US a fading empire in need of bogeymen: Analyst

America is a fading imperial power that is using Islam and Russia as “bogeymen” to prop up the country’s war machine and military—industrial complex, a US activist and radio host in California says.

“The United States is a fading and failing empire that requires bogeymen,” said Rodney Martin, a US Army veteran who also served for a time on the staff of a US congressman.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the neoconservative establishment in the US began to use Islam and Russia as the object of fear to influence public opinion and justify Washington’s military interventions around the world, Martin told Press TV on Sunday.

“The United States is fighting a two-front battle against Islam and against Russia and neither one are our real enemies,” he added.

“The real enemy of global peace is American imperialism which runs around the world engaging in economic terrorism to exploit and to harvest the resources” of other countries.

Martin said the Obama administration’s large military drills in Eastern Europe to deter Moscow are part of a “schizophrenic policy” to advance America’s “irrelevant empire.”

The United States is intensifying military planning and training in Europe for a potential conflict with Russia on NATO’s eastern flank, according to reports.

The US Army hosted a security conference at its headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, last week, which was attended by Army generals from 38 European countries. Deterring Russian President Vladimir Putin was a central theme of the conference.

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