I recall that when I was attending St. Albert the Great elementary school in Burbank, Illinois, during the mid-to-late 1960s and early 1970s, some of the history teachers used to tell us that the United States had never lost a war. Keep in mind that this was while the foolish American fiasco in Vietnam was unfolding, and this was only a decade or two after the inconclusive stalemate of the Korean War. That shows you that the indoctrination of school kids is nothing new.
For a military-industrial empire that maintains approximately 800 military bases around the world and that spends more on its military than the next seven countries (as well as 144 other countries) combined, the U.S. global hegemonic empire is clearly crumbling before our eyes today, following decades of slow decay. The last war that the U.S. unambiguously won was World War II—and that victory was only possible because of the fighting of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and other Allies in addition to America. That big win was almost 80 years ago.
Since then, the U.S. military-industrial complex has lurched from one military debacle to another in an almost constant state of warfare, with each conflict characterized by either eventual failure or, at best, ambiguous results. The many geopolitical messes created by these U.S. military interventions have, nevertheless, been very financially profitable for the elitist warmonger class. And after all, the U.S. purports to be “exceptional” among nations, so it has a self-declared right to meddle where ever and whenever it wants to meddle, regardless of the negative consequences.
Soon after WWII, there was the Korean War, in which the Communists won the northern part of that nation despite the U.S. military efforts. Then there was the Vietnam War, with many years of U.S.-caused devastation ending in the withdrawal of American troops, soundly defeated by the Communists, who took over the whole country.
And then, after several years, there was the much-ballyhooed quick victory of American-led forces in the Persian Gulf War—a “victory” that inconveniently left the “bad guy” in power, leading to some nasty mocking of the American president. So, after a few more years, the son of that president launched the Iraq War, based on blatant lies about nonexistent weapons, so he could finally wipe out that bad guy and clear daddy’s name. Saddam Hussein was lynched on live television, and Bush Jr declared “mission accomplished.”
But what was actually accomplished in Iraq? Hundreds of thousands of dead civilians, mass destruction, and societal devastation, as well as a substantially worsened destabilization of the entire Middle East, leading to enhanced power for Iran, the rise of more Islamist terrorism, and another shameful U.S. withdrawal. And as if that had not caused sufficient chaos in the region, the U.S. wrecked another nation and further destabilized the Middle East a few years later by killing another alleged bad guy, in Libya.
Of course, the most glaringly shameful recent American defeat and withdrawal came at the end of the longest-ever American war, in Afghanistan. After 20 years of American military meddling and massacres in Afghanistan, the bad guys there that the U.S. ostensibly started the war to oust came back to power. Seemingly another spectacular defeat for the U.S. empire, though that doomed conflict was intentionally ended so that American military resources could be diverted elsewhere, namely for a new senseless fight in Eastern Europe.
In addition to these well-known American wars from the ‘50s to the present, the U.S. has during that same time instigated, launched, and been involved in hundreds of other military conflicts (via actual fighting, proxy fighting, supplying weapons and money, or various other forms of meddling), both overtly and covertly, all over the place—from Central and South America to the Middle East and North and Sub-Saharan Africa to Southern, Central, and Eastern Asia to Central and Eastern Europe. The main results of these conflicts have basically been a helluva lot of killing, chaos, and destruction, and overall worsening of problems in foreign lands, with absolutely no benefits for the American people (unless you work for the Pentagon or you’re an executive with a big defense contractor).
And so here we are today. As I write these words, the United States military machine is apparently on the verge of yet another spectacular defeat—this time against Russian forces in Ukraine. This bitter fact has been hidden by the American and Western mainstream corporate media, but it has been expertly articulated by a few honest commentators, such as Douglas Macgregor. Yet another war instigated and fought by the U.S., via proxy, against an imaginary enemy for no reasons other than financial profit and a delusional sense of maintaining its obviously crippled and rapidly diminishing world hegemony. Wasting valuable resources in destroying another foreign country, pushing some kind of sick neoliberal woke agenda, even as America seems to be collapsing in all areas of its society at home. The brilliantly perceptive Chris Hedges has referred to this insanity as “woke imperialism.”
Obviously sensing—though still refusing to publicly admit—the inevitable impending defeat against Russia, the crazed, senile, and/or desperate U.S. elitist “leaders” are now spreading more hysterical lies (just like they did with Russia and Ukraine, Iraq, Vietnam, etc) as they begin to switch their warmongering focus to China and Taiwan. Yeah, like that’s gonna go any better for them than their crazy provoked proxy war against Russia!
And, for future consideration, don’t forget that there is always a war that can be pushed against North Korea, Iran, or any other independent country that refuses to acknowledge U.S. hegemony.
To a normal, rational-minded individual, the endless American warmongering all over the world, which always ends in embarrassing and humiliating losses and more mayhem and madness, seems extremely illogical. But the hidden logic for the American military-industrial complex lies in the very real financial profits it continues to rake in as it seeks in vain to maintain the declining American empire, regardless of the military losses on the ground. That is what it is all about. That is what it has always been about. Money. Greed. Power. Control. Pay no attention to the death and destruction.
Needless to say, this delusional, suicidal situation cannot go on forever. Ultimately, the American empire will exhaust itself out, and it will finally and totally collapse. And then the war profiteers will simply switch sides, probably moving to China. But in the meantime, the fading American empire will continue to behave the way that declining empires have typically behaved throughout history, from the Roman to the British empire . . .
As the shit is hitting the fan at home in increasingly messy and smelly ways, the U.S. will keep trying to display its “power” by stirring up more shit and chaos abroad, in desperate, impotent attempts to hide the fact that its purported “exceptionalism” is all bullshit.
Someday in the future, the current American lunacy will make for some bewildering history lessons for kids in school.
By A.J. Smuskiewicz