Ever since World War I, fear of foreign invasions has been an obsession in the American collective consciousness. It is no coincidence that major U.S.corporations have profited from this fear, at the expense of massive death and destruction worldwide.
Kerry
© Allison Shelley, Getty Images/AFP/FileUS Secretary of State John Kerry testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "The ISIS Threat: Weighing the Obama Administration's Response," on Capitol Hill September 18, 2014 in Washington, DC.
"Every country , every ethnicity, every religion, contains within it the capability for extreme violence. Every group contains a faction that is intolerant of other groups, and actively seeks to exclude or even kill them. War fever tends to encourage the intolerant faction, but the faction only succeeds in its goals if the rest of the group acquiesces or remains silent.

The attacks of September 11 were not only a test for U.S. citizens' attitudes' toward minority/racial groups in their own country, but a test for our relationship with the rest of the world. We must begin not by lashing out at civilians in Muslim countries, but by taking responsibility for our own history and our own actions, and how they have fed the cycle of violence."

Dr. Zoltan Grossman
In the midst of all the fear-mongering that has been generated by the commercial media, what has not been reported are the CEOs of military contractors who are paid more than their overpaid counterparts in the financial sector. Of course, many of these so-called news outfits are heavily bankrolled by the same military contractors. Therefore, 'fair and balanced' journalism is totally out of the question.

What's even worse, is that all of these predatory companies are buying off politicians and 'retired' generals to systematically rob our national treasury and place our sons and daughters, once again, in the line of fire.." CNN pundit, Frances Townsend, a former Bush administration official, has appeared on television calling for more military engagement against the so-called Islamic State. As the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) reported, Townsend holds positions in two investment firms with defense company holdings, MacAndrews and Forbes, and Monument Capital Group, along with serving as an advisor to defense contractor, Decision Sciences."

There has also been a procession of retired generals who've, all of a sudden, come out of the woodwork to appear on various news shows. Practically all of them have demanded that the U.S., not only strike ISIS from the air, but also, place "boots on the ground". General Jack Keane is a good example of this. He's called President Obama's, ostensible, policy of air strikes "totally insufficient" and that we need " special operation forces" in both Iraq and Syria. However, in the interest of full disclosure, he, nor the 'mainstream' press, have mentioned that the good general 'moonlights' as a special advisor to Academi, formerly known as Blackwater; is on the board of General Dynamics (aircraft manufacturer) and is a member of a firm that partners with XVionics, a 'support system' company used in Air Force drone training.

General Keane has also criticized individuals in the country of Qatar for funding ISIS; writing in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that" the time has come to confront Qatar. . . and other Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas." Yet, he remains silent about the organization's Saudi Arabian and Kuwait supporters. This double standard could be explained by the fact that Academi (Blackwater) has done big bussiness with these countries, which happen to be primary rivals of Qatar.

Retired Marine General James Mattis, questioning the President's policy, told the Washington Post:"The American people will once again see us in a war that doesn't seem to be making progress." Left unsaid is Mattis' new role on the General Dynamics corporate board, making $88,479 in cash and stock options in 2013. Also, retired General Anthony Zinni, perhaps the loudest advocate of a large deployment to fight ISIS . . . works for several military-focused private equity firms."

Recent wars in the Middle East have represented a 'windfall' of profits for the armaments industry. In 2010 the CEOs of Northrup Gumman, Lockeed Martin and Boeing made, between them, over $64 million. Compare this to the combined CEO pay for JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America - $16.8 million for the same year - and it appears that profiteering in the arms industry is much more lucrative than profiteering in finance capital.

Then, there are those military contractors who regularly defraud the Defense Department, i.e., the taxpayers. "The Pentagon paid $270 billion, from 2007 to 2009, to 91 military contractors that were involved in civil fraud cases resulting in judgements of more than $1 million. During the same period they paid 30 contractors $682 million, who were later convicted of 'hardcore' criminal fraud."

Ed Wasserman, dean of UC Berkeley Graduate School for Journalism, says "The inclination to use military action a lot is something the defense industry subscribes to because it helps to perpetuate an overall climate of permissiveness towards military spending." He goes on to say that "the media debate around the so-called Islamic State (IS) has tilted towards more hawkish former military leaders.The public would be best served, not only, with better disclosure, but also, a more balanced set of options that would include how expanded air strikes could cause civil casualties."

All of this begs answers to the following questions: What has over a decade of blood-spilling and billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer-financed military hardware in Iraq really accomplished? Why wasn't more pressure put on the Maleki regime to be more inclusive before the emergence of ISIS? How's that war in Afghanistan working out for us? What part is Israel (our powerful and 'permanent' ally in the region) playing in all of this? Will giving military aid to the 'moderate' opposition forces in Syria, to simultaneously degrade ISIS and overthrow Assad, result in the creation of a non-repressive government in that country?
"Either war is obsolete or men are." R.Buckminster Fuller
At the height of the Vietnam War, John Lennon gave us a very simple but profound song/chant: "All we are saying, is give peace a chance. . ." More than 40 years later it looks like peace doesn't stand a ghost of a chance.The grim reaper continues to enjoy an abundant harvest as money matters more than life. As long as Americans allow the "merchants of death' to feast on our military - via our compliant and corrupt political racketeers - we are turning the world into one, big cemetery.