U.S. foreign policy makers wanted enemies, now they have them.

 TRASH TALK FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES CAN LEAD TO DISASTER

MAY BE TOO LATE TO REVERSE WHAT HAS BEEN CREATED

It is no secret that creating enemies has its political advantages. Politician realize that fear and greed are the two most effective emotions to motivate voters. It may be effective when the enemies are Saddam Hussein and Muammar Kaddafi, the risk is minimum and creates public support for war and entices the military industries to give their support and donations. War is always lucrative for select constituents and war time presidents are usually rewarded with re-election.

We have witnessed over 20 years of the demonization of everything Russian. The Russians were labeled as responsible for everything that could be blamed on them. They were the evil ones and needed to be controlled and suppressed. They went as far to actually believing that a war with Russia with a eastern European proxy would cause the decline of Russia and would be a quick positive event for the U.S. and its allies. It was again a colossal misjudgment that may actually lead to WW3 or the destruction of Ukraine and the last hurrah of NATO. It may also trigger the economic decline of the collective west and the divide between the west and Russia will likely last for decades. Remember, up until this crisis, Russia had a small military, a defense budget estimated to be less than $70 billion, compared to our budget of $880. billion. Does anyone ever ask where did all the money go, that Russia is able to out produce the collective west in munitions? Now, Russia is preparing and readying for an all out war with NATO, a war that NATO is not prepared to fight.

Then there is China, a fast growing economy, created by the greed of the west to buy cheap products and sell them with huge profits to the domestic population. China engaged in semi-capitalist free enterprise to become the manufacturing center of the world. All this, while the west allowed their basic industries to decline in favor of huge profits. Companies were further enticed by unfavorable regulations, taxes and a uncooperative work force. It became much easier and less risky to produce in China.

Then it finally dawned on U.S. politicians that China was going to surpass the United States in economic growth and become a very wealthy country with the ability to challenge the U.S. economically and politically. While China may have had a military budget of $200 billion compared to the U.S. budget of $880. billion. They were not a military threat to anyone. They were primarily interested in doing more business by making deals to insure materials and expanding markets. They were focused on bringing the rest of their 1 Trillion population into a modern lifestyle.

So It became the policy of the U.S. policy makers that they believed they could intimidate China by demonizing them and threatening them with sanctions and economic hardship and even military threats. It is another grave miscalculation that it seems they may want to walk back, but it may already be too late.

We have seen U.S. generals predict we will be at war with China by 2025. We have been in the process of leasing and gaining access to bases all over the pacific. The excuse is we are readying to protect the shipping lanes. Shipping lanes carrying primarily Chinese goods to the U.S.?  Did they really believe that they could intimidate China, a country with a history and long memory of their dealings with European and western powers.

Now they are shocked when they hear that the Chinese president is telling his country to prepare for war. To put the Chinese industrial behemoth on a war footing and begin producing weapons instead of consumer goods. A production war that the U.S. and the west cannot compete with, as we are now beginning to realize.

We are witnessing a series of delusional and disastrous decisions based on Hubris and ignorance. No diplomacy, no understanding of the history of their competitors and a gross miscalculation of the ability of these competitors to respond to their provocations. It is doubtful that this foreign policy disaster can be reversed. We are about to see changes in the world not seen since WW2.