CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

On this Memorial Day, Nemesis stalks a U.S. Empire at war

Photo by J. Amill Santiago

“The most warlike nation in history”

I sit down to write this the morning of Memorial Day 2026, a holiday to hold in memory all who have lost their lives serving in U.S. wars. The day has its origins in memorials to Civil War veterans that started not long after the war ended. It occurs on a day when the world is on edge fearing that the next round of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran could happen any day. A broken ceasefire could have shattering global economic impacts with wholesale destruction of Persian Gulf oil infrastructure. At the same time, an invasion of Cuba seems in the cards, with prospects for a long guerilla war close to the U.S. mainland. In the backdrop is a cold civil war signified by Southern legislatures’ rapid elimination of Black congressional districts after the Supreme Court eviscerated the last meaningful provision of the Voting Rights Act, completing its years of work to undermine Black political power in the South.

The Civil War and the latest war on Iran are joined in a common thread, the almost continuous record of warfare that marks U.S. existence. In 2019 former President Jimmy Carter noted that in the years since it was born, the U.S. has been at war all but 16 of them. Carter said that makes the U.S. “the most warlike nation in the history of the world.”

Even in those “peaceful” years, such as the Carter Administration, the U.S. was stirring up conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan, spurred when with Carter’s approval National Security Advisor Zbiegnew Brzesinski funneled support to the Mujahadeen to undermine the Communist government. The intent was to provoke the Soviet invasion and weaken the USSR by giving it its own Vietnam. Brzezinski admitted it. When the invasion actually occurred, which along with the Iranian Revolution of 1979 elevated the sense of threat, the president declared the Carter Doctrine placing the Persian Gulf under the U.S. security umbrella. That is the origin of the U.S. military bases Iran has recently been pummeling.

War has been very profitable for the U.S. The Revolution secured its eastern half, one of Earth’s regions most amenable to human occupation. The Civil War consolidated a continental empire with the bulk to eventually dominate the world, while accelerating the growth of an industrial giant. The wars on native tribes gained possession of the continent. The Spanish-American War gave it colonies conveniently positioned to create a world-spanning network of naval bases. Bankrolling World War I ensured its financial dominance of the world. The victory in World War II gave it unparalleled military, political and economic dominance, all potential rivals left in ruins. Even the Korean War, ended in stalemate, created the consensus for a massive military-industrial complex that was shaky before the war. If wars since have not been as successful – Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq 1 and 2 –........

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