Written by Dr. Roger Kotila   

America’s presidential candidates fall in line when it comes to anything military, reflecting a dark future for our children. Bad America lacks a vision of a future world that is nonmilitary and at peace. The Earth Federation insists that a nonmilitary world is possible.

Whenever I think of free college tuition and medical care for all, I think of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the B-2, and Michael Moore's new movie "Where to Invade Next.”

Moore's movie would applaud canceling the problem-plagued Lockheed Martin F-35 and instead using those billions of saved dollars to help pay for free tuition and universal health care -- goals of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

The F-35 boondoggle is described by William Hartung (Center for International Policy) as "the most expensive weapons systems program ever undertaken by the Pentagon.” The F-35 represents a part of Bad America.

Although Sanders is by far the most anti-war candidate, he has not opposed the F-35's that will be based in his home state of Vermont because of the jobs (Daily Caller, 2/25/16).

GETTING TO KNOW BAD AMERICA
Congress reflects Bad America. It lavishly supports the military, and does not see a positive vision for the future. To them a future nonmilitary world is unthinkable -- no world peace in sight for them in our lifetime, or our children’s lifetime.

As a symbol of Bad America the F-35 is only part of the story. In addition to the F-35 the Air Force wants to replace the B-1 and batlike B-2 stealth bomber with 80 to 100 new Long Range Strike Bombers (LRS-B). Cost? An estimated $550 million each.

It is bad enough that billions upon billions of dollars are being wasted for future death and destruction. But worse yet, the Pentagon generals, defense contractors and politicians simply assume, without question, that a world at peace is not going to happen. Not ever. These are the dinosaurs.

Their delusions of grandeur (American “exceptionalism”) crave military superiority over the rest of the world. Security, they fantasize, will require military dominance by air, land, sea, and space – Full Spectrum Dominance as it is called by military planners.

NONMILITARY WORLD POSSIBLE SAYS EARTH FEDERATION
By contrast to the doomsday strategy favored by the national security establishment, the Earth Federation offers a brighter picture. With the successful drafting of the Constitution for the Federation of Earth (aka “Earth Constitution”) by the World Constitution and Parliament Association, a unified nonmilitary world federal union can finally be envisaged writes Professor Glen Martin (“One World Renaissance,” 2015).

Bad America’s strategy of building ever more sophisticated weapons of war is exactly the wrong approach. The plans for the F-35 and LRS-B send the wrong signal to other nations and causes distrust about American motives.

Similarly, the US/NATO expansion to the Ukraine and eastern Europe has caused Russia to increase its military posturing – they don’t trust us. China, too, is wary of U.S. intentions.

Covert operations are another obstacle to peace. Psychologically, secrecy breeds paranoia. Secret operations along with universal spying make others suspicious – and helps fuel an arms race.

By contrast, openness builds trust. Trust allows for the development of a world union which, with the availability of the Constitution for the Federation of Earth (“Earth Constitution”), could become a powerful and viable option to achieve a peaceful world.

Despite its name, the United Nations is anything but united. Bully nations lord over the weaker countries. The UN cannot stop the geopolitical war mongering because of its inadequate and obsolete UN Charter which prevents the UN from doing its job.

The Earth Constitution offers the UN an opportunity to become a “new UN” – capable of achieving disarmament and ending war.

BAD AMERICA REFUSES TO PAY HEED
Far into the future, 25 to 50 years from now, defense contractors are already making plans for fancier, more complex weapon systems.

Lockheed Martin is planning ahead for a “sixth generation” F-35 after the year 2030. Northrop Grumman is looking beyond 2030 making designs for what Defense News (1/15/16) calls a "Next-Gen" fighter -- that's a sixth generation fighter to replace F-22's.

Why such confidence that America will want, far into the distant future, weapons for war? It’s because the American people are easy to manipulate. All that is needed is an "enemy" real, imagined, or fake -- and repeated warnings that the country is in danger.

David Talbot describes the ugly story of deceased CIA Chief Allen Dulles who in the ‘50s and ‘60s is responsible for establishing a lawless, secret parallel government that assassinates, overthrows governments, tortures, conducts false flag operations, and more (“The Devil’s Chessboard,” 2015).

This secret culture of lawlessness continues today, not unlike that found in Nazi Germany. Americans are supplied with an ongoing stream of so-called "enemies" created by the military/economic/covert operations complex which has a long history of creating conflicts and wars under false pretense (“The Hidden Structure of Violence,” Pilisuk & Roundtree, 2015).

BAD AMERICA INSURES ENEMIES UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER
Currently Americans are psychologically programmed to respond in alarmed panic toward Muslims, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, or anyone labeled a terrorist.

We are told, for example, that we must fear North Korea and Iran. Yet fear of these nations is absurd. Why would North Korea or Iran risk launching a missile at the U.S. or Israel knowing that devastating retaliation would be swift and certain?

Fake "enemies" are produced by clever propaganda, and by means of an occasional false flag operation where covert operatives murder people but blame it on the innocent who become the patsies. There is a growing body of evidence that indicates that 9/11 was a false flag operation with the real perpetrators still on the loose.

We are not told how the CIA actually created what became ISIS terrorists. We are not told that Russia actually prefers peaceful cooperation -- if only US/NATO would live up to its original promise to stay off Russia's borders.

America, it seems, will continue to have enemies until hell freezes over.

BAD AMERICA FOREVER?
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is a cheerleader for a "strong" defense. She won’t dump the F-35 since she owes its manufacturer a favor. David Archibald (Daily Caller, 2/25/16) reports that the Clinton Foundation "takes millions from Lockheed Martin,” and adds that Hillary's campaign chairman "owns the firm that lobbied for the F-35's approval."

The news about the F-35 is virtually all bad. Its 8 million lines of software code invite malfunctioning and vulnerability to cyberattacks (Reuters, 1/27/16). If the pilot looks to the side and his helmet smacks the canopy, it interferes with seeing the helmet’s "Heads-up-Display" needed to fly and to fight (Air Force Times, 10/26/15).

A leaked test pilot report reveals that the F-35 can't defeat an older (& much cheaper) F-16 in combat, yet plans are for 1,763 F-35's, costing an eye-popping $115 million each. Add an additional $400,000 per customized high tech helmet needed for each pilot, and we have a fighter plane that can't fly right.

From the Air Force Times (10/29/15) we learn that "Donald Trump wants to tell the F-35 that it's fired." But Trump is no peacenik. He told CNN (8/19/15) "I want to build up our military so that nobody's gonna play games with us!”

WHAT ABOUT A GOOD AMERICA?
Americans must recognize that a national security policy relying on militarism is a dead end. It has caused a nightmare of chaos in the Middle East, and has sucked the life out of the spirit of Good America.

Good America must strive for world union, a goal unreachable if we continue to claim “exceptionalism” – a license to be above the law.

World union is the path to a nonmilitary, peaceful world. The Constitution for the Federation of Earth offers such a promise, if only Good America will embrace it and support it through a call for UN Charter Review. A “new UN” under the Earth Constitution has the potential to make world union, and world peace, possible.

Roger Kotila, Ph.D. www.earthfederation.info
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