Washington’s Empire Is Not Unraveling
By
Paul Craig Roberts
June
05, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- The military/security complex spent seven
decades building its empire. The complex
assassinated one American president (JFK) who
threatened the empire and drove another (Richard
Nixon) out of office. The complex does not
tolerate the election of politicians in Europe
who might not follow Washington’s line on
foreign and economic policy.
Suddenly, according to the Western and even
Russian media, the complex is going to let one
man, Trump, who does not rule America, and one
woman, Merkel, who does not rule Germany,
destroy its empire.
According to the presstitutes, by pulling out of
the Paris Accord (the global climate pact) and
stating that NATO members should contribute more
to the alliance’s budget for which the US
taxpayer has an overweighted share, Trump has
caused Merkel to conclude that Europe can no
longer rely on Washington. The discord between
Trump and Merkel and Washington’s resignation of
its leadership position has destroyed the
Western alliance and left the EU itself on the
verge of being torn apart.
All of
this is nonsensical sillyness. What has happened
is this:
Just as
men in dark suits and dark ties carrying
briefcases explained to Trump that it was not
Washington’s policy to normalize relations with
Russia, they explained to him that it was not
Washington’s policy to exit the Paris Accord.
Trump said something like this: Look, you guys,
you have already required me to abandon my peace
initiative with Russia and my intent to pull out
of Syria. Now you are forcing me off my “America
First” pledge. If people realize that I am not
really the president, who are you going to rule
through? What about a compromise?
Here is
the deal, as Trump made perfectly clear in his
speech. He is temporarily pulling the US out of
the Paris Accord while he immediately opens
negotiations to rejoin the Paris Accord on terms
less burdensome to Americans. In other words,
the “pull out” is a face-saving gesture that
will result in a small reduction in America’s
share of the cost. We will have a “Trump
victory” and no damage to the Paris Accord.
Merkel
facing reelection needs a boost that will
refocus German attention from the one million
Muslim refugees, bringing crime, rape, and
terrorism in their train, that Merkel brought
into Germany. Her dramatic statement that Europe
can no longer rely on America was a perfect way
to refocus attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if
Trump and Merkel got together and agreed on how
they would play this.
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Yet
neither reporters nor commentators could report
the obvious truth. Why? The Western media could
not let pass the opportunity to denounce Trump
for destroying American leadership and the
climate, and environmental organizations seized
the fundraising opportunity to oppose Trump’s
climate destruction. Russian commentators saw
hope for Russia in NATO and the EU breaking up
as consequences of America going its own way.
There
are two serious implications of this media
deception. One is that Americans and the world
are blinded to the fact that there are power
centers that constrain a president and are
capable of substituting their agendas for the
agendas on which the president campaigned. We
saw this with Obama, but were given the
explanation that Obama never meant it in the
first place. Now we will get the same
explanation of Trump. The fact that the
president is constrained by the
military/security complex and the financial
sector will not come through. Thus, The Matrix’s
myth of democracy bringing change via elections
will continue to blind people to reality.
A
second consequence is that the Russians, ever
hopeful to be part of the West while retaining
national sovereignty, which no member of the EU
or NATO is permitted to do, will see in the
reported withdrawal of American leadership
renewed hopes of joining Europe. If the Russians
take seriously the New York Times anointment of
Germany’s Merkel as “the liberal West’s last
defender” (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/world/europe/germany-merkel-trump-election.html?mcubz=0&_r=1),
Russia might leave herself militarily and
economically exposed by slowing military
preparations and the development of economic
relations with Asia.
People
can have little idea of actual events as long as
news reporting and commentary reflect political
agendas and hopeful aspirations.
Dr.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate
editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was
columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News
Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns
have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts'
latest books are
The Failure of Laissez Faire
Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West,
How America Was Lost,
and
The Neoconservative Threat to
World Order.
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.
