What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been
Peter Schultz
Once it
becomes apparent that the United States is an oligarchy, that is, governed by
the wealthy few for their own benefit, it also becomes apparent that almost
everything mainstream politicians do is geared to preserving the oligarchy’s
power, their power. Consider for example American foreign policy and,
specifically, US foreign policy toward Cuba after the Cuban revolution when
Castro overthrew Batista and took control of the Cuban government.
What did
our oligarchs do? Well, to put it simply, they did everything to make Cuba look
like our enemy. In this they had help from Castro, as he too was doing things
to make the US look like Cuba’s enemy. It was like a choreographed dance the
two nations were performing, a dance choreographed to ensure that the two
nations acted like, became enemies.
For
example, on the US side, nothing was done to show support to those Cubans, the
moderates in Cuba, who were happy Batista was gone but were not all that enamored
of Castro. If the US had shown some support for the revolution, instead of
treating it as a Communist plot supported by the USSR, these moderates would
have been able to oppose Castro without seemingly undermining Cuba independence
or the Cuban revolution, without seeming like traitors. However, once the US
decided to punish Cuba for its revolution, these moderates were forced to
support Castro because, otherwise, they would be acting like traitors to Cuban
independence. Once the US decided to become Cuba’s enemy, then even Cubans
opposed to Castro had to support him or risk being charged with treason to the
revolution, to Cuba.
Why did the
US then make Cuba an enemy? The conventional wisdom is that this happened only
when it was apparent that Castro was a communist. But even if he were, and it
isn’t clear that he was, this does not explain why the US reacted as it did,
why US policy intended to create a war like situation between the two nations. But
this war like state benefitted the Eisenhower administration just as it
benefitted Castro’s regime by making both seem strong, by making both seem
properly concerned with “national defense.” Both Eisenhower and Castro were
seen as protecting the “homeland” and, therefore, worthy of support by all who
weren’t “traitors,” “capitalist dogs,” or “pinkos.”
Both
regimes were then strengthened domestically by creating a war like state
between the two nations. There was “political gold” in such a situation for the
prevailing political classes in both nations. And US policy served Castro well
by helping him secure his revolution. He became a national hero by facing down
the “giant from the north.” And Eisenhower looked less like the grandfather
golfer he seemed to be. And with an election approaching, Richard Nixon could
look like the “cold warrior” he wanted to be. He would “take care” of Castro.
This state
of affairs led, first, to the Bay of Pigs invasion and, secondly, to the Cuban
missile crisis, when the game almost got out of hand and went nuclear. It was
never the intention of either the US or Castro to start a full scale or nuclear
war between the US and the USSR as this would lead to the annihilation of
millions of human beings. And then, of course, all that “political gold” that
each side got as a result of the war like state between the two nations would
be lost or would lose its value. The same could be said of any attempt by
Castro to assassinate JFK, as some have charged. Castro needed Kennedy, as much
as Kennedy needed Castro, to solidify their credentials as “leaders.” The same
could be said of killing Castro, which helps explain why the attempts by the
CIA to do so repeatedly failed and seemed so inept. To reap the “political gold”
available the US needed Castro in power, just as Castro needed to ensure that
the US remained Cuba’s enemy, while avoiding a full-scale war. A state of war
without a full-scale war was best for both nations; that is, for protecting the
regimes governing both nations, the oligarchs in the US and the communists in
Cuba. US oligarchs and Cuban communists were, as intended, “indispensable
enemies.”
And after
the assassination of JFK, LBJ saw that it was incumbent on him to derail any
attempts to pin the blame on Castro, as that would have meant in all likelihood
full-scale war with Cuba and then with the USSR. Hence, the need for the Warren
Commission and for the fairy tale that Oswald acted alone and was not part of
any conspiracy. Moreover, it had to be shown that the assassination itself was
not the result of any conspiracy, especially one pointing to Castro and Cuba.
And as a result the Warren Commission was an invitation to conspiracy theories
because it was so ineptly concocted to reach the conclusion that Oswald acted
alone.
More
generally, could it be that the Cold War itself was dramatized, choreographed
to allow the oligarchs in the US and the communists in the USSR to reap that
“political gold” the US and Castro reaped as a result of the war like state
between the two nations? While a big topic, obviously, let it be said that with
very few exceptions the US and the USSR – and China – never got close to
full-scale war, those exceptions being the Korean War and the Cuban missile
crisis. Otherwise, the dance of these indispensable enemies continued in ways
that created a war like situation without creating full-scale, that is, nuclear
war. And both US oligarchs and Soviet and Chinese communists benefitted.
If so, that
would be an interesting situation.
