CARTOON: THE #1 WORLD TERRORIST -- How U.S. Weapons Industry Exports Death & Terror Around The World
US-made weapons kill innocent people, yet nobody holds companies remotely responsible for selling weapons to brutally oppressive regimes, let alone for their role in fomenting unrest.
Photo and cartoon by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink
Truly, the evidence is spread across the globe, this is who and what we are — the biggest terrorist operation on the planet.
By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (3/24/25)
Fellow Substack writer Tom Balistrieri recently sent me a link to the Harvard Law School’s Systemic Justice Journal article below, detailing the role of the United States weapons industry and government — the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) — as (in my words) essentially, the world’s Number 1 terrorist state.
As you read this, American bombs, rockets, bullets and drones, supplemented by American intelligence and endless taxpayer money, diplomatic lies and Mafiaesque-like intimidation are responsible for slaughtering innocent babies, toddlers and children in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Ukraine. We happily facilitate the wholesale destruction of hospitals, refugee centers, apartment buildings, schools and universities, supply trucks, ambulances and even tent camps of wounded and traumatized refugees.
We are such brave and noble warriors!
The American-originated, armed and funded terrorist organization — and frequent American ally and proxy terror force — Al-Qaeda, is now murdering and beheading thousands, including whole families, of Christians, Alawites and Sunni Muslims in Syria. Through the use of such proxy forces in Syria, Nazi units in Ukraine and the fascist Zionist Israeli ‘Defense’ Force, the US is the primary instigator, armorer, funder and benefactor of terrorism around the planet.
From Vietnam to Argentina, Central America and Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan and far, far beyond, our military industry and forces have been, in the words of Gen. Smedley Butler, “gangsters for capitalism.”
And our weapons manufacturers rake in the rank, bloody profit from it all.
We like to pontificate on dusty, desiccated, empty platitudes of American ‘freedom and liberty’ as we prop up dictators and criminal gangs, murder innocents abroad and now send innocents off to disappear into brutal concentration and torture camps in El Salvador and Guantanamo without due process, while gutting free speech at home.
Even most supposed political opponents to our state terrorism eventually abandon their principles and souls to the Western terror empire in exchange for wealth and influence. As an example, watch Trump’s Director of National Intelligence — and one-time lefty hero — Tulsi Gabbard’s grotesque transformation on our never-ending, decades-long orgasmic murder of innocents in Yemen.
If you have any illusion that those in positions of power, speaking from their platforms of unearned wealth and inappropriate influence will ever really challenge the American Terror Empire, check the video clip below of Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Truly, the evidence is spread across the globe, this is who and what we are — the biggest terrorist operation on the planet.
‘Gangsters Of Capitalism’ Review: Was Smedley Butler The Embodiment Of American Imperialism? — War is a racket, they say. Then by extension, what about capitalism? In his latest work, Gangsters of Capitalism, journalist Jonathan M. Katz delves deep into the life of America’s Maverick Marine, Smedley Butler, who spent more than three decades in armed service for his country, and who Katz identifies as the embodiment of the first four decades of American imperialism. … Link to story
The Weapons Industry Kills: How U.S. Corporations Export Death Around the World
[Editor’s Note: One has to wonder if this article from 2021 could see publication at Harvard University today. — Mark Taylor]
By Andie Forsee
Systemic Justice Journal / Harvard Law School (2021)
Abstract: The United States is the world’s largest weapons exporter, supplying weapons to countries around the globe, including many accused of using the weapons to perpetrate war crimes and human rights violations. These weapons are not just a driver of economic growth, as the corporations hawking them claim. They are a deeply harmful outgrowth of the total capture of the U.S. regulatory system by corporations. U.S.- made weapons kill innocent people, yet nobody holds companies remotely responsible for selling weapons to brutally oppressive regimes, let alone for their role in fomenting unrest.
This paper addresses the gaps that allow corporations to deny responsibility for harms caused by their weapons. In the final section, I propose some solutions to hold corporations accountable, or at least blunt some of their influence.
INTRODUCTION
On September 4, 2018, a Saudi coalition airstrike hit a school bus full of kids on a field trip as it sat in the middle of a busy marketplace in Dahyan, Yemen. At least 34 people were killed in the attack, including 25 children and 4 teachers on the bus.1 The parents of some victims were unable to recover any remains because the blast was so forceful.2 An eight-year-old survivor of the attack recalled seeing his friends die and the psychological toll it has had on him: “I don’t want to go anywhere near a bus. I hate buses, I hate school and I can’t sleep. I see my friends in my dreams begging me to rescue them.”3 Bomb remnants found at the site of the attack correspond to a Mk 82 bomb manufactured in Texas by General Dynamics, and fitted with the GBU-12 Paveway II laser guidance system, manufactured and sold by Lockheed Martin. …
The United States is the largest exporter of weapons in the world, driving a booming industry. The traditional story the U.S. government tells on behalf of manufacturers and arms dealers is that everyone else having more weapons will make the United States safer. So U.S. corporations support war and arm oppressive regimes around the globe in the name of economic strength. They sell through the government to avoid even a whisper of responsibility. Public and private investment in weapons companies only deepens the hold they have on the American public.
The grip weapons companies have on government and foreign policy will not easily be loosened. There are strategies, however, employing divestment, ethics rules, or international law that can shift the balance of power and begin to lessen the devastation wrought by U.S. weapons. Still, true change may prove more elusive without a systemic overhaul of the special rights the U.S. grants to corporations.
DIRECT ATTACK: Israeli-US Zionist Billlionaire Miriam Adelson’s Campaign To Destroy Your Right Of Free Speech
The Electronic Intifada (3/23/25)
As the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on dissent, we will talk to journalist and researcher Eli Clifton about the role of pro-Israel mega-donor Miriam Adelson in the arrest of Columbia University student leader Mahmoud Khalil.
This is a segment from The Electronic Intifada's livestream on day 531 of the Gaza genocide. Ali Abunimah, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Jon Elmer and Asa Winstanley were joined by human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, journalist and researcher Eli Clifton and Abubaker Abed live from the Gaza Strip. You can watch the full show here: https://youtube.com/live/kAx1nEUvnoA
28-minute video
Watch The Film The Israel Lobby Didn’t Want You To See — The Electronic Intifada has obtained a complete copy of The Lobby – USA, a four-part undercover investigation by Al Jazeera into Israel’s covert influence campaign in the United States. We are releasing the leaked film simultaneously with France’s Orient XXI and Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar, which have respectively subtitled the episodes in French and Arabic. The film was made by Al Jazeera during 2016 and was completed in October 2017. But it was censored after Qatar, the gas-rich Gulf emirate that funds Al Jazeera, came under intense Israel lobby pressure not to air the film. … Link to story and video
Once A Tool Of The Oligarchy, Always A Tool: Bernie Sanders Sputters & Walks Away From Interview Question
[Editor’s Note: In the midst of the collapse of the nation into brutal fascism and ongoing genocide, if you had any hope — delusion — that Bernie Sanders would lead a movement for a real challenge to the Democratic Party oligarchy, fuhgeddaboudit. When asked Sunday a perfectly logical and reasonable question about a possible challenge to Senate ‘Mummy’ Chuck Schumer, Sanders got all entitled and nasty. Fascists never rise to power without the acquiescence and even active assistance of liberals. That will be Sander’s legacy. Once again, makes me wonder what the Deep State has on him. — Mark Taylor]
By Jazmin Tolliver
HuffPost (3/23/35)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) abruptly tried to ditch an interview with ABC News after he was asked Sunday if he thinks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) could be a possible contender for the U.S. Senate.
“Right now, we have, as I said, just a whole lot of people in the Congress. OK, Jonathan, thanks,” Sanders, 83, replied to political journalist Jonathan Karl, as he quickly rose from his seat to end the interview.
“You want to do nonsense, do nonsense,” Sanders added as he stood off camera. “I don’t want to talk about inside the Beltway stuff.” …
Link to story and 2-minute video
“For the Fascist, everything is the State, and nothing human or spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the State. In this sense Fascism is totalitarian.”
— Benito Mussolini
EXCLUSIVE: Banned Yale Scholar Speaks Out After AI-Generated Accusations Of Terror Ties
Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi tells Drop Site: "This is about making sure that no one dares to challenge the narratives in corporate media and Western academia."
By Jeremy Scahill
Drop Site News (3/14/25)
The Trump administration has intensified its war on free speech and due process with the kidnapping of Columbia university graduate and U.S. legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil. He has not been charged with any crime and the administration has admitted that its attempts to deport Khalil have nothing to do with criminal charges, but rather his constitutionally protected speech. Khalil’s detention is a very serious attack on the basic liberties defined in the U.S. Constitution. It’s also part of a broader pattern in which members of the Trump administration run around the world lecturing on respect for free speech—but, when it comes to speech spoken inside the US that is critical of Israel and its genocidal war against Palestinians, they consider it activity that warrants deportation.
Khalil’s case will set precedent on these issues; Trump is promising that Mahmoud Khalil’s case is the first of many more to come targeting green card holders and other immigrants, and Khalil’s lawyers are already filing multiple lawsuits and seeking to stop his deportation.
Columbia University has been in the spotlight for bending over backwards to do the bidding of Trump. But the White House is also threatening to cancel funding to colleges and universities that do not embrace these violations of the First Amendment and do not adopt extraordinary measures that seek to ban all forms of opposition to Israel’s policies or the ideology of Zionism. …
Link to story and 47-minute interview
YOU COULD BE NEXT: Trump Wants Immigrants On U.S. Soil To Hand Over Social Media Accounts To Apply for Citizenship
By Matt Sledge
The Intercept (3/23/25)
President Donald Trump’s administration wants to force people in the U.S. applying for green cards or citizenship to fork over their social media handles, in a move with far-reaching implications as the government cracks down on pro-Palestine activists.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, which oversees naturalization and immigration, earlier this month proposed requesting social media names from people in the U.S. who apply for asylum, permanent residency, or naturalization, expanding a policy that used to only target people living abroad applying for visas.
The proposal references Trump’s day-one executive order laying the groundwork for a new Muslim travel ban, which also asked federal agencies to identify immigrants in the U.S. who hold “hostile attitudes” toward the government.
The shift would affect an estimated 3.5 million people per year — some of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades.
In light of Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil’s ongoing detention, one official from a Muslim civil rights group said the new policy poses special danger for critics of Israel and the Trump administration.
“This policy would disparately impact Muslim and Arab applicants seeking U.S. citizenship that have voiced support for Palestinian human rights,” said Robert McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Collecting the social media identifiers of any potential green card applicants or citizens is the means to silencing their lawful speech.” …
“Anybody who is within the bounds of the United States has First Amendment rights. The Constitution applies whether you are somebody who is a citizen or somebody who is a green card holder who is here in the United States. I think that this administration is trying to chip away at that notion, but that is very much what First Amendment jurisprudence has been under the courts.”
Liberalism Surrender To Authoritarianism
Art by Mr. Fish
“The law in authoritarian states protects the criminality of the powerful. It revokes due process, basic freedoms and the rights of citizenship. It is an instrument of repression. It is a very small step from the stripping of rights from a legal resident holding a green card to the stripping of rights of any citizen. This is what is coming. …
“…None of the liberal institutions, including the universities, the commercial media and the Democratic Party, will defend us. They will remain supine, hypocritically betray their supposed principles and commitment to democracy or willingly transform themselves into apologists for the regime. The purges and silencing of our most courageous and accomplished intellectuals, writers, artists and journalists — begun before Trump’s return to the White House — is being expedited.
“Resistance will be left to us. Enemies of the state.”
— Chris Hedges, Surrendering to Authoritarianism
Lots of good articles in there, Mark. Thanks.
My only response continues to be … I’m horrified, stupefied and embarrassed. To be an American is to be a murderer now. I have no interest nor energy to complete my taxes. I will not fund another death. Another bullet. Another golf game.