I don’t care much for Iran and if its extremist government collapses, then finally its good and intelligent people will go free, the women come out from under the veil, and continue on a cultural and scientific creativity that will let their country flourish.
On the other hand, if there were no Iran America would create one. Why? It’s smack in the middle of Asia between East and West, so a good place to put an “enemy.” There’s no question the government of Iran—but not the people—is a bad actor and plays well the part of the villain. But consider the budget—and most importantly the profit—of the military contractors, their stocks, their vast reach and resources. Iran has about this much budget from last year: $8,500,000,000. Congress allocated this budget from what is called total draw down or military budgetary allocation in 2024: $1,900,000,000,000. That is $8.5 Billion for Iran and $1.908.5 Trillion for America. I put the 08.5 after the $1.9 to show how tiny Iran’s budget is in comparison.
Yes, if you look at the USAspending dot gov website, the federal government’s website, you will find Congress allocated $1.99 Trillion dollars last year for military spending. That is because the dedicate “military budget” ($914) billion) is only part of the whole picture as it is approved costs that are not “draw down” costs, or allowable spending. Much, much spending is done or “allowed” by emergency and the situation Korea, Israel, Ukraine, Macedonia, and elsewhere are “pre-approved” for spending since they are designated permenant emergencies. Most of the two hundred shipments send to Israel and even more to Ukraine are not what you hear on the news but through individual request directly by the president to Congress to tap into that “emergency” part of the budget. Then it’s sent to the manufacturers and DoD contractors. The weapons are sent over then “free of charge” to the manufacturers using military planes and ships, again a cost savings.
The profit incentive to have really good enemies like Iran—ones we could easily defeat as fast as Saddam was, twice—is critical to the budget and the draw down. Iran, Russia, North Korea, and some other rouge actors, combined spend barely over a hundred billion on military and zero chance of outmatching the US, with 800 military bases outside the US. Should we take the threat of Iran seriously? Of course. They can and do inflict real damage and they like playing the part of the western foil. But are they a “real” threat. Not at all. Most of their infrastructure is weak and crumbling, their economy crippled, and the damage is restrained.
The military industrial complex though is worse for blacks. The have been entrapped to work for it as literal slaves since the 1930s when it was created. UNICOR as it is known as now was created in 1934 federally, and through abuse of the exception clause of the 13th amendment, the federal government has literally enslaved blacks in its system to work for free, leasing them to manufacture all kinds of goods for the contractors to the Pentagon, who exploit this almost free labor literally rented out by the federal government to Lockheed Martin, BAE systems of Britain, smaller companies Point Blank, which makes the uniforms. “Slavery or Involuntary servitude” is a bigger problem for blacks Americans than Iran. State and federal governments use it and white conservative Louisianans voted to keep it in 2022, outvoting black Louisiana who literally voted to end “slavery or involuntary servitude.” As a result, according the audit of the state of Louisiana I read, black continue to pick cotton by hand for 180 years on the same plot of land white white men on horseback armed with guns watch them, as it has been for that whole time, year in and year out. What is the bigger threat for Black Americans? Some Iranian bogeyman on twitter or that man on a horse with gun looking down at the black men picking cotton by hand?