The release on March 3 of the Biden administration's “Interim National Security Strategic Guidance” might make one wonder if Donald Trump's Secretary of State, the unhinged War Hawk Mike Pompeo, is still making the policy decisions for the United States. Pompeo spent most of 2020 banging the war drums, completely ignoring that his boss, President Trump, had been elected by saying he intended to "end the endless wars." In his last events as Secretary, Pompeo pushed for more sanctions against Russia and China; threatened Iran, Venezuela and North Korea; named the Houthis of Yemen "terrorists", which threatened to cut off what little food aid was being delivered to that nation, putting millions of children in danger of starvation; and gloated as the "Caesar sanctions" against Syria caused food shortages there, raising the hopes of the neocons that regime change might still come to Syria. Pompeo may be gone, but Biden's team, led by his Secretary of State Blinken, is sticking with the British imperial geopolitical doctrines which threaten to lead to World War III. Blinken demonstrated what the Chinese bashed as "imperial arrogance" when he fulminated against what he calls China's "aggressive" military posturing. He warned that China has the economic, diplomatic, military and technical power "to seriously challenge the stable and open international system -- all the rules, values and relationships that make the world work the way we want it to." Nearly the same language was directed against Russia by Colin Kahl, Biden's representative at the Pentagon, who accused Russia of seeking to "undermine the rules-based international order", and shows "blatant disregard for the sovereignty of its neighbors." One might ask about the Biden administration's regard for sovereignty, when it launched a strike on an Iraqi militia base in Syria, killing at least 22 militants, who were engaged in successful attacks against Islamic terrorists of Al Qaeda, ISIS and Al Nusra, who are supposed to be the enemies of the U.S.! The national security paper released by the new administration demonstrates the continuity of the "Military Industrial Complex" (MIC) in strategic policy, regardless of which party controls the White House. Its goals and language are primarily unchanged from the National Security Doctrine released by the Trump administration in 2018, in identifying Russia and China as threats to the West. It states that this administration intends to gather the world’s “democracies” into an alliance against Russia and China and their “malign” influence on the world. Giving lip service to cooperation with “allies” to fight China and Russia, they say the U.S. will “reinvigorate and modernize our alliances and partnerships around the world.” However, one must consider that if an “ally” crosses Washington, such as Germany’s refusal to cancel the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, they will also be hit with sanctions. It continues: “Our democratic alliances enable us to present a common front, produce a unified vision, and pool our strength to promote high standards, establish effective international rules, and hold countries like China to account. That is why we will reaffirm, invest in, and modernize the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and our alliances with Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea....” In Asia, the countries targeted for “partnership” include India, New Zealand, Vietnam and all of ASEAN, and the Pacific Island states. Since when does the "North Atlantic" Treaty Organization consider the Indo-Pacific region to be part of its military mandate!
