U.S. to Allies: "U.S. Armed Forces "For Rent"

Thursday, April 22, 2010

 By Ivan Simic

Since 1776, when the British Revolutionaries gained control of the Thirteen United Colonies and declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, the United States was involved in over 280 domestic and international military conflicts, resulting in the destruction of nations and lives.  

Some of historical military interventions by the US Armed Forces included: World War I and II, Vietnam War, Korean War, Gulf War, and the ongoing wars: Iraq War (Second Persian Gulf War), War in Somalia, War on Terrorism (Operation Enduring Freedom); Afghanistan, Philippines, Trans Sahara, among others. If we look through world history for the last fifty years, we can see that no country has been involved in as many military conflicts as the United States has.

The US aided its allies as well as non allies, without any objection. At times, the US made profits from its military intervention, and sometimes not, but all that has changed now. The US is saying “no more” to all allies from now on, the US Armed Forces are for "rent only”. 

It sounds very strange, but as a result of economic crisis, the United States of America is making plans to rent its Armed Forces to all interested parties. President Obama's recent Nuclear Security Summit was the first phase in preparation: “eliminate all nuclear warheads for more efficient and safe warfare”.

Today, the United States is confronted with the greatest recession in its history. The US public debt is in excess of $12,6 trillion, and continues to grow at a rate of about $4.03 billion each day. The United States entered year, 2008 during a housing market downturn, a sub prime mortgage crisis, and a declining dollar value. On December 1, 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), declared that the United States entered a recession in December 2007, citing employment and production figures as well as the third quarter decline in GDP (3.9%).

In addition to recession according to many, the US President Barack Obama failed and broke his promise to the American people. The 2010 Budget proposed by President Obama projects significant debt increases, both in terms of dollars and relative to GDP. The debt is projected to nearly double to $20 trillion by 2015, but is expected to increase to nearly 100% of GDP by 2020, and remain at that level thereafter.

Confronted with the largest depression in modern history, the US Government led by President Obama, and small group of trustworthy individuals re-started the idea from the 70’s - to rent US Armed Forces to all interested parties. Invasions on foreign lands, and ongoing wars became very expensive, therefore, the only way to maintain big a military industrial complex is to rent it or reduce it, and reduction is out of the question.

The date from which the Armed Forces will be available, as well as terms and conditions concerning rent are not presented yet; however, we can assume that the rent fee will be set for about $1 billion per day, and will include all branches of the US military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and the US Coast Guard. The Armed Forces will be under the direct command of the US, and will only execute plans and directives by the lessee-Government. The US Armed Forces will only provide service to lessee, and will not be held responsible for any damage or loss of lives in any circumstances. The lessee may not use the Armed Forces to attack the US or its territories, and the US first neighboring countries. The lessee reserves all the rights on conquered territory, and on exploitation of country’s natural wealth. Countries which will not be able to rent the US Armed Forces are: China, Germany, Iran, India, the United Kingdom, North Korea and Russia (except in terms when the country which is to be invaded is considered hostile by the US Government).

Why was this idea created in the 70’s?

The 70s, also known as the "70’s recession," were perhaps the worst decade of most industrialized countries' economic performance since the Great Depression. Although there was no severe economic depression as witnessed in the 1930s, economic growth rates were considerably lower than previous decades. Industrialized countries, except Japan, experienced an economic recession especially, due to an oil crisis caused by oil embargoes by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The70’s were marked by the energy crisis, which peaked in 1973 and 1979. After the first oil shock in 1973, gasoline was rationed in many countries. Europe particularly depended on the Middle East for oil; the US was also affected, even though it had its own oil reserves. In the US, customers with a license plate ending in an odd number were only allowed to buy gasoline on odd-numbered days, while even-numbered plate-holders could only purchase gasoline on even-numbered days.

The oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 added to the existing ailments and conjured high inflation throughout much of the world for the rest of the decade. The US manufacturing industries began to decline as a result, with the US running its last trade surplus in 1975. In contrast, Japan's economy continued to expand and prosper during the decade, boosted by growing exports.

The average annual inflation rate from 1900 to 1970 was approximately 2.5%. From 1970, however, the average rate hit about 6%, topping out at 13.3% by 1979. This period is also known for "stagflation", a phenomenon in which inflation and unemployment steadily increased, therefore leading to double-digit interest rates that rose to unprecedented levels (above 12% per year). The prime rate hit 21.5% in December 1980, the highest in history. By 1980, when US President Jimmy Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, the misery index (the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate) had reached an all-time high of 21.98%. The economic problems of the 70s would result in sluggish cynicism replacing the optimistic attitudes of the 1950s and 1960s. Faith in government was at an all-time low in the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, as exemplified by the low voter turnout in the 1976 presidential election.

Among other causes for recession in the US were the Vietnam War, which turned out to be costly, the fall of the Bretton Woods system, and the devaluation of the US dollar. The emergence of newly industrialized countries increased competition in the metal industry, triggering a steel crisis, which affected the Rust Belt in the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest. The collapse of the Bretton Woods system triggered the 1973-1974 stock market crash, which made the recession evident. During this recession, the Gross Domestic Product of the United States fell by 3.1%.

Whose idea was it to rent the US Armed Forces?

For many, this may not come as a surprise, but it was an idea of Henry Kissinger and Robert Gates, the current US Defense Secretary.

Henry Kissinger, born in 1923, served as the 8th United States National Security Advisor, (December 2, 1968 – November 3, 1975), and the 56th United States Secretary of State, (September 22, 1973 – January 20, 1977).

After graduating, Kissinger remained at Harvard University as a member of the faculty in the Department of Government, and at the Center for International Affairs. He became Associate Director of the latter in 1957. In 1955, he was a consultant to the National Security Council's Operations Coordinating Board. He was also Study Director in Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations during 1955 and 1956. From 1956 to 1958, he worked for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as director of its Special Studies Project. He was Director of the Harvard Defense Studies Program between 1958 and 1971. He was also Director of the Harvard International Seminar between 1951 and 1971. Outside of academia, he served as a consultant to several government agencies, including the Operations Research Office, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Department of State, and the Rand Corporation, a think-tank.

Keen to have a greater influence on US foreign policy, Kissinger became a supporter of, and advisor to Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, who sought the Republican nomination for President in 1960, 1964 and 1968. After Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968, he made Kissinger National Security Advisor.

Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, and continued as Secretary of State under Nixon's successor Gerald Ford.

Kissinger left office when former Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential elections. Kissinger continued to participate in the US policy groups, through the Council on Foreign Relations (founded by David Rockefeller in 1921), the Trilateral Commission (founded by David Rockefeller in 1973), the Bilderberg Group, and his consulting firm Kissinger Associates Inc.

In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Kissinger to chair a committee to investigate the terrorist attacks of September 11. Kissinger stepped down as chairman on December 13, 2002, rather than reveal his client list when queried about potential conflicts of interest. 

After all these years, Kissinger still has greater influence. He was a frequent visitor of the White House and President George W. Bush, and has a close relationship with President Obama and his administration. At present, Kissinger continues to be the most influential individual on the political scene in the United States.

Robert Gates, born 1943, served as the 16th Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, Deputy National Security Advisor, 15th Director of Central Intelligence, and currently serving as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense.

While at Indiana University, Gates was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency, and joined the agency in 1966. On January 4, 1967, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. From 1967 to 1969, he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command as an intelligence officer, which included a stint at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where he delivered intelligence briefings to Intercontinental Ballistic Missile crews. After fulfilling his military obligation, he rejoined the CIA.

Gates left the CIA in 1974 to serve on the staff of the National Security Council. He returned to the CIA in late 1979, serving briefly as the director of the Strategic Evaluation Centre, Office of Strategic Research. He was named the Director of the DCI/DDCI Executive Staff in 1981, Deputy Director for Intelligence in 1982, and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from April 18, 1986 to March 20, 1989. He lectured at Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown, Universities from which many politicians graduated.

On November 8, 2006, after the 2006 midterm election, President George W. Bush announced his intent to nominate Gates to succeed the resigning Donald Rumsfeld as US Secretary of Defence. Gates was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate Armed Services Committee on December 5, 2006.

On December 1, 2008, President Obama announced that Robert Gates would remain in his position as Secretary of Defense during his administration.

Renting the Armed Forces

The idea for renting the Armed Forces came when Robert Gates joined the National Security Council under Henry Kissinger (1969-1975). At that time the US was in a recession, Vietnam War, and theWatergate Scandal loomed.  The two men were looking for a solution as to how to best use the Armed Forces to get the US out of recession. The ideas included engaging the Armed Forces in numerous wars to boost the US economy and future possibilities for renting the same.    

Kissinger and Gates had the support of Brent Scowcroft, the 9th U.S. National Security Adviser; George H.W. Bush, the 11th Director of Central Intelligence; Donald Rumsfeld, 6th White House Chief of Staff; Dick Chaney, 7th White House Chief of Staff; and Alexander Haig, Deputy National Security Advisor, 5th White House Chief of Staff and later the 59th United States Secretary of State.

According to their analysis, the US Armed Forces were, and still are the most productive asset of the US Government, and are in full ownership of the United States. For years, the US Armed Forces were used to boost the US economy through foreign land invasions and exploitations of natural resources. Some of the major “wars or invasions are: the 2003 United States'-led invasion of Iraq, the 2001 United States'-led invasion of Afghanistan, the 1999 US-led bombing of Yugoslavia, the 1991 United States'-led invasion of Kuwait and southern Iraq, the 1989 United States' invasion of Panama, and the 1983 US-led invasion of Grenada, among many others.

Today, the most precious US asset - the Armed Forces have around 1,454,515 people on active duty, with an additional 848,000 people in the seven reserve components.  The United States military is the second largest in the world, after the People's Liberation Army of China, and has troops deployed around the globe.

In early 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates proposed to President Bush to increase the overall size of the Army and Marine Corps, to meet the needs of the War on Terrorism.  Current plans are to increase the Army to 547,400, and the Marine Corps to 202,000 by 2012.

Currently, the US armed forces are stationed in more than 820 installations in at least 135 countries. The US has over 450,000 active military personnel deployed outside the US, including: around 240,000 troops in Iraq, Afghanistan 50,500 troops, Japan 48,844 troops, Germany 63,958 troops, South Korea 26,477 troops, the UK 10,967 troops, among others. Also, the US has; 27 Air Force Bases, 3 Army Bases, 4 Navy Bases, and 1 Barracks worldwide: in Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Iraq, Kosovo, Israel, Kuwait, Bulgaria, UK, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Kyrgyzstan, Guam, Greenland, Colombia, among others.

The United States has the largest defense budget in the world. In fiscal year 2010, the Department of Defense has a base budget of $533.8 billion. An additional $130.0 billion was requested for operations in the War on Terrorism. Outside of the direct Department of Defense spending, the United States spends another $185–237 billion each year on other defense-related programs, such as Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, nuclear weapons maintenance, and the State Department.

By service, $225.2 billion was allocated for the Army, $171.7 billion for the Navy and Marine Corps, $160.5 billion for the Air Force and $106.4 billion for defense-wide spending.  By function, $154.2 billion was requested for personnel, $283.3 billion for operations and maintenance, $140.1 billion for procurement, $79.1 billion for research and development, $23.9 billion for military construction, and $3.1 billion for family housing.

The budget funds all branches of the US military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

However, the lack of war exploitations led to crisis, and since there is no country rich enough to buy the US military, the only way to maintain it is to rent it.

The lobbying for engagement of Armed Forces by the two masterminds and their friends, beside National Security Council and the White House, was done through the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission and Georgetown and Harvard Universities.

Henry Kissinger is the most influential member of the Council on Foreign Relations  in (both the Nixon and Ford administrations, and is on the board of trustees on the Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Robert Gates is a powerful member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and did his doctorate at the Georgetown University, where he had also lectured from 1993.

To support these claims, here is the list of some high ranking government officials who were, and still are in contact with above men and institutions:

Brent Scowcroft, 9th United States National Security Advisor and 17th United States National Security Advisor, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of the Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies. Prior to joining the Bush administration in 1989, Scowcroft was Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc. He has had a long association with Henry Kissinger, having served as his assistant when Kissinger was the National Security Adviser under Nixon, from 1968. Brent Scowcroft has been an unofficial advisor to Barack Obama and was mentor to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, the 10th United States National Security Advisor (1977–1981), is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, co-founder of the Trilateral Commission, board of trustees at the Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies, and attend meetings of the Bilderberg Group. (Kissinger is a member of Bilderberg Group). Brzezinski was on the Harvard University staff in mid 50s, when Kissinger served as a consultant to the Director of the Psychological Strategy Board.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, (January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981), and 76th Governor of Georgia, under which Brzezinski served as the United States National Security, is a member of Council on Foreign Relations and Trilateral Commission. Members of the Jimmy Carter’s cabinet: Cyrus Vance, 57th Secretary of State. Vance was a professor at Georgetown University before becoming Secretary of State, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Trilateral Commission; Werner Michael Blumenthal, 64th United States Secretary of the Treasury, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Edmund Muskie, 58th United States Secretary of State, was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Harold Brown, 14th United States Secretary of Defense, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Warren Christophe, 5th United States Deputy Secretary of State, is a member of Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberg Group and Trilateral Commission; Stansfield M. Turner, 12th Director of Central Intelligence, is a member of the Council and Trilateral Commission, among many others.

Under President Ronald Reagan (January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989), influence of the group continued: Robert Gates was 16th Deputy Director of Central Intelligence; George H. W. Bush, the 43rd Vice President of the United States and member of Council and Trilateral Commission; George Shultz, 60th United States Secretary of State, 62nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, 11th United States Secretary of Labor. Shultz is a member of Council on Foreign Relations, the chairman of the JP Morgan Chase bank's International Advisory Council (Kissinger), Bohemian Grove (Kissinger is a member).

On January 15, 2008, Shultz co-authored an opinion paper published in the Wall Street Journal entitled: "Toward a Nuclear-Free World". His co-authors were William Perry (1977 to 1981 Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and 19th United States Secretary of Defense); Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn (former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and very powerful political figure); Caspar Weinberger, 15th United States Secretary of Defense, and 10th United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard graduate and a close associate of Kissinger; Robert "Bud" McFarlane, 13th United States National Security Advisor, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a Military Assistant to Henry Kissinger at the National Security Council; Frank Carlucci III, 16th United States Secretary of Defense, is a member of Council and Commission. Carlucci was Deputy Director of the CIA from 1978-1981, under CIA Director Stansfield Turner); Colin Powell, 16^th National Security Advisor and member of the Council,  among many others.

Under President George H.W. Bush's influence the group got even stronger. Bush, 41st President of the United States was a member of Council on Foreign Relations, and member of the Trilateral Commission; Dick Cheney, 17th United States Secretary of Defense (Between 1987 and 1989, during his last term in Congress, Cheney was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations); Lawrence Eagleburger, 62nd United States Secretary of State, and member of the Council and the Trilateral Commission; Nicholas Brady, 68th United States Secretary of the Treasury, and member of the Council; Colin Powell, 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Brent Scowcroft, 17th United States National Security Advisor; Robert Gates, 15th Director of Central Intelligence , among many others.

With Bill Clinton as president, things did not change: Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, is a member of Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission, and Georgetown University graduate; Madeleine Albright, 20th United States Ambassador to the United Nations and 64th United States Secretary of State (January 23, 1997 – January 20, 2001). Albright was a student of Brzezinski, and was later recruited by him to work in the West Wing as the National Security Council’s congressional liaison.

Albright now serves as a Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University and as a Director on the Board of the Council on Foreign Relations. She served under President Bill Clinton who attended Georgetown University and is a member of Council on Foreign Relations; Warren Christopher, 63rd United States Secretary of State; Lloyd Millard Bentsen, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury, member of the Council; William Perry, 19th United States Secretary of Defense, close friend with Kissinger 9wrote a book with him); James Woolsey, 16th Director of Central Intelligence and member of the Council (Woolsey has held important positions in both Democratic and Republican administrations. His influence has been felt during the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton); John Deutch, 17th Director of Central Intelligence, member of Trilateral Commission; George Tenet, 18th Director of Central Intelligence (longest serving) and is Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University; Anthony Lake, 18th United States National Security Advisor, now he is at the Georgetown University, holding the chair of Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy and has been selected next President of UNICEF; Sandy Berge, 19th United States National Security Advisor, is a member of Council on Foreign Relations, and holds degree at Harvard University (Berger was a member of the Quill and Dagger society with Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Hadley); Richard Holbrooke, 22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations; William Cohen, 20th United States Secretary of Defense, a member of Trilateral Commission, among many others.

Enormous influence of the group on the foreign policy and Armed Forces came with George W. Bush as the 44th President of the United States, Harvard graduate and son of George H.W. Bush: Dick Cheney, 46th Vice President of the United States; Colin Powell, 65th United States Secretary of State; Condoleezza Rice, 20th United States National Security Advisor and 66th United States Secretary of State. Rice is a member of Council on Foreign Relations (she served under Regan and George H.W. Bush in National Security Council); Donald Rumsfeld, 21st United States Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, 22nd United States Secretary of Defence; Paul O'Neill, 72nd United States Secretary of the Treasury; Henry Paulson, 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury, a member of the Council and Harvard graduate, among many others.

The arrival of President Barack Hussein Obama did not change anything: Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States, is a member of Council on Foreign Relations. Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th United States Secretary of State, is a member of the Council and Trilateral Commission; Bill Clinton, United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, member of the Council and Commission; Timothy Geithner, 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury, and a member of Bilderberg Group. Geithner worked for Kissinger Associates in Washington for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the US Treasury Department in 1988. 

In 2002 Geithner left the Treasury to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Fellow in the International Economics department); Robert Gates, 22nd United States Secretary of Defense; Susan Rice, 27th United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (Madeleine Albright is a longtime mentor and family friend to Rice); Richard Holbrooke, United States Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, Paul Adolph Volcker, 1st Chair of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, is a member of Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission, Harvard graduate and holds honorary degree from Georgetown University (Volcker, a very powerful person, is a close friend of Kissinger, Brzezinski, Scowcroft, and  Rockefeller, he also played an important role in the decisions leading to the US suspension of gold convertibility in 1971, which resulted in the collapse of the Bretton Woods system),  among many others.

We can see that for the last 50 years, the US Government was run by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and graduates of Georgetown and Harvard Universities. 

What will the United Nations do when the US starts renting its Armed Forces?

In respond to the US decision to rent its Armed Forces, the UN will have no other solution then to issue 'War Certificates.'

War certificate will be an official document issued by the UN to a country wishing to start a war, rent the US Armed Forces, and will be mandatory for all countries. War certificate will be available for a fee, probably for $1 billion (or more), and will be valid for some period. Therefore, in that period, lessee may start a war or invasion without any interference of the UN. The extension of War Certificate may be charged additional $1 billion. Money from the War Certificates will be added to the UN budget.

All this may be possible since Ban Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations is a close associate of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Harvard graduate. In addition, he is citizen of the Republic of Korea a US ally.

Is this fiction or reality? You decide.