McMurtry, J. (2003, April). Understanding the U.S. war state. Science for Peace. http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MCM305A.html
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Deep DIve | The US War State Formula
Critique | Critiquing the US War State Essay
Debate | What Really Drove the 2003 Iraq Invasion
Video Explainer | The U.S. War State
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Executive Summary
Historical Precedents for Aggressive War
The U.S. possesses a long-standing tradition of misleading its citizens with false pretexts to justify aggressive wars. This history traces back to the destruction of first peoples, the forcible seizure of territories from Mexico in the 1840s, and unilateral wars initiated against the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico in 1898. Today, guided by the Project for the New American Century, the corporate war party has capitalized on the September 11 attacks to secure a “blank-cheque” for attacking third-world nations to occupy their lands and control their resources.
The Invasion of Iraq and International Law
The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq is explicitly characterized as a supreme international war crime that violates Principles 1, 2, and 6(a)1 of the Nuremberg Charter and Article 54 of the Geneva Convention. While the Bush administration cited Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and violations of U.N. resolutions as justification for war, the text notes that these weapons were originally sold to Iraq at a profit by the U.S. and its allies, and that the U.S. military partner, Israel, has violated significantly more U.N. resolutions with total impunity. The true objective of the occupation is the forced takeover of Iraq’s publicly owned, high-quality oil reserves, effectively repudiating market relations to seize valuable goods through armed force.
Media Complicity and the Projection of Guilt
The U.S. security state effectively projects its own violent policies onto its designated enemies, loudly condemning actions — such as developing weapons of mass destruction or violating international law — that it is simultaneously planning or executing itself. This deception is facilitated by a “lapdog press” and corporate media that refuse to name the U.S. invasion as a war crime or report on the lack of actual biological or chemical weapons in Iraq. Instead, the media sanitizes the aggression through euphemisms, acts as a cheerleader for high-tech assault instruments, and presents the invasion as an inevitable “ordinance of destiny”.
The Ruling Group-Mind and American Fundamentalism
The ideology driving this continuous war state operates like a religious fundamentalism where “America is God”. This “ruling group-mind” acts as an invisible prison that prevents the public and political classes from questioning U.S. actions, and it is governed by five core presuppositions:
- The U.S. national security state is synonymous with America, meaning citizens cannot distinguish the country they love from the “criminal gang institutions” of the Pentagon and CIA.
- America is the ultimate source of freedom and goodness, making any challenge to U.S. actions a heresy against freedom.
- America is always right in any conflict with other nations or social forces, regardless of disproving facts.
- Any nation or force that opposes the U.S. is inherently evil.
- Enemies of world freedom must be attacked by all means available, justifying preemptive armed force before a real threat even materializes.
Historical and Contemporary U.S. Military Interventions and Pretexts
Scroll to the right to see right columns| Conflict or Territory | Year | U.S. Leadership | Stated Pretext | Alternative Motivation (Inferred) | International Law Status | Humanitarian Impact Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iraq | 2003 | George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz | Weapons of mass destruction; violation of U.N. resolutions; liberation of Iraqi citizens | Forced takeover of publicly owned oil reserves; protection of the U.S. dollar against Euro conversion; global armed domination | War crime under Nuremberg Charter Principles 1, 2, 6(a); violation of Geneva Convention Article 54 | Mass infectious disease, child dysentery, and birth mutilation via bombing of civilian infrastructure; over 500,000 children dead since first war |
| Afghanistan | 2001 | George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld | 9-11 plane attacks / War on Terror | Occupation of the country and control of resources under the Project for the New American Century | Violation of international law and market relations; resembles fascism | Mass destruction of a poor society; armed state project resembling fascism |
| Philippines, Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico | 1898 | William McKinley era | Self-defence (sinking of the U.S.S. Maine) | Aggression and occupation facilitated by media-driven war fever and hysteria | Unilaterally provoked war of aggression and occupation | Seizure of territories from their peoples following media-whipped public hysteria |
| Vietnam | 1964 | Not in source | Gulf of Tonkin attack | Military attack on another people's territory justified by fabricated evidence | Aggressive war based on fabricated evidence | Full-scale military attack on the population and territory |
| Nicaragua | 1980s | Ronald Reagan era | Not in source | Opposition to social forces contrary to U.S. interests | Convicted by the International Court for war criminal actions; $\$13.2$ billion damages unpaid | Subject to war criminal actions as determined by the International Court |
| Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, California | 1849 | General Zachary Taylor | Manifest Destiny | Territorial expansion and resource control | Unilateral seizure of state territories | Forcible seizure of land from existing populations |
| Texas | 1845 | General Zachary Taylor, James Polk | Avenging American blood | Anglo-British business strategy to impose free trade; expansion of slave-owning interests | Unilateral invasion based on false pretext | Forcible seizure of land from Mexican farmers and indigenous peoples |
| North America (Indigenous Territories) | Pre-1845 | U.S. Government/Settlers | Progress and spreading civilisation | Destroying the lives and cultures of first peoples to establish the United States | Genocide (concept introduced later) | Destruction of the lives and cultures of approximately 25 million first peoples |
