Although not covered in detail in the film, the lecture touches
upon the bombing of Libya and the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi.

Just a couple of years prior to the NATO “love bombs” intervention,
Libya had appeared to achieve a remarkable rapprochement with Western
powers. Gaddafi even enlisted the help of Tony Blair to help negotiate a US
victim's lawsuit brought against Gaddafi in relation to terrorist attacks.
Tony Blair made numerous trips to Libya after leaving office in 2007,
where many believe he facilitated a number of deals enriching himself in
the process.

The former prime minister is thought to have visited Libya at least six times after leaving Downing St in 2007 as he tried to build up his business and philanthropic interests. Mr Blair has since built up a fortune estimated at £60 million, based on a consultancy business that includes advising foreign governments.
Mr Blair is understood to have attempted to put together a number of deals during his trips to Libya.

Telegraph

Indeed, the weapons industry is always on the lookout for new markets
in which to sell their wares.

Libya had spent hundreds of millions, and possibly billions,
worth of armsvfrom the UK's BAE systems, American and Russian
weapons dealers. Among the weapons purchased by Gaddafi were
anti-aircraft missile defense system.

An inquiry into the matter provided some evidence that Blair was intimately
connected to the 400 million pound prisoner exchange and arms deal.

Tony Blair has strongly refuted allegations that he did a deal with Muammar Gaddafi to release the Lockerbie bomber from prison in exchange for Libya signing a £400m air defence deal with a British manufacturer.

Secret documents released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that Britain's then-ambassador in Tripoli, Sir Vincent Fean, sent an email to Blair declaring the prisoner transfer agreement would be signed as soon as Libya went through with the arms deal.

International Business Times

According to Andrew Feinstein, the first thing the NATO allies did
when they intervened in the North African country was to take out
the air defense systems, the very armaments that had been sold to
Libya in the years preceding the 2011 bombings.

The vast stockpiles of lightly guarded arms depots and warehouses across
Libya were looted and emptied by rebel militias, groups affiliated with
Al-Queda, and ordinary citizens. Respected journalist Sy Hersh, discovered
that much of the weaponry looted from Libya's stockpiles were routed via
rat-lines through Qatar, Jordan and Turkey and ultimately ending up in the
hands of US backed Syrian 'rebel' forces.

Sy Hersh Explodes Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack Narrative - Part 2

Perpetual War, Perpetual Profits

What now? Who’s the enemy?

How do we justify all this tanks, all this planes, all this bullshit?

What better new enemy than an hypothetical invisible enemy called the War on Terror.

Conflict sustains the global arms trade.

Peace, cooperation and diplomacy are not profitable for the industry
therefore from a myopic corporate view point a military answer to conflict
is the only acceptable option. There’s just too much money to be made.

What better way to maximize profits than to arm both sides in a conflict?

In WWII, companies such as Standard Oil, IBM, Coca-Cola and Ford
famously profited by supplying both the allies and the Nazis.

This practice continues to this day.

Here are just two examples:

• Remembering the Dead: Reagan Armed Iraq and Iran in 1980s War that Killed Over 1 Million

• In Syria, militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA

Final Thoughts

"If you liked Iraq, you'll love Iran"

- Tony Zinn (former Central Command Commander)

As I write this, I can't help but think that the longest War in
US history still drones on in the background out of the spotlight.
The US has been conducting military operations in Afghanistan
for 17 years. Some people reading this may not have been
born yet. The invasion and occupation of Iraq began in 2003
and will turn 15 years old next month.

George Bush's pronouncement of "Mission Accomplished" a top
an aircraft carrier once sounded absurd to me but upon reflection
perhaps he was not referring to the major military operations ending.
Instead, maybe he was signalling the beginning of Perpetual War
in the region.

The Saudi bombing of Yemen continues with American made
fighter jets, bombs and technical support. No one is happier
than the defense contractors and probably just as happy that
the media has almost completely ignored the developing
humanitarian crisis in the country.

US warmongers are still desperately trying to find their way into
the conflict in Syria as their proxy armies have suffered a proverbial
bitch slap by Russian forces. Just the other day, the narrative that the
Syrian government is gassing its own people has resurfaced. It would
seem that the perpetual propaganda moves in lock-step.

Iran has long been the jewel in the eyes of US hegemony in the region.
Another long protracted war with Iran would insure windfall profits for
the arms industry, without a doubt. Experts estimate that a war with Iran
could last a least 14 years and after that time the region would remain
marred in conflict, bearing little difference to today, a continuation of
war and war profiting with no end in sight.

Once you start a war, you open up a kind of Pandora’s Box.

You don’t control it, it controls you.

- Chris Hedges

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