Editorial:
Massive new American arms expenditure

While the world was enjoying the Christmas and New Year festivities, the 
US Government announced a massive increase in military expenditure to be 
implemented over the next five years. According to newspaper reports at the 
beginning of January an additional $A19.6 billion is to be spent in the 
next financial year. The total increase over five years is to be over $A180 
billion. It's the biggest increase since the end of the Cold War say the 
newspaper articles.

This sum, which is in addition to the already huge American arms 
expenditure, will be used to buy new jet fighters, attack helicopters and 
warships as well as funding an increase in the pay of service personnel. 

Where is this money to come from? It's the usual story. Other programs are 
to be cut back and although no details are presented in the newspaper 
reports it is certain that it will come from  education, health services 
and existing welfare programs in the main.

The US continues to upgrade its nuclear weapons and keep them in readiness 
while demanding that other countries sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty. Their intention is to retain nuclear superiority as their ultimate 
weapon to force all other countries to comply.

This huge increase in military expenditure is taking place despite the 
weakened position of the former Soviet Union. There is no nation which can 
conceivably challenge US military power and no-one is going to attack the 
United States. So why this huge increase in military expenditure at this 
time? 

The US is already waging war on a number of fronts — militarily  against 
Iraq and in the Balkans, economically against Iran, Libya, Cuba, India, 
Pakistan and a number of other countries and politically against all 
countries which do not bow down to American demands.

Their threats and intimidation are not limited to their supposed enemies 
but also against their friends. The US has made threats of imposing 
retaliatory sanctions against the European Union because it intends to buy 
bananas from South American countries rather than from the Caribbean island 
states where American companies are the main producers.

Their "free" trade and "free" market policies are having disastrous effects 
on other countries while making the financial institutions and big 
corporations richer and more powerful than ever before.

They try and tell us that their aim is to advance "democracy" and that 
their policies will bring benefits to everyone. But for others, there is a 
rapid increase in poverty and unemployment and far from the touted 
American-style "democracy" bringing freedom to the people it is denying any 
real involvement of the ordinary people who want to have a say and have 
real power over their lives.

These are the political aims that the beefed-up US military is intended to 
serve. 

At the same time military expenditure has an enormous economic spin-off for 
the big American arms manufacturers. Government contracts for weapons are 
often open-ended. Payment by the American taxpayers is guaranteed and the 
profits are astronomical. More than ever before in history, the big 
corporations are the backers and promoters of wars. Peace and disarmament 
for them is a nightmare. 

The United States ruling class has become the main enemy facing the 
people's of the world. They intend to dominate all countries without 
exception.

Earlier this century Hitler's Germany advanced the slogan "Deutschland Uber 
Alles" meaning, "Germany Over All". The US leaders are not so crude as to 
say so outright but their intentions are the same.

Fortunately, the ordinary people of the world are expressing opposition to 
war and to the domination of their countries by others. It was this force 
and the outcry of the world's people that has, for example, somewhat 
restrained the US and British Governments in their hell-bent wish to start 
a new war in Iraq and to intervene more openly in Yugoslavia over Kosovo.

However, at this stage the ruling elites in the major capitalist countries 
do not intend to abandon the rich and powerful corporations and their 
objective of world domination. It will be up to the people of all the 
countries to finally put these monsters out of business.