The Council on Foreign Relations and the “Grand Area” of the American Empire

Source: Intel Hub
Andrew Gavin Marshall

Chapter Excerpt: The Making of the American Empire

The process of establishing an American Empire during and after World War II was not – as has been postulated (by those who even admit there is such a thing as an ‘American Empire’) – an ‘accident’ of history, something America seemingly stumbled into as a result of its unhindered economic growth and military-political position as arbiter of world peace and prosperity.

A vast literature has developed in the academic realm and policy circles – particularly within Political Science and the think tank community, respectively – which postulates a notion of ‘American empire’ or ‘American hegemony’ as accidental, incidental, benevolent, reluctant, and desirable.

Robert Kagan is a prominent American neoconservative historian. He is a Senior Fellow at the prestigious think tank, the Brookings Institution, was a founder of the neoconservative think tank, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), formerly worked at the State Department in the Reagan administration under Secretary of State, George Shultz, and served for over a decade as a Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and is, of course, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Kagan has written a great deal on the notion of American hegemony. As he wrote in the journal, Foreign Policy, in 1998, “the truth about America’s dominant role in the world is known to most clear-eyed international observers.” This truth, according to Kagan, “is that the benevolent hegemony exercised by the United States is good for a vast portion of the world’s population.”

Samuel Huntington, another Council member and prominent American strategist, wrote that, “A world without U.S. primacy will be a world with more violence and disorder and less democracy and economic growth than a world where the United States continues to have more influence than any other country shaping global affairs.”[1] This “Benevolent Empire” – as Kagan titles his article – rests on such fundamental ideas as the notion “that American freedom depends on the survival and spread of freedom elsewhere,” and that, “American prosperity cannot occur in the absence of global prosperity.”

For half a century, Kagan wrote, Americans “have been guided by the kind of enlightened self-interest that, in practice, comes dangerously close to resembling generosity.”[2]

Sebastian Mallaby, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, former Editorial Board Member and columnist at the Washington Post as well as correspondent and bureau chief for The Economist, wrote in the journal Foreign Affairs, that “empire’s are not always planned,” referring to America as “The Reluctant Imperialist.”[3]

Pentagon Drones Now Targeting Rural Americans

Source: RT

Predator drones have been used to fight the war on terror worldwide. Recently Iran shot down a US drone flying over the country and now reports have surfaced indicating these same drones are being used on American citizens. Alex Jones, radio show host, joins us to help us dig deeper and find out why US citizens are being targeted.

Corbett Report Interviews Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Source: Corbett Report
James Corbett

Michel Chossudovsky of GlobalResearch.ca joins us to discuss the worrying steps toward a greater middle east conflict that threatens to gulf the entire region. From Syria to Iran to Pakistan to Palestine, each situation represents a potential spark that could ignite the powder keg that will lead to World War III. We discuss the implications of this situation and the lack of concern on the part of the public and the so-called anti-war movement.

Western Hitlerian Madness Meets Russian Sense

Source: Land Destroyer Report
Tony Cartalucci

Russia Supports Internal Dialogue in Syria, Rejects Ultimatums Language

Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, renewed on Tuesday his country’s rejection of using the language of ultimatums in dealing with Syria by the Arab League (AL).

Lavrov stressed that dialogue is the only way to reach a solution to the situation in Syria.

At a press conference with his Algerian counterpart, Murad Medelci, in Moscow, Lavrov pointed out that the armed groups in Homs province are bombarding military units, government buildings and hospitals in the city to create a human catastrophe and make a pretext for foreign interference.

He stressed his country’s rejection of any sanctions against Syria, clarifying that sanctions would give opposite results.

Lavrov said that his country is ready to send observers to Syria, pointing out to the possibility of sending observers from the BRICS countries.

In the same context, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, stressed that the Western countries are adopting incorrect stances regarding finding solution to the Syrian crisis as they are hindering internal dialogue in Syria.

During a UN Security Council session dedicated to discuss the situation in Syria, Churkin warned against the dangerous stances of the Western countries which seek to “change the regime” in Syria and hinder holding dialogue between Syria and the AL.

He pointed out that the tragic developments in Syria in the past few months caused deep concern inside the UN Security Council.

It’s worth mentioning that Russia presides the Security Council during the current month.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia: We will not pass any Resolution that includes Using Force against Syria

German Intelligence Service Slammed for Destroying Files on Nazi Past

Source: Giza Death Star
Dr. Joseph P. Farrell

The after-effects of World War Two linger on, this time, in a news story about the German Bundesnachrichtendienst, Germany’s CIA/KGB/Mossad/MI-6(I am grateful to Mr. V.T. for sharing this news item with me):

German intelligence service slammed for destroying files on Nazi past

As the article points out, files on employees of the BND – successor to Nazi General Reinhard Gehlen’s Fremde Heere Ost or Foreign Armies East – who had Nazi pasts were shredded by the BND in 2007. Well, if we, and for that matter, the German Bundestag committee overseeing the BND, are to believe the BND’s story, the whole matter was simply due to the BND getting rid of documents that were no longer needed in its archives.  True enough, we might think; intelligence agencies acquire reams of information of all kinds and quickly fill their archives and periodically do such “dumps” of their excess archives. No big surprise there.

Except in this case, the files were of BND agents that were Nazis. Nazis in the service of the same Nazi general who became the first head of the BND after its informal status was “normalized” after West Germany was created. Let’s note the date of the article: Nov 30, 2011. IN other words, it was reported while Europe is in a financial meltdown, and while Germany itself seems to be the only viable economy on that otherwise financially besieged continent.

So the timing makes me extraordinarily suspicious, for the only other reason that could possibly justify such document shredding is simply because there was still, to this very day, something about the BND’s history and connection with Nazism that makes it sensitive, and necessary to destroy. True enough, the shredding was done in 2007, but the story comes out now.

I have long maintained the suspicion, and it’s only that, a suspicion, that the current European meltdown seems a bit oddly coincidental, that the only country thus far not engulfed in the debt conflagration is…Germany. It behooves us to remember that Martin Bormann’s “postwar plan” included the idea of a European Federation that Germany would be able to dominate by “elastic political” means, means which, in the financially-gifted Bormann’s view, included finance.It’s all purely coincidental, of course, that it seems to be Berlin that is calling the shots in Europe…for the moment….

US Covert Operations May Be First Phase of War on Iran

Source: Press TV

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The director of the Centre for Research on Globalization says ‏the loss to Iran of the CIA's surveillance drone reveals the United States and Israel's broader “military agenda directed against Iran.”

“This [spy drone operation] is a centralized operation out of strategic command headquarters in Nebraska,” Michel Chossudovsky said in an interview with Press TV's U.S. Desk on Saturday.

“It contemplates both theater operations as well as covert operations using panoply of sophisticated weapons systems,” to destabilize Iran, he added.

“These covert operations, constitute, potentially, the first phase of an all-out attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Such an operation to attack either Iran or Syria is in blatant derogation of international law, it is classified as a war of aggression under international law.”

Chossudovsky noted that the fact that Iran was able to down the advanced RQ-170 unmanned U.S. spy plane lends further credence to “recent developments that suggest Iran has developed its own capabilities in terms of cyber warfare and command and control counter-operation.”

10 Ridiculous Things That Make You A Terror Suspect

Source: Activist Post

You thought you weren't doing anything wrong, so why should you care about who they call a terrorist? Well, you may not believe it, but you're likely a terror suspect in America's new paradigm of the Land of the Fear.

The government is casting a wide net over its citizens in its search for potential threats. Now, you don't need to actually commit a crime to be hauled away to a detention center and held without charges while you are tortured; you just need to appear suspicious by sympathizing with anti-government views to be labeled a domestic terrorist.

First, it's important to understand the official definition of domestic terrorism in the United States. The ACLU reports that a person is a domestic terrorist if they engage in any "act dangerous to human life" that "appears to be intended to (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping."

Although recent White House action plans claim to be targeting "violent extremism in all its forms," the government itself is clearly guilty of countless "acts dangerous to human life intended to coerce the civilian population, to influence the policy, and to affect the conduct of a government."  But that's for another article.

What's more disturbing, is the government's expansion of guilty parties to "terrorist sympathizers."  This is where the net gets really large.  What exactly constitutes sympathizing with a terrorist? Is questioning the imperial foreign policy and the destruction of civil liberties, sympathizing with the enemy?  In the U.S., it seems that if you don't agree with the violence and coercion America commits, then you're an anti-American terrorist sympathizer, as evidenced by peace organizations being added to terror watch lists.

So, what makes you a terror suspect in America? Here are 10 ridiculous things that make you a terrorist according to "officials" running the U.S. government:

Tea Party Activists: The political Left demonized peaceful Tea Party activists as right-wing extremists, leading to the second most powerful official in the U.S. government, VP Joe Biden, to liken them to terrorists.   Do you sympathize with those who are angry about bank bailouts on the backs of taxpayers? Well, you're likely a terrorist in the eyes of the State.

Occupy Activists: Now, the "Occupy" movement, said to be made up of left-wing extremists, is enjoying the same treatment as the Tea Party's right-wing extremists.  The United Kingdom has officially labeled "Occupy" demonstrators as domestic terrorists. The U.S. hasn't gone quite that far, but the violent Police State did spy them in search of "domestic terrorists." Watch out, you may be a terror suspect if you sympathize with the 99%.

7 Days of Food: The Department of Justice and FBI considers you a terrorist threat if you have more than 7 days of food stored, as explained by Rand Paul on the Senate floor: