UG#535 - Peter Dale Scott on The US War Machine & C.O.G.
Robin Upton | 05.02.2011 03:27 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Terror War | Sheffield | World
We continue with the first part of a 90 minute interview of Peter Dale Scott by Cindy Piester from 2010-10-16, that was posted online last month. Scott begins by explaining he means by 'deep politics'. 'Deep events' he explains are events which, under a thin surface layer of explanation hide a set of motives and other actions so deep that they are unlikely ever to be completely understood. As examples he gives the assassination of JFK, Watergate or the attacks of Sep 11th, 2001. While the spectacular and deadly examples of these are the best known, there are innumerable such events; he gives an example from his own life of an act of terrorism addressed to someone he was going to interview. He tells how the shock of such a violent and unexpected event hindered his later recollection of this this small act of terrorism.
Our second hour continues with part 2 of Cindy Piester's interview in which Peter Dale Scott details various aspects of the rise of the US military industrial complex. He assess Eisenhower's 1961 warning of the ascendency of the 'military industrial (congressional) complex' as very a cogent one. We hear how elite money purchased control over the corporate media and facilitated the removal from the public arena of dissenting voices. We hear how this burgeoning power was used to prolong US wars of aggression and suppress the anti-war movement. We hear the importance of petroleum as both a source of both profit and fuel for the ever expanding US military, and their intimate relationship with the financial sector. Starting from post-WW2 Burma, he reviews some of the CIA's 70 year history of supporting the global trade in illicit drugs.
We break to hear the concluding 8 minutes of Dwight Eisenhower's valedictory address. In this remarkable speech from half a century ago, he warns of the danger of an "'immense military establishment and a large arms industry'", and warns of the need to "'guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence... by the military industrial complex'". He notes that a steadily increasing proportion is directed to feeding the military machine, and that this must be checked by an alert and informed populace:
"The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by federal employment project allocations and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded."
— Dwight Eisenhower , 1961-01-17
We then conclude with the remainder of Peter Dale Scott's interview. He continues to give something of an overview of the tangled web of what might be called the financial-narco-petro-military-political-terrorist complex, noting that the whole complex edifice rests upon the power of money. Some may find his information daunting, but it certainly serves as an antidote to simplistic thinking in this area, which is much larger and more connected to global events than the mainstream media admits.
Thanks to Maverick Media for the Peter Dale Scott interview, and to Drazen for reminding me to
look for Peter Dale Scott.
Robin Upton
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