War is a scam

George Orwell said it plainly in his novel ‘1984’.

“The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labour power without producing anything that can be consumed. A Floating Fortress, for example, has locked up in it the labour that would build several hundred cargo-ships. Ultimately it is scrapped as obsolete, never having brought any material benefit to anybody, and with further enormous labours another Floating Fortress is built. In principle the war effort is always so planned as to eat up any surplus that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population. In practice the needs of the population are always underestimated, with the result that there is a chronic shortage of half the necessities of life; but this is looked on as an advantage. It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another. By the standards of the early twentieth century, even a member of the Inner Party lives an austere, laborious kind of life. Nevertheless, the few luxuries that he does enjoy his large, well-appointed flat, the better texture of his clothes, the better quality of his food and drink and tobacco, his two or three servants, his private motor-car or helicopter -- set him in a different world from a member of the Outer Party, and the members of the Outer Party have a similar advantage in comparison with the submerged masses whom we call 'the proles'. The social atmosphere is that of a besieged city, where the possession of a lump of horseflesh makes the difference between wealth and poverty. And at the same time the consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival.”

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF OLIGARCHICAL COLLECTIVISM
by Emmanuel Goldstein

https://www.george-orwell.org/1984/16.html

Orwell’s experiences as an itinerant writer in the 1930s had turned him into an ardent socialist. When the Spanish Civil War erupted in 1936 he set off to fight as a volunteer for the Republican forces. There he saw into the heart of the beast, as fascists struggled against communists, who fought against the royalists, who all hated the republicans. He returned from that war a damaged man, both physically and spiritually. In the naked exercise of brutal political power he saw a terrible and hopeless view of the future.

1984 was one of the most influential books I read at school, but I have never been able to enjoy it subsequently. I’m not sure it would resonate the same way with the current generation. It’s too firmly set in a poverty stricken, post-Second World War world for millennials to appreciate. There are plenty of modern world parallels - we have view screens (smart TVs) that watch us and listen to our conversations. We carry devices in our pockets that spy on our every interaction and track where we go and who we speak to. We have an internet - that vast store of knowledge - that disappears inconvenient facts into the memory hole, never to be seen again. Our 1984 Big Brother world is shiny, new and apparently prosperous, but no less dictatorial.

Why the detour to George Orwell and oligarchic collectivism? Because a key part of the US strategy was exposed a week or so ago. The majority of Ukraine’s military hardware, largely Soviet era left overs with a smattering of low quality western equipment, lies burning across the Ukrainian steppe. The US and NATO have been scrounging around the former Warsaw Pact countries buying up ex-Soviet hardware and shipping it to Ukraine. No sooner is it unloaded that the Russians drop a missile on it, converting it once again into scrap metal. It is doubtful whether any of this material - before being blown to pieces - was better than scrap. It certainly could never have turned the tide of battle.

So, eastern Europe is being stripped of its Soviet era equipment. Soon that cupboard will be bare.

Western nations too are rushing supplies to Ukraine. Even far off Australia shipped over a handful of Bushmaster armored cars (above). Britain has sent its own armored cars. The US is shipping in Stinger missiles, howitzer systems, counter-battery radar and much else besides. The Americans have seemingly learned nothing from their experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. Advanced weapons systems (and calling American weapons systems advanced is an abuse of the term) is meaningless if the soldiers who will use them are:

a) untrained (or inadequately trained), and:

b) unmotivated.

None of this western materiel will have any effect on the outcome of the war, except to make it longer. As soon as these weapons arrive in Ukraine they will be destroyed. It’s madness not to see this, but then, sanity has not be a characteristic of the US political class for some time.

Commentators in the US have noted that such is the rate of consumption of western weapons in Ukraine, that NATO’s ‘arsenal of democracy’ is seriously depleted. To deal with the threat of Russia, a massive rearmament program is going to be required. Who builds arms in the west? Claustewicz observed that war is politics by other means. The arms dealers need to syphon more government money, so the administration stirs up a war and then burns though the stockpiles of its so-called ‘allies’, before forcing them to buy its overpriced but largely ineffective weapons. It’s called a scam. They barely even hide it these days. Joe Biden says the US will give Ukraine $33B in aid. Sure. I’d warrant not even a tenth of that will reach Ukraine. It will be laundered away in exchange for scrap.

However, these dreams of a huge windfall in military contracts from a cowed Europe, are, like all the plans of these idiots, fantasies. In 2018 an assessment of the US’ military industrial capacity carried out for President Trump highlighted that US supply chains and technical know how was lacking in almost every field. It was admitted that the US had outsourced critical high tech components for its missile systems and aircraft to China - the other major power it is currently waging a trade war against. Many companies the US military had relied upon had gone out of business and no suitable substitute was on the horizon. A subsequent report for President Biden brushes these concerns aside. When faced with stark reality - double down on the narrative!

The US and western nations seem entirely bereft of even basic common sense. The German chancellor, the British prime minister, the Polish prime minister and the US president have basically declared war on Russia. Open declarations of war. The Russians have calmly pointed out the consequences of these declarations. Western leaders seem to think the Russians are bluffing. The Russians don’t bluff. Has no one read any history?