The tentacles
of the Pentagon

The Pentagon in the United
States is always in the news —
we had the case of the Pentagon
papers and we read daily reports
of events leading to or emanat-
ing from the Pentagon.

Pentagon means five-sided and
this building takes its name be-
cause it is a five-sided edifice,
but the origin of its name has
no significance compared to the
role its occupants play in U.S.
and world affairs.

It is the biggest employer and
also the biggest proprietor in the
US.

It has about 15 million acres
of land under bases, premises
and university campuses in the
U.S, and abroad.

It has $200,000 million of

ready money in the form of im-
-movable.._property..and. equip-
ment, which is more than the 65
biggest U.S. industrial companies
combined.
_ It signed contracts in 1969
for purchasing goods to the tune
of $40,000 million (1969 is the
latest year for which figures are’
available) .

Propaganda Giant

The Pentagon has the biggest
radio and TV network in the
world: 350 stations, including 35
TV stations, in 30 foreign coun-
‘tries.

It is also the biggest publisher
in the world with more than
1,450 newspapers, weeklies and
magazines circulated all over the
world, let alone thousands of
books and magazines which are
published by others but financed
by the Pentagon.

Theoretically the American
President is the owner of the
American war machine, but in
practice he assigns its control to
the minister for defense.

But when the latter comes to
the Pentagon he soon learns that
there are other masters in the
house.

These are the chiefs of staff
with whom he has to fight it out
to exercise his authority.

But governments come and go
while the army remains.

Military-Industrial Complex

The Pentagon’s structure is so
fashioned as to ensure the sup-
remacy of the civil over the
military.

There is a rule that the Pen-
tagon’s head as well as his assist-
ants must be civilians, political
friends of the President, big fin-
anciers or influential business
men.

That which was initially con-
ceived as a measure to prevent
an excessive influence of the
chiefs of staff, soon became a
factor contributing to the birth
of the military-industrial com-

plex.

It became a gigantic war ma-
chine and extensive war indus-
try. .
Eisenhower formed the Minis-
try of Defence in 1953 and his
first minister was Charles Wil-
son, who was president of Gen-
eral Motors, which is not only
the world’s first motor car pro-
ducer but also one of the 10
biggest suppliers to the Penta-
gon.

His slogan was “What is good
for the country is good for Gen-
eral Motors,” and vice-versa.

The present head of the Pen-
tagon is Melvin Laird, a profes-
sional political leader.

Unlimited Funds

The deputy minister is David:

Paccard, a multi-millionaire, the
founder and president of the
Hullet-Paccard_ Electronic -Com-
pany, a third of whose turnover
goes to the Ministry of Defence.

A comparison between the
State Department and the Min-
istry of Defence presents the
following picture: The State De-
partment has 27,000 employees
while the Pentagon has 4,700,-
000.

Their budgets are respectively
$400 million and $80,000 million.
While the State Department
maintains 103 embassies and
130 consulates, the Pentagon
has 3,400 objects abroad, includ-
ing 430 major bases.

The Pentagon is increasingly
intervening in the police func-
tions of the Ministry of Justice
and the FBI. ‘

This process started in 1964-
65 with the first pacifist demon-
strations against the war in Viet-
nam.

The Civil Operations Centre
was formed in the secret base-
ments of the Pentagon and it
keeps 150 American cities under
permanent surveillance.

Seven Million Suspects

The army considers itself in a
position to deal with 25 simul-
taneous revolts at any point on
American territory.

The intelligence agency of the
ground forces has taken up the
cases of seven million citizens
whose activities or declarations
in political, trade union, religious
or even professional fields are
registered by electronic comput-
ers.

It is the memory of the largest
capacity in the U.S.

This system goes much further
than the FBI which occupies it-
self with citizens’ illegal activi-
ties only.

The army is interested in
everything that can bring a man
or a woman out on the street to
defend their interests or cham-
pion their ideas.

(Common Cause)

‘destinies of the world.

Lebanon and Jordan.

Duplicity of aggressors

MOSCOW-—Soviet peace champions call on all people of
good will to come out resolutely against the irresponsible ac-
tions of the Israeli aggressors, who are gambling with the

The Soviet Peace Committee has issued a statement in con-
nection with fresh Israeli aggressive actions against Syria,

The Soviet public, the statement says, is indignant over the
new inhuman acts of the Israeli military against neighboring
Arab countries. The provocative actions of the Israeli aggres-
sors who stop at nothing at killing hundreds of innocent peo-
ple, sharpens the situation in that area.

The attempts of Israeli propaganda to present the savage
raids on peaceful villages and settlements as “retaliation for
the Munich tragedy,” will not mislead world public opinion.

In these hard times for the Arab peoples, Soviet people de-
clare fraternal solidarity with their just struggle.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1972—PAGE 6

~ US. war of total destruction}

By ALAIN PATRIE
Even some analysts who are
aware of Nixon’s past history

of guile and deceit feel that the.

positional logic of both national
and international politics will in-
evitably force Nixon at some
juncture to withdraw from Viet-
nam and call a halt to that
bloody war.

Certainly some evidence points
to such a development. U.S.
ground troops are being remov-
ed from the battlefield. Ameri-
can casualties have taken a sharp
turn downward, much to the re-
lief of the Nixon administration.

But this is only thanks to the
most incredible and murderous-
ly savage increase in the bomb-
ing of the Asian peninsula, It is
difficult to portray in statistics
the agony and horror of a death
which steadily rains from the
sky, day and night, and in ever
increasing doses.

Robot Aircraft

Some figures defy the mind.
The equivalent of 450 atomic
bombs have been dropped on
Vietnam. More explosives than
the sum total of all the bombs
dropped during the second world
war. The landscape abounds with
exploded craters and the anguish
of razed homes, schools and hos-
pitals.

It might be well to ask: is
peace around the corner?

Not according to Robert Bar-
kan, a former electronics en-
gineer now with the Pacific
Studies Center, East Palo Alto,
California.

Writing in the New Scientist,
August 1972, Mr. Barkan first
describes the extraordinary tech-
nological advances being made
in the field of the remotely pilot-
ed vehicle (RPV) — a robot air-

craft flown by pilots on the
ground who watch the action on
a TV set.

Two primary concerns moti-
vate the military’s excitement
for the RPV. One is of course
the fact that human lives will be
saved. It is debatable whether
compassion or dwindling re-
sources are at stake, but the
American public will be soothed
with the saving of American
lives.

The second concern is finan-
cial An F-4 Phantom costs
about $3.5 million, much of the
expenses are bound up in sophis-
ticated instruments which try
to assure the pilots’ safe return,
whereas an RPV fighter will cost
only about $240,000.

The Pentagon envisions the
plane armed. with rockets, mis-
siles, and even a laser ray gun.

‘It would have a 200-mile combat

range at Mach 0.9 and have a
pursuit capability of Mach 2.5.
A nose-mounted television cam-
era with a high resolution zoom
lens would enable the pilot to
identify enemy aircraft on his
TV screen as far as twenty
miles away.
Uncontrolled Military

“In January 1971 former Dep-
uty Secretary of Defense, David
Packard issued a directive creat-
ing a high priority ‘Defense Sup-
pression’ program in which the
U.S. Air Force requested $43
million for this crash effort.”

The article quotes a report re-
leased by Rand Corporation.

“Rand has been exploring the
Buck Rogers notion that. ma-
chines, technology if you will,
should fight among themselves
as much as possible. Leaving

mortals to watch it all happen.
Somewhat like the Nixon doc-

trine, the idea is to avoid)
coming personally involv f

Thus the Nixon era Re {
characterized by both pil0g
the general public watch¥i®
war on TV. Humans wil aA
minimal role, perhaps gi
giving orders such as “6%
Return.” oa!

“This totally automate™,, §
ly dehumanized warfare yp
Barkan explains, “willy ,
the ideal; machines do ss f
die, get addicted to drub™
their officers or refuse oy

“A pilot flying an it
ber from a swivel f
underground control cé# ‘if
no more compunction ©)
engineer who designé cal (
chine. The two become 7g
mentary cogs in a huge gy
death machine whose,
button is controlled by
tary high command.’

It would be well tO
in Washington last 16
top military leaders ne
the spectre of a U.S. 7 eh
tablishment that cant?’ ft
trolled either by its f i
commander or by #
establishment. ds,

In Mr. Barkan’s woe Hoh
ing the pilots out of iwi),
will remove a seriOvs aif,
to the Nixon admit” ity
avowed intention 1 5.75)
American: air power
East Asia. If the man” gil
lasts. until 1974, the |g
air war may continue” fy
ly afterwards.” My h

The Teledyne Ryat WP
has been “rushed ole
this summer. This 9°" qPB
es Shrike anti-rada j@) ),
Maverick anti-tank r
Hobo bombs. : i

One year ago univ) a
ed a number of Beret
planes for drone roiee
Vietnam. Under Ef Chae
they fiew over the jin? ie a
Trail, relaying the © isfly

pole
eek i

Q
afl
sensor signals t0 the fi
Surveillance Centel 66 ;
where two IBM 36 att
ers processed t eS
rected bombing st!” yell.

‘Another drone 1%) pe)
the Gyrodyne QP if
The Marines us
name snoopy:

It is estimate :
than two years © Nolin,
bombers will attac™ gy ya

nam. Many planes sit jit
down by gree will 9 iy
but not one Pp! iz
or captured. f cov f

Mr. Barkan © thé
discussed Asian