Has President Donald Trump abandoned the idea
of transforming US politics? Has he bowed to the ex-ruling class of his
country? Over the last two months, his administration seems to have
restructured AfriCom, CentCom and SouthCom. The first military command of the
Pentagon has apparently been authorised to join battle against Chinese projects
on the African continent; the second has been engaged to divide the Greater
Middle East between Arabs and Persians; and the third to destroy the State
structures of the Caribbean Basin. These new missions are accompanied by a
return of the neo-conservatives.
Since the mid-term elections
on 6 November 2018, President Trump has been under extreme pressure. Federal
administrations have been closed since 22 December (the shutdown), because of
parliamentary opposition to a budget proposition which included the financing
for a Wall at the Mexican frontier. The crisis only came to an end 35 days
later, on 25 January 2019, when President Trump provisionally bowed to the
demands of the Democratic Party. According to S&P Global Ratings, the
shutdown will have cost more than 6 billion dollars, which is more expensive
than the Wall it was supposed to economise [1].
During this period, the Trump
administration multiplied signs that it was renouncing its foreign and Defense
policies, and rallying with US imperialism. Taking into account the real estate
promoter’s method of governing, it is quite possible that this total change of
direction is only apparent, and destined to be called into question on 12
February, the date of the end of the budget agreement. In any case, for the
moment, numerous elements suggest that Donald Trump may have given up making
the changes he promised.
On 13 December 2018, at the
Heritage Foundation, National Security Advisor John Bolton revealed the new US
strategy for Africa [2] :• (1) develop commerce,
• (2) fight Islamic terrorism,
• (3) verify the use of US aid.
Nothing
new, then, apart from the fact that commercial objectives were exhaustively
presented not as rivalry against the old colonial powers (France and the United
Kingdom), but as a violent combat against China and Russia.
On 20 December, Secretary of
Defense General James Mattis addressed a public letter of resignation to
President Trump [3]. Contrary to what was reported in the
Press, he was in agreement with the withdrawal of troops from Syria, but was
worried about the message that this might send to the Allies of the anti-Daesh
Coalition, and therefore the possible end of US leadership [4]. Considering that he needed no public
lessons, Trump immediately fired Mattis without allowing him the possibility of
exercising his responsibilities until a replacement was found.
However,
yielding to his critics, President Trump reversed his position and admitted
that the withdrawal of troops would take longer than planned.
On 3 January 2019, at the
opening of the 116th session of Congress, Democrat representative Eliot Engels
and Republican senator Marco Rubio tabled two propositions for a law (H.R.
31 [5] and S. 1 [6]) incorporating an almost identical passage
aimed at enacting sanctions blocking the rebuilding of Syria. Thereafter,
Engels (the author of the Syria Accountability Act of
2003) was elected president of the Chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee, while
James Rich was elected to the equivalent Senate Committee. Rich immediately
rallied to the proposition of the law against Syria.
The
two texts argue that it was the Syrian Arab Republic, and not the jihadists,
who tortured the victims photographed in the « Caesar report », which would
justify the blockage of the rebuilding of the country. The Senate text goes
even further by supporting military aid to Israël, at the very moment when the
Hebrew state admitted that it was carrying out an intense bombing campaign
against Syria.
On 10 January 2019, Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo revealed the new strategy for the Greater Middle East
during a conference at the American University in Cairo [7]. The strategy includes :• (1) fighting Islamic terrorism,
• (2) fighting Iran and its allies,
• (3) military withdrawal from the region to the profit of an Israëlo-Arab « NATO ».
However, apart from the fact
that dividing the region between Arabs and Persians is even more dangerous than
the current situation, the creation of an Israëlo-Arab military alliance seems
unlikely – it would have the support of governments which are already
collaborating in secret, certainly, but not that of popular opinion.
Simultaneously, National Security Advisor John Bolton set up a terrorist
internationale against Iran, including elements of the Sunni Arabs of Daesh and
Persian Shiites from the People’s Mujahedin [8].
On the same day, 10 January,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo published a declaration against Venezuela,
giving the signal to Juan Guaido to self-proclaim himself as interim
President [9]. This was followed by the constitutional
crisis that we see today.
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While the Western Press and
the Venezuelans interpreted the conflict as questioning the Bolivarian
government, we announced – a little early – the events that the Pentagon
intended to apply to the Caribbean Basin, the same strategy that it applied
earlier to the African Great Lakes, then to the Greater Middle East [10]. After long internal discussions, the
Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs adopted the same position [11]. In particular, Moscow declared : « The
deliberate and clearly well-organised creation of a double power structure and
an alternative centre of decisions in Venezuela opens the door to chaos and the
erosion of the Venezuelan state ».
On 22 January, the Democratic
Party demanded that the Chamber of Representatives adopt a law forbidding
President Trump from leaving NATO [12]. This text was co-written by Eliot Engels.
Although this law had not
been discussed during the mid-term election campaign, it was considered by the
Democratic Party as taking priority over its engagements on Obamacare. In July
2018, Eliot Engels had co-written, with the Secretary General of NATO, Anders
Fogh Rasmussen, an op-ed piece in favour of the Alliance [13].
On 26 January, Mike Pompeo
announced that neo-conservative Elliott Abrams would be his special envoy for
Venezuela. However, two years ago, Abrams had been the imperialist candidate for
the post of Secretary of State. His name remains associated with the worst
secret US actions in Latin America during the Cold War.
Neo-conservatism is a form of
Trotskyism, and therefore ideologically part of the extreme left wing, rallied
to the US state structure under the Reagan administration. Its partisans have
never stopped swinging from left to right and vice-versa with every political
alternation. They opposed the election of Donald Trump, but are now joining
with him.
There
was indeed a re-organisation of Africom, CentCom and SouthCom which authorises
all three to defend not the interests of the People of the United States, but
those of transnational companies and Israël. Still associated with this policy,
the neo-conservatives, or at least one of the most illustrious among them, are
back.
These elements tend to attest to the fact
that the Republican Party and the Trump administration are radically changing
their policy and returning – with the exception of the refusal to allow
terrorist organisations to administer states – to the Democrat Party policies
of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: military imperialism in the
service of transnational giants.
This renunciation seems to be
implemented by the main sponsors of the Republican Party. Thus, the Koch
brothers have recently announced that they will not be supporting the
reelection of Donald Trump [14].
—
[1] “US economy lost at least $6 billion to government
shutdown: S&P”, Reuters, January 26,
2019.
[2] “Remarks
by John R. Bolton on the The Trump Administration’s New Africa Strategy”,
by John Bolton, Voltaire Network, 13 December 2018.
[3] “Resignation
letter from James Mattis”, by James Mattis, Voltaire Network, 20 December 2018.
[4] “The
United States refuse to fight for the transnational financiers”, by
Thierry Meyssan, Translation Pete Kimberley, Voltaire Network, 25
December 2018.
[5] “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019”,
Eliot Engels, US House of Representatives,
January 3, 2019.
[6] “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act
of 2019”, Marco Rubio, US Senate, January
3, 2019.
[7] “Mike
Pompeo’s Remarks at the American University in Cairo”, by Mike
Pompeo, Voltaire Network, 10 January 2019. .
[8] “The
use of terrorism according to John Bolton”, by Thierry Meyssan,
Translation Pete Kimberley, Mint Press News (USA)
, Voltaire Network, 22 January 2019.
[9] “US
Actions Against Venezuela’s Corrupt Regime”, by Mike Pompeo, Voltaire Network, 10 January 2019.
[10] “The
United States are preparing a war between Latin-American states”, by
Thierry Meyssan, Translation Pete Kimberley, Mint Press News(USA)
, Voltaire Network, 18 December 2018.
[11] “Russian
Foreign Ministry statement on the developments in Venezuela”, Voltaire Network, 24 January 2019.
[12] “House aims to prevent Trump from withdrawing from NATO”,
Karoun Demirjian, Washington Post, January 22, 2019.
[13] “President Trump, you need NATO more than ever”,
Eliot L. Engel & Anders Fogh Rasmussen, CNN, July 10, 2018.
[14] “Koch network tells donors it plans to stay out of 2020
race, once again declining to back Trump”, Josh Dawsey and Michelle
Ye Hee Lee, The Washington Post, January 24,
2019.
French
intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace
Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in
daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last
two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate.
The
articles on Voltaire Network may be freely reproduced provided the source is
cited, their integrity is respected and they are not used for commercial
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