Not
one single member of Congress knows how many U.S. troops are in Niger
although these same politicians are making the ridiculous and
unsubstantiated claim that these soldiers are "defending America" in
Niger... how are these soldiers defending us in Niger? They are
defending Wall Street's interests in using cheap labor to extract and
steal natural resources--- oil, gold and uranium.
Why do we, as a people, need a "strategic foothold in West Africa?" We don't; Wall Street does.
It is not worth one single American life defending Wall Street's drive
for maximum profits in Niger or any other country in Africa or any other
place in the world:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/drone-base-in-niger-gives-us-a-strategic-foothold-in-west-africa/2013/03/21/700ee8d0-9170-11e2-9c4d-798c073d7ec8_story.html?utm_term=.2b9d7bf94efe
Let us heed General Smedley Butler's advice:
Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC who became a fervent anti-imperialist.
War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as
something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a
small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the
benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.
I
believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a
nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with
America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it
gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag
follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
I
wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment
of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is
the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for
any other reason is simply a racket.
There isn't a trick in
the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its
"finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies,
its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss"
Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.
It may seem odd for me, a
military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I
spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a
member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I
served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to
Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a
high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the
Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure
of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a
thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained
in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is
typical with everyone in the military service.
I helped make
Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I
helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank
boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen
Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record
of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international
banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that
name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American
sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard
Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as
the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it,
I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could
do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three
continents.
