Elizabeth Warren, with her crusade to reform finance, is the darling of many, and there is a movement for her to run for President. But she’s another imperialist hawk in the tradition of Bush II, Obama, and Hillary Clinton. Consider the foreign policy statement in her 2012 campaign for Senate:
“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for ‘Smart Power’ – the use of defense, diplomacy, development, and other tools to advance US interests in the world. As a Senator, I will pursue a foreign policy that is smart, tough, and pragmatic.” Her Hillary is a super-hawk, deeply committed to fear- and war-waging, and a war criminal.
“All three of my brothers served in the military and my oldest brother was career military, with 288 combat missions in Vietnam, so I have a first-hand idea of how much they and their families contribute to our country.” Our nation has not fought a just war in generations. To suggest they have contributed anything positive, especially in Vietnam, is appalling.
She worries about North Korea, Iran and terrorists who might steal nukes from insecure sites. She doesn’t suggest nuclear disarmament: after all, proliferation was abetted by nuclear nations, producing nuclear Israel, South Africa, India and Pakistan. US militarism drove countries like the USSR, China, and North Korea to seek nuclear deterrents. Even Iran, which has not launched a war of aggression for over a century, might seek such deterrence (although there is no evidence they have).
“As a country, we have been fortunate to have avoided any devastating attacks since 9/11. It’s a testament to the hard work of our intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security, and military personnel.” Almost every alleged domestic plot thwarted by Homeland Security, NSA and the FBI was false, or entrapment, or pathetic to start with. There have been more cases of terrorism by right-wing nuts. Since 9/11 on average more people have been killed by gun violence in a day than by terrorism in a year. The FBI, Homeland Security, NSA and other “national security” agencies daily commit crimes against the people – this is the national security state she promises to support.
“The US-Israel relationship is rooted in shared values and common interests, based on a commitment to liberty, pluralism, and the rule of law.” She endorses a religious state, which cannot be a democracy. She’s right about shared values and common interests, although those seeking liberty, pluralism and the rule of law need not apply in either country. US-supported Israel is based on apartheid, gross violations of human rights and genocide, propped up by a propaganda machine (hasbara) directed at the rest of the world and their own people. Speaking of shared values, our militarized police are trained in Israel, for oppression at home.
“To me, it is a moral imperative to support and defend Israel, and I am committed to ensuring its long-term security by maintaining its qualitative military edge. Israel must be able to defend itself from the serious threats it faces from terrorist organizations to hostile states, including Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others.” Hasbara: Israel’s enemies were created by Israel, which displaced and abused peoples who were there before the Israeli state was formed, even before the Jewish tribe fled Egypt in Biblical times.
“There are approximately 100 companies in Massachusetts with Israeli founders or based on Israeli technologies – creating $2.4 billion in value and thousands of jobs for our economy.” The high-tech industry in Massachusetts is largely related to defense, espionage, and national security. Of the 100 Israeli-founded companies she mentions (actually more than 200 as of 2013), over half are involved in industries useful to our military/surveillance apparatus. The economic and employment benefits she touts would be outweighed by the benefits of converting our military/surveillance spending, which destroys value, to investments in remedies for our societal and ecological ills that would create value.
Warren unknowingly touches on the roots of our problems in her closing. “A strong economy at home enables us to have the best-trained and most advanced military in the world… We are one of the most powerful countries in the history of the world precisely because we are one of the strongest economies in the history of the world.” A more honest description would be that we suck wealth from other countries through unfair trade to enrich the one percent. Our military is there to keep it that way.
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Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
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