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Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 15:24:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Andre Gunder Frank
Subject: political economic chronology of US wars
A POLITICAL ECONOMIC CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN WAR-MAKING
by Andre Gunder Frank
We may begin with an empirical observation: In every US economic recession since World War
II, the US government, no matter who it was, has responded with military escalation,
intervention and or war, and under cover and pretext thereof with increased military
expenditures or 'military keynesianism."
1949-50 Rearmament and Korean War
1953-4 Guatemala
1958 Lebanon
1961 Cuba
1965 Santo Domingo, Vietnam
1967-8 Vietnam
1970 Vietnam, Cambodia
1973-5 Vietnam
1979-82 Afghanistan, NATO strengthening, Star Wars
1989-92 Panama, Iraq
1999-02 Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq
The pretext has changed from one time to another, from fighting communism to the evil
empire, then drug terrorism in Panama and international law in Iraq, for human rights in
Yugoslavia, against all terrorism and for civilization in Afghanistan, and some
ancialliary reasons plus freedom." Never mind that fighting communism was itself a
cover for war against the Third World and after its defeat the War against Iraq was the
beginning of the Third World War started by Bush father -- see A.G.Frank analysis in the
New World Order section of his web-page at csf.colorado.edu/agfrank/ -- and now escalated
by Bush son.
No matter that human rights are used to trample on them and international law to abolish
it in the NATO War against Yugoslavia. Belie the ironical oxymoron of saving civilization
by destroying it to save it like the villages in Vietnam." Simply abolish centuries
of internatinal law and emasculate its institutions that are among its most precious
achievements, which were created to prevent people from wantonly killing each other. What
has been present but hardly ever mentioned in each case is the underlying economic reason,
which emerges by simply noting the above chronology of economic recession each time
leading to political militarization.
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ANDRE GUNDER FRANK
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