A meager financial support of USD 750 given to the victims of Hurricane Helene has raised hackles. Republican presidential nominee Trump mocked that while the US could afford to fund the Ukraine war, it had little resources for the relief work – by Gopal Misra
The citizens of two countries, the world’s most powerful country, the US, and Nepal, perhaps one of the least developed countries, who recently suffered cyclone and floods, respectively share common agony. Their governments failed to provide adequate relief. If the Nepalese suffered the fury of the Himalayan river, Gandak, Americans faced hurricane, Helene.
The flood victims of Nepal suffered due to the paucity of resources, but the apathy of the Biden Administration was too pronounced in helping the victims of hurricane Helene, which recently hit Florida. The financial support of USD 750 doled out during the visit of the US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee in the forthcoming presidential poll scheduled next month, reminds one of the charity being offered to the hapless people of an African country.
The cyclone has destroyed hundreds of residences mostly without any insurance cover, more than 250 succumbed and a large number of people await medical assistance. With the siphoning off of more than 20 billion USD to Ukraine for continuing its conflict with Russia, the Biden administration has little resources for the relief work, claims a spokesman of Donald Trump, a former US President, contesting against Kamala Harris as a Republican nominee. Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has stated that it has little resources to help the victims of the dreaded Milton hurricane, which may hit the US anytime in October.
Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have different political agendas. The Democratic Party represents the interests of the most influential section of the US, the military-industrial complex (MIC), which supports American military intervention in any conflict. On the other hand, Donald Trump is for focusing more on the economy than indulging in the gunboat policy. During his earlier tenure in the White House, Trump had signed peace with the Afghan Talibans. His successor, Joe Biden, withdrew the Americans forces in a humiliating way, but suddenly supported Ukraine, which has been facing Russian aggression. It is also believed that Russia, which was being tormented by the US-led NATO powers and their proxies, was finally provoked to protect the Russian speaking population in Ukraine by the military intervention.
The much-trumpeted myth of invincibility of America would be further shattered when the hurricane, Milton, developed in the Gulf Mexico, would be causing havoc this month. The US Administration is yet to gear up its resources to meet the impending disaster likely to hit the states like Carolina and Georgia in October.
The two rivals, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, who can hardly be said to have the qualities of a statesman, have suddenly attracted the attention of the people across the continents. One of them, who finally occupies White House, would be deciding the future of the wars or conflicts from Eastern Europe to Central Asia in 2025.
The recent partisan approach of a section of the American media towards the presidential candidates also dismantles the claim of their independence. The western media, always claiming an ardent supporter of democracy, has recently been seen supporting the Islamic radicals in Bangladesh and the eviction of an elected government by military. Their support of Kamala Harris, a nominee of the industrial-military complex causes suspicion. She has obtained the Democratic Party’s nomination even without the support of the primaries in states and also reveals the entrenched vested interests in the American political system. The support to Kamala Harris by channels like CNN and some newspapers should not be surprising.
World-wide anxiety
The decline of the democratic norms in the US is being keenly watched. It is not only the inability of rescuing the disaster-hit people, but also the behavior of some immigrants. On September 26, the New Hampshire Attorney General, John Formella indicted Joshua Urovitch, 56, and his wife Lisa, 54, with three felony counts of wrongful voting. It is not known whether the Joshua’s were inspired by some Indian voters. Recently, a young voter, Rajan Singh, was caught voting for the BJP nominee for Parliament three times.
The key economic issues such as the revival of domestic manufacturing of finished products is also attracting attention in the election campaign. The powerful lobbies representing the industrial-military complex and the US-owned trans-nationals using China as a manufacturing hub have rallied against Trump, who is for promoting domestic entrepreneurs.
It may be recalled that the legendary American President, D. Eisenhower, in his farewell address on January 17, 1961 had cautioned the dangers of the industrial-military complex. More than six decades later, it is relevant even today.
The Fundamental Issues
The shifting of the manufacturing of finished goods to China by the US and its allies in the West has created a Frankenstein in the geo-politics. This policy has benefited the multinational corporations, but it has denied jobs to millions of youths in the country. They are surviving on the non-employment allowances being doled out by the US government.
Another issue, which needs to be tackled, perhaps, is how to rein-in the industrial-military complex. It has been occupying the center- stage of the American state since the conclusion of World War-II. During the post WW-II years, the US became the leader of the erstwhile colonial powers of Europe. Interestingly, the USSR, which had played a crucial role in defeating Germany, became the new enemy of the West. During the 1990s, however, the US became the only Superpower following the collapse of the USSR. It enabled the industrial-military complex to be more assertive in the American political system. It could conspire with the allies and the deep state i.e. CIA for triggering conflicts in the inflammable regions of West Asia and East Europe.
In this backdrop, the forthcoming election in which Kamala Harris is locked in a battle with Donald Trump has become more significant for the American electorate as well as for the people across the regions.
The War Games
It is difficult to spell out who is being befooled in the geo-politics, especially when US politics is undergoing a churning process in quest of new perspective. Since 1971, the US-led West has been supporting China against the USSR, but China’s rise as a formidable economic power in recent years appears to have upset Washington’s previous calculations.
The world is witnessing brainstorming strategies being adopted by the US and China in the global power game. The American presidential election is witnessing these subtle challenges.
The Chinese have adopted Wei as a state strategy to move forward, make substantial inroads in the enemy territories and as soon as the retaliation begins ask for peace. In the US poll, the Chinese proxies have rallied around the Democrats, whether they influence American media, academia, immigrants and the Black.
It had begun during seventies, the then US President, Richard Nixon, and his National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, not only befriended Mao Zedong, but also the pure Marxists were turned into ardent supporters of the US and against their ardent supporter, Communist Party of Soviet Union. Beijing first conspired against the USSR; it branded Nikita Khurshev, the party’s general secretary and his colleagues as revisionists, but within a decade it became the closest ally of the Western capitalism.
The successive myopic American Administrations have not only been hobnobbing with the fascists of Beijing, but also abandoned the democratic forces in Tibet, Myanmar, Pakistan and now in Bangladesh.
Beijing has successfully transformed its authoritarian Communist system into a formidable capitalist regime. Beijing has improved upon the British East India Company. It has set up a large number of companies having a common agenda to replace the US as the Superpower and control the European powers. It also goes to the credit of China that it has adopted the American tactics of supporting the Islamic fundamentalists as well as the under-privileged people of America, especially the Black population.
It indicates the Chinese stakes in the presidential poll. On the other hand, Trump is being accused of being pro-Russia for opposing conflicts from Europe to West Asia. In this context, the forthcoming presidential election in the US is drawing global attention.
