The Coming Militarization of the Arctic

On Friday Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel rolled out the latest expansion of U.S. militarism, this time in the Arctic which is sure to be a 'plum' duty assignment for military personnel whose job is bad enough without having to deal with freezing their asses off. While there may be a good amount of ideological squabbling regarding climate change as it is yet another of the idiotic political footballs that get kicked around in this country it does in fact exist. Because as we now see with this news the energy cartels and the U.S. Military are planning for it and have been for years now, big money does not deny pertinent information when there are profits to be reaped and new territories to be exploited. There are untold billions of dollars of oil wealth in the Arctic as the ice continues to melt facilitating exploration and Uncle Sam fully intends to plant Old Glory in the snow. 

Once again it is perfectly evident where our national priorities lie under the current leadership and the hegemonic era of full spectrum dominance. Our national credit card has been maxed out paying for the expenditures necessary to fund the warfare state that has eviscerated the country. Our streets are filled with the impoverished victims of a system on the verge of collapse, our infrastructure is obsolete and crumbling and our economy is a fraud, only kept afloat by the 85 billion dollar a month heroin fix of free gambling money from the Federal Reserve. There is always money for increased military endeavors, costly and unnecessary weapons systems and the armies of overpaid contractors that feed on it all like blood-sucking vampires.

Such a move was inevitable, not only for the obvious monetary value to big U.S. business but to offset Russia which has already announced the reopening of a military installation in the Arctic with President Vladimir Putin making no secret of the importance to Russian economic interests. So we now once again have another hot area of potential exploitation by a war-crazed establishment and as global geopolitics are currently in an area of flux due to the breakthrough deal with Iran on the sanctions/nuclear program over the weekend and the coming blitzkrieg from the obvious saboteurs whose lives are dedicated to attacking Tehran. Depending on the ability of the warmongers and a large number of treacherous rats of dubious loyalty in congress to sink the deal by pushing for stronger sanctions the region could soon end up being another front of what would be World War III. Oh, and China also has an eye on an increased presence in the region.

While Mr.  Hagel may now be talking about an avoidance of "conflict" as the rush to the riches ensues he also continues to talk the talk of the new American century: "We will remain prepared to detect, deter, prevent and defeat threats to our homeland and we will continue to exercise U.S. sovereignty in and around Alaska". It's always that "Homeland" reference that is so truly offensive and illustrative that what was once theoretically a free country can never be again as long as the invocations of the ever present and always vague "threats" are a part of the establishment lexicon.  The same type of rhetoric was used to justify the expansion of the U.S. military into the country itself despite the Posse Comitatus Act with NORTHCOM a few years ago with the purpose of providing actual military support to paramilitary police and domestic surveillance.

While the Arctic expansion of the military mission should be no surprise to anyone who pays attention it is notable and relevant as the formal pronouncement from the Secretary of Defense on Friday in Nova Scotia is newsworthy although you won't read much about it in the corrupt state-corporate media. The official Arctic strategy paper can be found here in .pdf format.