The military-industrial-congressional complex (MIC) is the insulated triangle consisting of the Pentagon, the decision-making headquarters of the U.S. military; the war industry, the corporations that sell goods and services to the U.S. military establishment and allied governments and regimes; and Capitol Hill, the elected representatives who fund it all and pass legislation abetting war. In concept and practice, the military-industrial-congressional complex is fascism. 

Under fascism, the capitalist economy is deeply intertwined with government. The war industry floods the Pentagon’s civilian offices with corporate executives (e.g. Mark Esper, Secretary of Defense; Ellen Lord, Undersecretary for Acquisition & Sustainment; Ryan McCarthy, Secretary of the Army). It recruits retired generals and admirals (e.g. Joseph Dunford at Lockheed Martin, Jim Mattis at General Dynamics, James Winnefeld at Raytheon) to leverage their knowledge for profit. It spreads its production facilities across all 50 states. Indeed, the MIC’s very fuel is the federal budget. And, most markedly, the war industry assumes control of jobs once carried out by uniformed troops. 

Under fascism, authority is concentrated in a dictator or a dictatorship that rotates figureheads. The United States’ one-party, two-faction system exemplifies the latter. The war industry’s lobbying of Congress and funding of Congressional campaigns (particularly politicians who serve on Armed Services, Appropriations, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs committees) lock both factions into a belligerent foreign policy through which war corporations accrue fantastic riches. Furthermore, the war industry funds and runs pressure groups (e.g. NDIA, AIA, AUSA), which, in addition to administering arms fairs, generally badger Congress. Members of Congress, for their part, profit off of war. Executive policies and congressional legislation is often written by corporate lobbyists or crafted and implemented without public input. Presidents from both political factions ascend to authority within this fascist system and conform to a war-first foreign policy, as exemplified by all presidents since the 1947 National Security Act. Peace is not an option. Not even in presidential debates, which instead are fora to flex, glorify the military, and threaten hyped-up enemies.

The Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex Is Fascism | Common Dreams Views