Mom, Is it War Yet?

[polly7]

Part 1: The Trojan War

by T.P. Wilkinson / September 1st, 2015

After combined US and UK forces defeated the Greek anti-fascists, destroying much of the country and killing thousands in the resulting civil war, Greece, together with Turkey, were sucked into the NATO vortex (1952). This helped the Greek regime to top the league tables in European military expenditure as a proportion of GDP—but somehow could not prevent it from warring with Turkey over the island of Cyprus.6 As in other European dictatorships belonging to NATO, Anglo-American imperial interests have not only taken precedence over local popular will they have also assured that military budgets remain sacrosanct—even after those dictatorships yielded to parliamentary government.

It is within this context that Greek fiscal policy has to be understood. No military budget can ever be financed without either a repressive tax system or a thoroughly corrupt state bureaucracy. “Corrupt” means that the inherently corrupt system of military appropriations and expenditure has to be controlled by those who dominate the global weapons market: international weapons manufacturers and banks.

In 1981 the people of Greece were again permitted to elect a parliamentary government. However, this did not end the indebtedness incurred by over thirty years of military domination, not to mention the debt forced upon Greece under Nazi occupation (money extorted by Germany). It did not end the de facto privilege of the military-industrial-banking complex in Greece which even when the most recent debt crisis arose was able to force the purchase of two German submarines.

Under these “third world” conditions, Greece was admitted to the EU and then into the Euro Zone. Only wilful ignorance and/or deceit could have persuaded the officials in Brussels that Greece met the financial and fiscal criteria for admission to the Euro Zone—corrupt reporting to corrupt Eurostat notwithstanding.

A long, thought provoking essay. Greece is just one of many nations discussed.

Part 1: Mom, Is it War Yet? http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/mom-is-it-war-yet/

Part 2: Two Suns in the Sunset http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/two-suns-in-the-sunset/

Part 3: Terminological Inexactitudes: Except from an Etiquette Manual for Deceit http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/terminological-inexactitudes-except-from-an-etiquette-manual-for-deceit/