28 August 2015. PenzaNews. The policy of the American military-industrial lobby heavily supported by the media and the political establishment sparks new conflicts worldwide and requires constant monitoring from the international community that must prevent any attempts to further escalate the tensions, says Sabib Siddiqi, pro-peace and human rights activist, author of several books and publications on international politics, world conflicts and crises, in his article titled “War and its profiteers.”

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Spilling blood was a regular part of human life until the middle of the 20th century when the world learned of the horrors of the Second World War, he recalls.

“The United Nations was founded in 1945 with the sole objective of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and bringing peace in our world. The other objectives are to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained,” the author points out.

However, from his point of view, certain international powers have already forgotten the lessons of the past and are abusing their power, sparking new armed conflicts.

According to the rights activist, the US-USSR arms race after the defeat of the Nazi Germany created the necessary conditions for a symbiosis between the US military industry and armed forces that needed a quick upgrade.

By the 1960s, the activist argues, they had been developing at such a threatening pace that the US President Dwight Eisenhower dedicated his final presidential speech to this issue.

“On January 17, 1961, President Eisenhower gave the nation a dire warning about what he described as a threat to democratic government. He called it the military-industrial complex, a formidable union of defense contractors and the armed forces. Eisenhower was no ordinary man. He was a retired five-star Army general, the man who led the allies on the D-Day. He made the remarks in his farewell speech from the White House after completing two terms in office. It was just days before the new president, John F. Kennedy, would be sworn in,” Habib Siddiqi remarks.

In his opinion, Dwight Eisenhower’s words left a great mark on the opinion of the public in the 60s and became an informal motto of the pro-peace movement.

“[He] was worried about the costs of an arms race with the Soviet Union, and the resources it would take from other areas — such as building hospitals and schools. Eisenhower also spoke as someone who had seen the horror and lingering sadness of war, saying that ‘we must learn how to compose differences not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose’,” the author states.

But by the end of the 20th century and the beginnind of the 21st, the prophetic warnings of the US President became a reality, he points out.

“It is often difficult to separate such groups from the state authorities where they function. By tying their knots with those in power, these profiteers of war have been able to influence governments to the extent that it is seen as a win-win proposition for not only the makers and merchants of weapons, but also the very government under whose authority they operate. It is an industry that employs people at various levels, thereby creating job markets for locals, which is always good for politicians that are mindful of the impact of economics on the general population. The heavier the purse or the wallet of ordinary Janes and Joes, the more stable the government or higher the popularity rating of the political leader where people are well fed,” the expert reminds.

From his point of view, many influential persons ranging from monarchs to rebels to elected politicians have been assisting the war industry throughout the human history, lured by the money, and the US military lobby continued this trend.

“[Dwight Eisenhower] also said, ‘The jet plane that roars overhead costs three quarters of a million dollars. That’s more than a man will make in his lifetime. What world can afford this kind of thing for long?’ What was merely a quarter million dollars in his time now costs close to quarter of a billion, a thousand fold increase in price tag,” the pro-peace activist writes.

“Note: The B-2 Spirit costs $2.4 billion. It is hard to detect via infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual or radar signals. This stealth capability makes it able to attack enemy targets with less fear of retaliation. The B-2 bomber was so costly that Congress cut its initial 1987 purchase order from 132 to 21,” the author continues.

From his point of view, the merciless cynicism of the US military-industrial lobby that provokes bloodshed worldwide for its profit is particularly apparent in the Middle East where great money are spent on army needs instead of social issues.

“Military spending in the Middle East reached almost $200 billion in 2014, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks arms sales. That represents a jump of 57% since 2005. Some of the largest increases have been among U.S. allies buying big-ticket items from American weapons makers. That includes Iraq and Saudi Arabia ($90 billion in U.S. weapons deals from October 2010 to October 2014), which, by the way, haven’t fared so well against smaller, less well-armed opponents. Those countries have seen increases in their arms purchases of 286% and 112%, respectively, since 2005,” Habib Siddiqi elaborates.

He also thinks that the aggressive reaction of many US officials after the success of the Iran nuclear program talks on July 14, 2015, shows the degree of interconnection between the military lobby and the US policy.

“They are breathing fire. Hostility towards Iran is rampant and the op-ed pages are ablaze with ‘existential threat’ from this country against ‘poor’ Israel, which, by the way, is the 4th largest military power in our time. Apparently, the peace deal with Iran will not help their cause of war, which could have otherwise brought tens of billions of dollars into their coffers. Remember Judith Miller of the New York Times who epitomized yellow journalism by propagating lies about the existence of the never-to-be-found WMDs in Iraq? Today’s war party needs another Judith Miller for preparing the case against Iran,” the human rights activist writes.

In his opinion, the struggle against the unchecked expansion of the military-industrial complex and the aggressive media pressure will require a strong political will and a general understanding that the new wars must not exist.

“Otherwise, we shall never be able to get rid of the curse of perennial war that threatens not only our generation but also our posterity,” the author thinks.