Authored by Citizen Soldier via RealClearDefense,
All Aboard! Right here comes the most recent Postwar Gravy Prepare, laden with large authorities spending, lax oversight and different goodies for crafty contractors and financial opportunists in search of to profit from the near-destruction of Ukraine.
Final week, the State Division announced it intends to grab Russian property in america to assist fund rebuilding efforts, although the estimated $300 billion right here and in Europe gained’t cowl the projected price ticket of $500 billion. “What Putin destroyed, Russia ought to – should – pay to rebuild,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Like an earlier era of interventionists, Blinken cites the “Pottery Barn rule” – You Break It, You Personal It – to elucidate an aggressor’s ethical obligation to rebuild. Colin Powell used the identical reasoning in the summertime of 2002, as a “warning” to President George W. Bush concerning the penalties of navy motion in Iraq. A significant distinction is the {dollars} at stake. American and European corporations undoubtedly are desirous to reconstruct a contemporary, high-tech nation from the bottom up.
Our authorities seeks each alternative to impose itself, at house and overseas, however has a poor observe document for managing tasks.
No-bid contract awards, bribes and billions of lacking {dollars} are the legacy of the Coalition Provisional Authority’s rebuilding work in Iraq, the place officers concluded that not sufficient was achieved for the quantity of funds expended. We realized that when taxpayer cash is plentiful, oversight and outcomes might be negligible. Simply think about how beneficiant and hands-off our authorities may be spending Russia’s cash.
Not everybody endorses the act of confiscating Russia’s cash, pointing to the precept of reciprocity as a cause to indicate restraint. “Stealing” the property of a international nation units a harmful precedent that could possibly be utilized in opposition to us. For instance, what if China confiscates American property to fund rebuilding tasks in Libya, Iraq or different nations america has broken via battle?
The DC hype-meisters discuss concerning the Nice Energy Competitors of wannabe superpowers; they inform us that China is on the point of turning into the dominant worldwide power, that Russia is getting ready to grab all of Europe. Right here, although, the façade falls away—the elites imagine america has no financial or navy friends. While you’re as wealthy and mighty as America, there’s no concern of reciprocity.
The elites will do what’s within the quick finest curiosity of their mates, which embrace sure companies and traders who will profit from essentially the most extensive international project since World Conflict II. For this group, the one morality is a morality of energy: Treating different nations the best way you wish to be handled is a rule for losers and weaker gamers.
Blinken and the politicians speak about our categorical crucial in Ukraine, how the world depends on America to “defend democracy” and “defend the rules-based order.” However their phrases ring hole. The cynical reality is that what Russia breaks, America will take—utilizing confiscated cash to fund a large rebuilding venture that might be poorly managed, however profitable for the chosen few concerned.
Citizen Soldier believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
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