U.S. war state - TOWARDS LIFE-KNOWLEDGE

This document provides a critical analysis of the United States’ historical and contemporary foreign policy, focusing specifically on the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It argues that the U.S. operates as a “war state” that utilizes false pretexts to justify illegal, aggressive military interventions aimed at securing global resources, particularly oil. The author asserts that this behavior is enabled by a compliant corporate media and a “ruling group-mind” within the American public and political class, which treats the U.S. national security apparatus as infallible and inherently good. Ultimately, the text condemns U.S. actions as supreme war crimes that systematically violate international law, the Nuremberg Charter, and the United Nations Security Council’s authority.

This article by John McMurtry critically examines the structural logic and systemic drivers underpinning U.S. foreign policy in the early 21st century, focusing on the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as case studies of an entrenched “war state.” McMurtry argues that U.S. military interventions are not isolated historical anomalies but continuations of a deep-rooted political tradition based on imperial expansion, resource control, and the projection of power through manufactured consent. He analyzes the mechanisms of deception — including false pretexts, media complicity, and the projection of U.S. actions onto designated “enemies” — that normalize war as a policy tool while bypassing international law and democratic accountability. Through a framework of “ruling group-mind” presuppositions, McMurtry reveals how American national security discourse equates U.S. interests with global freedom and morality, rendering its actions self-justifying and unquestionable. This study situates U.S. militarism within broader patterns of corporate-state convergence, resource domination (particularly oil), and the erosion of civil commons globally, arguing that without systemic exposure and reform, the “war state” risks becoming a normalized foundation of international relations.