand impoverished the largest number of civilians who were notits own citizens? I have asked this question of Americans in everywalk of life since I discovered the bombing of Laos in 1969. It'sa simple matter of fact, not involving judgments of right andwrong, and I remain astonished at how most answer "the Russians,""the Chinese," or just have no idea that American leadershave killed more noncitizen civilians than the rest of the world'sleaders combined since 1945."Fred Branfman"If Nuremberg were applied,then every post-war American president would have been hanged."Noam Chomsky"This is a very hard choice,but ... we think the price is worth it."U.S. Ambassador to the UN MadeleineAlbright when asked whether she considered the deaths of halfa million Iraqi children a reasonable result of U.S. sanctions"The United States and itsofficials aided and abetted by others engaged in a continuingpattern of conduct from August 6, 1990 until this date to impose,maintain and enforce extreme economic sanctions and a strict militaryblockade on the people of Iraq for the purpose of injuring theentire population, killing its weakest members, infants, children,the elderly and the chronically ill, by depriving them of medicines,drinking water, food, and other essentials in order to maintaina large US military presence in the region, and dominion and controlover its people and resources including oil.... The United States, its President Bill Clinton and other officials,the United Kingdom and its [former] Prime Minister John Majorand other officials have committed a crime against humanity asdefined in the Nuremberg Charter against the population of Iraq.... The United States, its President Bill Clinton and other officials,the United Kingdom and its Prime Minister John Major and otherofficials have committed genocide as defined in the Conventionagainst Genocide against the population of Iraq including genocideby starvation and sickness through use of sanctions."International Court On Crimes AgainstHumanity Committed by the UN Security Council, Madrid, November1996"American air power poundedthe hell out of Iraqi armor and buildings with depleted uraniumrounds... I have been in and around buildings destroyed by depleteduranium rounds, as well as vehicles, armored personnel carriers,tanks and corpses... During the invasion, we were also exposedto severe sandstorms, which meant that we were breathing in sandfor days, sand that more than likely contained depleted uranium."James Gilligan, United States MarineCorps, 2008"The Charter of the InternationalMilitary Tribunal at Nuremberg was the institution that triedNazi war leaders for their crimes [WWII]. Among the crimes listedin the charter were "crimes against peace," "warcrimes," and "crimes against humanity" Crimes "againstpeace" were defined as "planning, preparation, initiationor waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of internationaltreaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a commonplan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing."David Swanson in his book "WarIs A Lie"THE SOLDIERS"Our boys were sent offto die with beautiful ideals painted in front of them. No onetold them that dollars and cents were the real reason they weremarching off to kill and die."General Smedley Butler, 1934"The point of public relationsslogans like "Support our troops" is that they don'tmean anything. That's the whole point of good propaganda. Youwant to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, andeverybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, becauseit doesn't mean anything. Its crucial value is that it divertsyour attention from a question that does mean something: Do yousupport our policy? That's the one you're not allowed to talkabout."Noam Chomsky"The call to "supportour troops," or "our boys," is really an appealto support the war in which the troops are engaged... The propersupport of our troops is to oppose the war and fight to get ourboys (and girls) out before they can kill or be killed while participatingin such a criminal enterprise."Edward S. Herman"History is the historyof war, of leaders of countries finding reasons and rationalesto send the young people off to fight."former CIA agent John Stockwell"War means blind obedience,unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction,and irresponsible murder."Alexander Berkman"'Our boys' are not noblewarriors protecting democracy, rescuing maidens, and rightingwrongs. They are, like all soldiers, obedient and amoral killers.Pilots bombing Iraq or Syria know they are killing civilians.They do not care. If ordered to bomb Switzerland, they would doit. This is the nature of all armies. Glamorizing this most reprehensibleof trades is just a means of usefully stimulating the pack instinctwhich we often call patriotism."Fred Reed, 2018"American boys were takenout of the fields and offices and factories and classrooms andput into the Army ranks. There they were remolded; they were madeover; they were made to "about face"; to regard murderas the order of the day. They were put shoulder to shoulder and,through mass psychology, they were entirely changed. We used themfor a couple of years and trained them to think nothing at allof killing or of being killed. Then, suddenly, we discharged themand told them to make another "about face"! This timethey had to do their own readjustment, without mass psychology,without officers' aid and advice and without nation-wide propaganda.We didn't need them anymore. So we scattered them about withoutany speeches or parades. Many, too many, of these fine young boysare eventually destroyed, mentally, because they could not makethat final "about face" alone."Major General Smedley Butler"I'm fed up to the earswith old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."Senator George McGovern"As long as the greatest honorone can aspire to is to be shipped off and killed in somebody'swar, there will be war.... War will exist until the distant day when the conscientiousobjector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warriordoes today."David Swanson in his book "WarIs A Lie""A good soldier is a blind,heartless, soulless, murderous machine. He is not a man. His isnot a brute, for brutes kill only in self defense. All that ishuman in him, all that is divine in him, all that constitutesthe man has been sworn away when he took the enlistment roll.His mind, his conscience, aye, his very soul, are in the keepingof his officer. No man can fall lower than a soldier-it is a depthbeneath which we cannot go."Jack London"Is a young man bound toserve his country in war? In addition to his legal duty thereis perhaps also a moral duty, but it is very obscure. What iscalled his country is only its government and that governmentconsists merely of professional politicians, a parasitical andanti-social class of men. They never sacrifice themselves fortheir country. They make all wars, but very few of them ever diein one. If it is the duty of a young man to serve his countryunder all circumstances then it is equally the duty of an enemyyoung man to serve his. Thus we come to a moral contradictionand absurdity so obvious that even clergymen and editorial writerssometimes notice it."H.L. Mencken"War means blind obedience,unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction,and irresponsible murder."Alexander Berkman"US Empire has been usingthe expression "support our troops" to brainwash Americansand justify its wars and violence for far too long. Supporting our troops has resulted in the United States beingthe most warring, aggressive nation on earth. Our ultraviolentcountry has been killing other human beings somewhere on thisplanet for 223 out of the last 240 total years the US has beenin existence. That's 93% of our time as a nation-turned-Empirewe've been destroying human life. That's certainly nothing tobe proud of. Yet it's "our troops" who've been the murderingculprit.America's entire domestic and foreign history has been made ofgenocidal killing, enslaving, stealing and subjugating other darker-skinnedraces into death and submission. Given this context, "supportingour troops" is really supporting mass murder around the world."Joachim Hagopian, 2017"Soldiers are paid killers.Young men and women are suckered into a life of evil through propagandaand the labeling of heroic to a man in costume who kills for moneyand the life of honor by accepting ordered killings for money,prestige, and pensions. ... These poor young men and woman propagandized into an undeadethical status lied to about what is noble, virtuous, courageous,honorable, decent, and good to the point that they're rollinghand grenades into children's rooms and the illusion that, thatis going to make the world a better place. We have to stare thisin the face if we want to remember why these people died. Theydid not die to set us free. They did not die to make the worlda better place. They died because we are ruled by sociopaths."Stefan Molyneux, Canadian blogger"In the World War (WorldWar I), we used propaganda to make the boys accept conscription.They were made to feel ashamed if they didn't join the army.So vicious was this war propaganda that even God was brought intoit. With few exceptions our clergymen joined in the clamor tokill, kill, kill. To kill the Germans. God is on our side. Itis His will that the Germans be killed.And in Germany, the good pastors called upon the Germans to killthe allies, to please the same God. That was a part of the generalpropaganda, built up to make people war conscious and murder conscious."General Smedley Butler, 1933"We are told that we arefighting terrorists, but the real terrorist was me, and the realterrorism was this occupation (of Iraq).... Those who send us to war do not have to pull the trigger orlob a mortar round. They don't have to fight the war; they merelyhave to sell the war. They need a public that is willing to sendtheir soldiers into harm's way. They need soldiers willing tokill and be killed without question.... The billionaires, the "ruling class" that profitfrom human suffering, care only about expanding their wealth,controlling the world's economy, understand that their power liesonly in their ability to convince us that war, oppression, andexploitation are in our interests. They understand that theirwealth is dependent on their ability to convince the "workingclass" to die to control the wealth of another country. Andconvincing us to kill and die is based on their ability to makeus feel that we are somehow superior.... Poor and working people in this country are sent to kill poorand working people in another country to make the rich richer.Without racism, soldiers would realize they have more in commonwith the Iraqi people than with the billionaires that send usto war.... Our real enemies are not in some distant land whose nameswe don't know and cultures we don't understand. The enemy is peoplethat we know very well, and people that we can identify. The enemyis a system that wages war when it's profitable. The enemy isthe CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, it's theinsurance companies who deny us health care when it's profitable,it's the banks who take away our homes when it's profitable.... Our enemy is not five thousand miles away. They are righthere at home. If we organize we can stop this war, we can stopthis government, and we can create a better world."Mike Prysner, former U.S. Soldier"Winning wars is not inthe interest of the Pentagon and those who feed on it. Wars generateprofitable contracts for all manner of supplies and equipment.Either winning or losing ends the gravy train. For example, thewar on Afghanistan of almost two decades has become an entitlementprogram for the arms industry, accomplishing nothing, killingcountless peasants, and lacking purpose other than maintainingan unneeded empire and funneling money to the Complex."Fred Reed, 2018"In the World War (WorldWar I), we used propaganda to make the boys accept conscription.They were made to feel ashamed if they didn't join the army.So vicious was this war propaganda that even God was brought intoit. With few exceptions our clergymen joined in the clamor tokill, kill, kill. To kill the Germans. God is on our side. Itis His will that the Germans be killed.And in Germany, the good pastors called upon the Germans to killthe allies, to please the same God. That was a part of the generalpropaganda, built up to make people war conscious and murder conscious."General Smedley Butler, 1933"Working-class voters perceiveAmerica's military as a profoundly working-class institution.Indeed, the armed forces is one of the most homogeneously working-classinstitutions in America.This intense identification with the members of the armed forcesleads working people to feel that there is only one legitimatepoint of view on issues of war and peace: that of the ordinarysoldier. The identification with the troops also generates an emotionalneed for working people to believe that the armed forces are doingthe right thing. This easily extends to a need to believe thattheir political and military leaders are following the right path.They therefore tend to adopt the ethos of the armed forces themselves,an ethos that places a very high value on following orders andtrusting superior officers.Working-class voters see their patriotic support for the troopsas inextricably linked to support for the war in general."Andrew Levison"The implicit demand inthe "support the troops" rhetoric was - and likely willbe in future wars - that even if I am against the war, once troopsare in the field I should shift my focus from opposition to thewar to support for my fellow Americans who are doing the fighting.But to support the troops is, for all practical purposes, to supportthe war. Asking people who oppose a war to support the troopsin that war is simply a way of asking people to drop their opposition.If I had believed this war would be wrong before it began, andif none of the conditions on which I based that assessment hadchanged, why should I change my view simply because the war hadstarted?"Robert Jensen"When our military is nolonger committing war crimes, when we are in compliance with basicstandards of human rights and social justice, then we can breakout the bumper stickers and ribbons that say "Support OurTroops". Until then, every American, as well as our military,are guilty of crimes against peace."Joe Mowrey"If there's any questionas to what "The Hunger Games" is an allegory for I willtell you. It is the powers-that-be in the United States of America.It's profiteers. War is for profit. It's not 'to save the worldfor democracy' or 'for king and country'. No. It's for the profitof the top 10%. And the young people who see this film must recognizethat, as Bruce Springsteen said, 'blind faith in their leaderswill get you dead'."Donald Sutherland, the actor whoplayed President Coriolanus Snow, discussing the underlying meaningin "The Hunger Games""Since World War II, 90percent of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians, a thirdof them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestineto Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next targetmay be, their murders are not collateral damage. They are thenature of modern warfare. They don't hate us because of our freedoms.They hate us because every day, we are funding and committingcrimes against humanity. The so-called 'War on Terror' is a cover for our military aggressionto gain control of the resources for Western nations. This issending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslimcountries. This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, andto most of the world, we are the terrorists.... Our soldiers don't sacrifice for duty, honor, and country.They sacrifice for Kellogg, Brown, and Root. They don't fightfor America-they fight for their lives and their buddies besidethem because we put them in a war zone. They're not defendingour freedoms-they are laying the foundations for permanent militarybases to defend the freedoms of ExxonMobil and British Petroleum.They're not establishing democracy; they're establishing the basisfor an economic occupation to continue after the military occupationhas ended."Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, in a speech tothe Congressional Progressive Caucus, April 27, 2006"The sentiment expressedby "support our troops" ... has become little more thana patriotic platitude on par with "God Bless America"and a euphemism for "support our war." As a balm tothe national conscience for once again consigning our troops tothe killing field, it is the battle cry that leads and sustainsour country in an unjust war [Iraq].... Yellow ribbon patriots have an opportunity to support ourtroops in a meaningful way. They can begin by removing their magneticyellow ribbon bumper stickers, by listening to the troops andhelping to get them home, and by demanding that those who tookthe country to war with lies and deception be held to account."Robert Weitzel"The American citizenryhas no say over the military-industrial complex, which is autonomousand out of control. If the Complex wants war with Russia or China,we will have war with Russia or China."Fred Reed, 2018"Washington DC warmongersare ever-at-the-ready to send young men and women from America'slower class into harm's way fighting dirty little secret warsin multiple combat zones around the world that the public nevereven hears about. Yet you'll see next to none of their own sonsor daughters fighting in some far off war."Joachim Hagopian, 2017"All Americans are leftresponsible, regardless of whether we supported or opposed thewar. When we pull out, our hands will drip with the blood of thetens of thousands of American casualties and hundreds of thousandsof Iraqi dead. Of course we can continue to compartmentalize ourselves from thetruth, remove the troops and blame the rubble on the Iraqis. Wecan feed the collective fantasy that our good intentions and heroicefforts were thwarted by the cowardice and incompetence of others.But if that's what we take from our experience in Iraq, we willnever learn the true lessons and we will be condemned to repeatthe same mistakes.The inability to admit a mistake and assume responsibility isnot just a morally bankrupt way to walk through life; it is adangerous and deadly way to lead a nation."former Senator Mike Gravel"There are many peoplewho say they support the troops, and they really mean it. Butwhat does it mean to support the troops? It needs to mean morethan putting a sticker on the back of your car.I don't think we actually support the troops. We the people. Whatwe the people do is we contract out the business of national securityto approximately 0.5 percent of the population. About a millionand a half people that are on active duty.And then we turn away. We don't want to look when they go backfor two or three or four or five combat tours. That's not supportingthe troops. That's an abdication of civic responsibility. AndI do think it - there's something fundamentally immoral aboutthat."Andrew J. Bacevich"How is it possible forpeople to consider themselves supporters of the troops when theyapprove of an event that throws those troops into peril?"Ramman Kenoun"People, and not only Americans,are losing their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers for noother reason than the profits of US armaments corporations, andthe gullible American people seem proud of it. Those ribbon decalson their cars, SUVs and monster trucks proclaim their naive loyaltyto the armaments industries and to the whores in Washington whopromote wars."Paul Craig Roberts"Despite the asphyxiatingeconomic presence, the military keeps aloof from America. Thistoo serves the purposes of the military-industrial complex, furtherpreventing attention by the public to what is not its business.In the days of conscription there was a familiarity with the armedservices. Young men from most social classes wore the uniformhowever ruefully and told of their experiences. Not now. The careermilitary have always tended to keep to themselves, to socializewith each other as the police do. Now the isolation is almosthermetic. You can spend years in Washington or New York and nevermeet a colonel. Military society with its authoritarianism, itsuniforms and its uniform government-issue outlook is not compatiblewith civil society."Fred Reed, 2018"America's entire domesticand foreign history has been made of genocidal killing, enslaving,stealing and subjugating other darker-skinned races into deathand submission. Given this context, "supporting our troops"is really supporting mass murder around the world."Joachim Hagopian, 2017"In a democratic society,the question should not be whether one supports the troops. Therelevant question is whether one supports the policy. The demandthat war opponents must "support the troops" is nothingmore than a way of demanding that we drop our opposition to thepolicy."Robert Jensen"What does "supportingthe troops" mean? It means supporting what they do. Why shouldanyone with a conscience support people who carry out war crimesin service of the obscene goal of violently maintaining a systemof global exploitation, including the very system that shootsBlack and Latino youths down in the streets and degrades and abuseswomen in a thousand ways?Whatever their background or personal lives, these are not "our"troops-they're cogs in a global military machine, the troops ofthe U.S. imperialist system. Whatever the soldiers thought theywere doing-and no doubt the military hierarchy forcefully breaksdown and brainwashes the troops and no doubt many are crippledmentally and/or physically by the war's toll-the fact is theywere carrying out an unjust and bloody war of conquest, suppressingany opposition, installing a new reactionary regime, and tryingto turn Iraq into a neo-colony."Larry Everest"There is a very deep andemotional commitment among a significant group of working-classvoters to the belief that "supporting the troops" and"being patriotic" requires adopting a wartime attitudeof unquestioning support for military leaders and a refusal tooppose or criticize any war-related policies or actions."Andrew Levison"The government's viewis: US soldiers fighting in Iraq signed a contract to serve forthree years. The fact that they get blown up after one month meansthey haven't fulfilled their contract... They have to pay backthe money. ... [US soldiers] check out helmets and other equipment... thenthey lose their helmet in an explosion... they're shipped out,they're disabled, they're in concussion. Somebody in the militarywill send them a bill for their helmet."Joseph Stiglitz, 2008"We were told that in acrowded area, if one person shoots at you, kill everybody."former U.S. specialist DarrellAnderson, about U.S. policy in IraqTHE ENDGAMEPERPETUAL WAR = PERPETUALPROFIT AND POWER"The need for human drudgery,and therefore to a great extent for human inequality, had disappeared...But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatenedthe destruction of a hierarchical society. In a world in whicheveryone worked short hours, had enough to eat, the most obviousand perhaps the most important form of inequality would alreadyhave disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would conferno distinction... But in practice such a society could not longremain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by allalike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefiedby poverty would become literate and would learn to think forthemselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooneror later realize that the privileged minority had no function,and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchicalsociety was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.... The problem was how to keep the wheels of industry turningwithout increasing the real wealth of the world. Goods must beproduced, but they must not be distributed. And in practice theonly way of achieving this was by continuous warfare."Winston Smith in George Orwell'sbook "1984""The Plan is for the UnitedStates to rule the world. The overt theme is unilateralism, butit is ultimately a story of domination. It calls for the UnitedStates to maintain its overwhelming superiority and prevent newrivals from rising up to challenge it on the world stage. It callsfor dominion over friends and enemies alike. It says not thatthe United States must be more powerful, or most powerful, butthat it must be absolutely powerful."Vice-President Dick Cheney - WestPoint lecture, June 2002"'Military Keynesianism'is the determination to maintain a permanent war economy and totreat military output as an ordinary economic product, even thoughit makes no contribution to either production or consumption."Chalmers Johnson, 2008"Winning wars is not inthe interest of the Pentagon and those who feed on it. Wars generateprofitable contracts for all manner of supplies and equipment.Either winning or losing ends the gravy train. For example, thewar on Afghanistan of almost two decades has become an entitlementprogram for the arms industry, accomplishing nothing, killingcountless peasants, and lacking purpose other than maintainingan unneeded empire and funneling money to the Complex."Fred Reed, 2018"Liberty cannot flourishis a country that is permanently on a war footing. Permanent crisisjustifies permanent control of everybody and everything by theagencies of government."Aldous Huxley"Our government has keptus in a perpetual state of fear - kept us in a continuous stampedeof patriotic fervor - with the cry of grave national emergency.Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrousforeign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindlyrally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant funds demanded. Yet,in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seemnever to have been quite real."General Douglas MacArthur, 1957"The America of wealthand privilege is hooked on war, without regular and ever-strongerdoses of war it can no longer function properly, that is, yieldthe desired profits. Right now, this addiction, this craving isbeing satisfied by means of a conflict against Iraq, which alsohappens to be dear to the hearts of the oil barons. However, doesanybody believe that the warmongering will stop once Saddam' scalpwill join the Taliban turbans in the trophy display case of GeorgeW. Bush? The President has already pointed his finger at thosewhose turn will soon come, namely, the "axis of evil"countries: Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, North Korea, and of coursethat old thorn in the side of America, Cuba. Welcome to the 21stcentury, welcome to the brave new era of permanent war."Jacques R. Pauwels, 2003"War with Russia will benuclear. Washington has prepared for it. Washington has abandonedthe ABM treaty, created what it thinks is an ABM shield, and changedits war doctrine to permit US nuclear first strike. All of thisis obviously directed at Russia, and the Russian government knowsit."Paul Craig Roberts, 2014"How does continuous waract to keep the Lows "stupefied by poverty" and therebyassure the maintenance of the social structure? The goal of thewars is to enable the economy to be kept going for the benefitof the High, its military, and its bureaucracy and control personnel(the Thought Police, etc.), but at the same time to assure thatany excess production capacity is prevented from producing consumergoods for the lower classes. That excess capacity is instead directedto producing excess military goods which will ' ultimately rustaway or be destroyed in warfare; that is, the excess capacityis deliberately wasted in order to turn it away from the productionof goods which would result in added leisure or well-being forthe lower classes. Those classes are instead continually forcedinto group activities expressing hatred toward the current enemy(any enemy) and dependency upon and love toward their benevolentrulers for protecting them from that enemy. They are thereby ledto accept the consumer shortages, the poverty, and the other privationsto which they are subjected. Their economic status is kept atthe subsistence level, forcing their priorities to be focusedon simply acquiring basic food, clothing, and shelter. They arethus denied either the time or the inclination to question thefairness or permanence of their societal condition, or to otherwiseevolve into a threat to the established hierarchy."George Orwell in his book "1984""I don't believe anyonewill consciously launch World War III. The situation now is morelike the eve of World War I, when great powers were armed andready to go when an incident set things off. Ever since Gorbachevnaively ended the Cold War, the hugely over-armed United Stateshas been actively surrounding Russia with weapons systems, aggressivemilitary exercises, NATO expansion. At the same time, in recentyears the demonization of Vladimir Putin has reached war propagandalevels. Russians have every reason to believe that the UnitedStates is preparing for war against them, and are certain to takedefensive measures. This mixture of excessive military preparationsand propaganda against an "evil enemy" make it veryeasy for some trivial incident to blow it all up."Diana Johnstone, author of "Queenof Chaos""It would be some timebefore I fully realized that the United States sees little needfor diplomacy. Power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy.The Roman Empire had no need for diplomacy. Nor does the UnitedStates."Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-Generalof the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996"A new insanity has beenunleashed upon the world. An unlimited war that our leaders counselcould go on indefinitely. A war against enemies in the "shadowynetworks," which means we will never know when the shadowyenemy is vanquished. This is quite possibly the policymakers'shot at the final, and permanent, militarization of U.S. society."Robert Jensen in his book "Citizensof Empire""The primary aim of modemwarfare ... is to use up the products of the machine without raisingthe general standard of living. [The "machine" is society'stechnical and industrial capacity to produce goods.] ... An all-around increase in wealth threatened the destruction... of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone workedshort hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroomand a refrigerator, and possessed a motorcar or even an airplane,the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequalitywould already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealthwould confer no distinction .... Such a society could not longremain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by allalike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefiedby poverty would become literate and would learn to think forthemselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooneror later realize that the privileged minority had no function,and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchicalsociety was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.... The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily ofhuman lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a wayof shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, orsinking into the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwisebe used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in thelong run, too intelligent."George Orwell in his book "1984""The American citizenryhas no say over the military-industrial complex, which is autonomousand out of control. If the Complex wants war with Russia or China,we will have war with Russia or China."Fred Reed, 2018"Four sorrows, it seemsto me, are certain to be visited on the United States. Their cumulativeeffect guarantees that the U.S. will cease to resemble the countryoutlined in the Constitution of 1787. First, there will be a stateof perpetual war, leading to more terrorism against Americanswherever they may be and a spreading reliance on nuclear weaponsamong smaller nations as they try to ward off the imperial juggernaut.Second is a loss of democracy and Constitutional rights as thepresidency eclipses Congress and is itself transformed from aco-equal 'executive branch' of government into a military junta.Third is the replacement of truth by propaganda, disinformation,and the glorification of war, power, and the military legions.Lastly, there is bankruptcy, as the United States pours its economicresources into ever more grandiose military projects and shortchangesthe education, health, and safety of its citizens."Chalmers Johnson in his book "Sorrowsof Empire""There is a special breedof international financiers whose success typically is built uponcertain character traits. Those include cold objectivity, immunityto patriotism, and indifference to the human condition. That profileis the basis for proposing a theoretical strategy, called theRothschild Formula, which motivates such men to propel governmentsinto war for the profits they yield... As long as the mechanismof central banking exists, it will be to such men an irresistibletemptation to convert debt into perpetual war and war into perpetualdebt."G. Edward Griffin in his book "TheCreature from Jekyll Island""The professional soldiersand sailors don't want to disarm. No admiral wants to be withouta ship. No general wants to be without a command. They are notfor disarmament. They cannot be for limitations of arms. There is only one way to disarm with any semblance of practicability.That is for all nations to get together and scrap every ship,every gun, every rifle, every tank, every war plane."General Smedley Butler, 1933"In a closed society, oneparty or despot has control over the instruments of mass communicationand the power to enforce its will. Something very similar, however,can happen in a democratic society under specific conditions thatare recognizable only in hindsight, although Orwell recognizedone of the most important, namely, when a government wages a "perpetualwar" that keeps people terrified, focused in their hatredagainst external and internal enemies, and "patriotic"in the Orwellian sense."Drew Westen in the book "WhatOrwell Didn't Know""What better economic stimulusthan a foreign policy of perpetual war?"Justin Raimondo, 2009"In 1957 President DwightEisenhower commissioned a panel of scientists to study the issueof overpopulation. The scientists put forth "Alternatives"advocating both the release of deadly viruses and perpetual warfareas means to decrease world population."Dean Henderson in his book "BigOil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf""When war becomes literallycontinuous, it also ceases to be dangerous. When war is continuousthere is no such thing as military necessity. Technical progresscan cease and the most palpable facts can be denied or disregarded."George Orwell in his book "1984""Three steps must be takento smash the war racket.We must take the profit out of war.We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decidewhether or not there should be war.We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes."General Smedley Butler, 1933WEBSITES TO VISITBARBARIANS IN SUITSBEYOND THE MEDIA MATRIXDISINFORMATION NATIONEMPIRE OF CHAOSGLOBAL KLEPTOCRACYHOW THE WORLD REALLY WORKSINCONVENIENT TRUTHSPATHOCRACY: THE GLOBAL ORDERREAL WORLD ORDERTHE PLUTOCRACY CARTELTHIRD WORLD TRAVELERTRUTH-TELLERS