by Harley Schlanger, LaRouche Organization:
Introduction
In a display of corruption and delusion, the war hawks in the U.S. political/corporate Establishment finally pushed through legislation to continue funding wars designed to protect the collapsing Unipolar Order. House Speaker Mike Johnson demonstrated both cowardice and opportunism, in violating the pledge he made to those who backed his candidacy that there would be no funds to Ukraine unless funds were allocated to shut down the flood of immigrants coming into the country. No bill to protect the border was passed.
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It was not just Biden Democrats who voted to send your tax dollars to fight the war against Russia in Ukraine and to back Israeli genocide against Palestinian civilians. More than 100 Republican Congressmen voted with Johnson, with the final vote being 311 to 112 for the $60+ billion for Ukraine. The vote for $26 billion to fund Israel was 366 to 58, with most of the “No” votes from Democrats, and the Taiwan/Indo-Pacific vote of $8 billion was 385 to 34 — meaning that the overall sentiment in the three votes was pro-war, with many Republicans backing Biden and the Military-Industrial-Financial Complex. So much for principled opposition!
The first of the following articles was written before the April 20 vote, the second after it occurred. Please feel free to share them, and participate in our International Peace Coalition. We must build a principled opposition to the Establishment war hawks and neo-liberals.
– Harley Schlanger, April 22, 2024
Instability, Political Turmoil Sweeping the U.S.
April 15 — As the 2024 presidential election campaign in the United States is underway, the Biden administration and leaders from both parties remain committed to supporting the likely losing side in two endless, costly and unpopular military conflicts, with the voters facing a rerun between two candidates whom polls show are widely disliked. It is therefore not surprising that the nation which is considered by its arrogant establishment to be the world’s “sole superpower”, the “indispensable nation”, is wracked by intense political turmoil with seven months to go before the election. It is not just the usual partisan brawls which are underway; there are deepening splits within both parties, driven by growing recognition that the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is lost, and that U.S. backing for Israel’s ethnic cleansing in Gaza makes America complicit in what jurists of the International Court of Justice have described as a plausible case of genocide.
The most immediate battle is over President Biden’s supplemental funding bill to back Ukraine, with $60+ billion in aid, and Israel, with $14+ billion, with smaller amounts to go to Taiwan and border protection at home. Republicans allied with former President Donald Trump have blocked the Ukraine funding, and are threatening to oust Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson if he backs Biden’s spending plans, which are supported by neocon war hawks in both parties. Supporters of the bill point to the collapse of Ukraine’s defenses, due to lack of manpower, weapons and money, as reason for the urgent call for action, arguing that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, he will continue to move westward against NATO countries. This point was made by Treasury Secretary Yellen, among other administration officials, who said on April 17, that failure to pass the funding bill “has been inexcusable — and detrimental to our national security.” Delaying passage, she added, only “strengthens Putin.”
Supporters of the $95 billion supplemental spending plan also pointed to the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13 as a compelling reason for pushing through the package for Israel — with no mention that the attack was provoked by Israel’s violation of international law with its April 1 deadly missile strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria.
The acrimony over war expenditures deepened this week, when Johnson dropped his previous hesitancy to back Biden’s plan, proposing to break it down into four separate bills, with full funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. This provoked leaders of the Trump “wing” of the party — which presumes to speak for the majority of Republican voters — to threaten to remove Johnson as Speaker, just as they did former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose ouster in October 2023, after ten months as Speaker, plunged the Congress into chaos. With Johnson now firmly supporting the Biden endless war policy, Democratic Party Congressional leaders have pledged to cross over party lines and vote for him to remain as Speaker if opponents in his own party move to oust him.
The unseen hand of the Military-Industrial-Financial Complex (MIFC) is controlling the debate, with defenders of Biden’s policies in government positions, think tanks and media, echoing the battle cry of the War Hawks committed to using war to sustain the U.S. position as the chief hegemon running a collapsing Unipolar Order. In announcing his turn away from the Trump-“Make America Great Again” (MAGA) isolationist opposition to funding Ukraine, Johnson used the support of Republicans for Israel as an end-run around Trump, who has repeated his defense of Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. Following an April 12 meeting with Trump in Florida, Johnson said Trump now supports his plan — though Trump limited his public comments to saying that he considers Johnson to be a “good man.”
United For Endless Wars
In announcing his plan, Johnson gave full support to the MIFC’s talking points. “We know the urgency in Ukraine and in Israel and we are going to stand by Israel…and make sure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t march through Europe.” In a brief statement from Biden, in which he gave his backing to Johnson’s plan, the President said, “We stand with our friends and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
This bipartisan unity for funding the permanent wars has provoked those with a principled opposition to the neocons. Representative Nehls, a Texas Republican Congressman, denounced Johnson’s shift on Ukraine funding, saying “Putin is not going into Poland.” In a gathering of party members on April 18, Rep. Thomas Massie confronted Johnson, asking him to resign. Massie is supporting Trump loyalist, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is threatening to act on a motion to remove Johnson as Speaker. In response to this threat, Democrats on the House Rules Committee, which voted to move ahead with a vote on April 20 on Johnson’s four bills, gave Johnson their unanimous support.
This unity flies in the face of the growing the growing opposition in the general population to U.S. support for both conflicts. Polls have found nearly three of four Republican voters oppose spending more on Ukraine, while there are burgeoning protests among Democrats against Biden’s support for Israel. Adding to the overall volatility within the electorate is the deepening concern that the wars may blow up into a full world war, with nuclear implications. The deadly missile attack by Israel against the Iranian consulate and the subsequent Iranian retaliation shows that the concern over World War III is real.
Johnson also alienated Trump loyalists when he pushed through the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was set to expire on April 19. Trump called on Republicans to “kill the bill.” Johnson broke a tie vote on a Republican amendment to end the use of warrantless wiretaps, voting in favor of the practice, continuing its use to allow spying on Americans for two more years. In opposing FISA’s reauthorization, Trump pointed out that the Obama intelligence community had used wireless warrants to bug his campaign, in search of non-existent evidence of Russian support for his candidacy, which was at the center of the “Russiagate” allegations which undermined his presidency.
“Christian” Fundamentalists Weigh In For War
In the midst of these legislative battles, Reverend John Hagee, the chair of Christians United for Israel, flew into Washington to spearhead a lobbying effort to support Israel. More than 250 evangelical leaders joined him in this “fly-in” to Washington, which included a meeting between Hagee and Johnson, who is a self-identified Christian fundamentalist. At a rally before his meeting with Johnson, Hagee said the Iranian missile attack on Israel is “prophetic”, citing his delusional explanation of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, which Hagee interprets as the foretelling of the Battle of Armageddon.
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