Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/04/2015 22:30 -0400
Former US army colonel and Chief of Staff for Colin Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson unleashed a most prescient speech on the demise of the United States Empire.
As Naked Capitalism’s Yves Smith notes, Wilkerson describes the path of empires in decline and shows how the US is following the classic trajectory. He contends that the US needs to make a transition to being one of many powers and focus more on strategies of international cooperation.
The video is full of rich historical detail and terrific, if sobering, nuggets, such as:
“History tells us we’re probably finished.
The rest of of the world is awakening to the fact that the United States is 1) strategically inept and 2) not the power it used to be. And that the trend is to increase that.”
Wilkerson includes in his talk not just the way that the US projects power abroad, but internal symptoms of decline, such as concentration of wealth and power, corruption and the disproportionate role of financial interests.
Wilkerson also says the odds of rapid collapse of the US as an empire is much greater is generally recognized. He also includes the issues of climate change and resource constraints, and points out how perverse it is that the Department of Defense is the agency that is taking climate change most seriously. He says that the worst cases scenario projected by scientists is that the world will have enough arable land to support 400 million people.
Further key excerpts include:
“Empires at the end concentrate on military force as the be all and end all of power… at the end they use more mercenary based forces than citizen based forces”
“Empires at the end…go ethically and morally bankrupt… they end up with bankers and financiers running the empire, sound familiar?”
“So they [empires] will go out for example, when an attack occurs on them by barbarians that kills 3000 of their citizens, mostly because of their negligence, they will go out and kill 300,000 people and spend 3 trillion dollars in order to counter that threat to the status quo. They will then proceed throughout the world to exacerbate that threat by their own actions, sound familiar?…This is what they [empires] do particularly when they are getting ready to collapse”
“This is what empires in decline do, they can’t even in govern themselves”
Quoting a Chinese man who was a democrat, then a communist (under Mao) then, when he became disenchanted, a poet and writer…”You can sit around a table and talk about politics, about social issues, about anything and you can have a reasonable discussion with a reasonable person. But start talking about the mal-distribution of wealth and you better get your gun” ….”that’s where we are, in Europe and the United States”.
A friend just posted a clip of Barry Obomber’s speech whining about Putin’s actions in Syria. Obomber’s undies were all in a twist about Russia doing whatever it could to support the evil Assad. Then this absurd water boy for whatever hell fiend coalition of pipeline advocates and board members of the Greater Israel project he actually represents had the audacity to claim how united the world was against Russia’s actions. Oh sure. And I lie awake nights trembling, afraid for my country. What will happen if Assad stays in power ?! Maybe Barry just doesn’t want to see any damage done to those 2500 shiny new Humvees the Islamic State picked up in Iraq the other day. We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to property purchased by the American people. Shock and Awe! That’s what I experience when I listen to the hallucinatory statements emanating from the madhouse formerly known as the capital of the United States. Of all the sorrows of empire, insanity may be the worst.
If you want TRUTH about what’s going on in Syria — especially Russia’s role there — I suggest you go to this most excellent web site; —- http://russia-insider.com/en
Russia has accomplished more in one week of bombing in Syria than the USA!USA!USA! has in the past year. You see — THEY HAVE A PLAN, including an exit plan. The plan is to bomb the fuck outta the bad guys for 3-4 more months (including “moderate” terrorists — hahah) and then let Iran mop up with their ground troops. Looks like China will be involved. Egypt is now on board.
Imagine if Putin’s action stems, or even reverses, the flow of refugees into Europe. Even the Europussies will hail him as a hero. The balance of power in the ME will have shifted. Amurika will be an afterthought. All this will be much clearer by Christmas.
France is starting to catch on ….
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French MP: France a ‘Bagman for American Propaganda’
French Minister describes his country’s alignment with US policy as being ‘simply pathetic’
When it comes to Syria and the Russian air strikes, Jacques Myard, deputy from the Republican Party, accuses France of “carrying the suitcases for American propaganda,” in a communiqué released today.
“Today we are witnessing an unbelievable media war that just takes your breath away. The Russians have never changed their Syria policy and have always said that the regime of Bashar Al Assad was the best rampart against Islamic fundamentalism, without going so far as to say they’re “married” to him for all time,” affirms M. Myard.
“Moscow’s objective is to consolidate Damascus, and the Russian air strikes are part of that policy,” said the president of the Nation and Republic Circle.
“On the other hand, one can only wonder about the logic of the American policy France is following: Washington wants the Damascus regime to fall, no matter what it costs, and, like Paris, pretends that the insurgents are members of the Syrian Liberation Army, moderate insurgents against the regime”.
According to him “the truth is pretty remote from that presentation. The Syrian Liberation Army has no existence outside of the salons of Euro or American hotels,” while the units of the SLA armed by the Americans have crossed over to the Islamic front, weapons, equipment, and all to al Nosra, the al Qaida affiliate”. Washington “today is playing the Al Nosra hand (…) The alignment of France with this policy of Sorcerer’s Apprentices is not just a disaster for our interests, it is just simply pathetic.”
All empires reach a peak, become decadent, and collapse on themselves.
A cycle that has been repeated since earliest history when empires first developed.
Be ready to deal with it, we’re in the last phase and things happen substantially faster now than they did in past history.
Germany is starting to catch on …..
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No Victory in Syria Without Russia and Assad, Says German Former Top Diplomat
Says Russia was wrongly “disqualified” by the West, and now this is their answer
In order to solve the problems in Syria the cooperation of the West with Russia is necessary, said Jürgen Chroborg, former State Secretary of Germany’s Foreign Ministry on radio channel Deutschlandfunk. The intervention of Moscow in this region represents a “dangerous game” – but one, which is consequently right.
Russia is an old ally of the Assad-Regime, said Chroborg on Deutschlandfunk. The more Russia arms itself, the more it strengthens its position in the region. This policy “guided by their own interests” is logical insofar as Russia also feels threatened by the “Islamic State” (IS).
The West has learned in the meantime, that it needs Moscow’s presence in the region; the Ukraine conflict should be “left aside” in this matter, said Chroborg. Instead it should be achieved that Russia is influencing Assad in order to make him comply to humanitarian requests, like the ending of the use of barrel bombs for instance.
A solution without the involvement of Assad is not possible according to the former State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry. One needs the existing structures for achieving a victory over the IS. Russia wants to keep the system – but keeping Assad is a different question.
The complete Interview:
rest of article here —-> http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/no-victory-syria-without-russia-and-assad-says-german-former-top-diplomat/ri10216
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“So, that is the choice facing President Obama and the American people. Despite the misleading reporting by The New York Times, CNN and other major U.S. news outlets, the realistic options are quite stark: either work with Russia, Iran and the Syrian military to beat back the Sunni jihadists in Syria (while seeking a power-sharing arrangement in Damascus that includes Assad and some of his U.S.-backed political rivals) — or take the side of Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists, including the Islamic State, with the goal of removing Assad and hoping that the mythical “moderate” rebels might finally materialize and somehow wrest control of Damascus.”
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/neocons-want-us-ally-al-qaeda-against-russia/ri10221
Obama and the rest of his pathetic cronies have no reply to Russia aiding Assad, except for soiling their undies and calling Russia the bad guy.
I’m with Russia and against the train wreck of U.S imperialism.