If Jeremy Corbyn weathers the storm and secures a historic election victory, there will still be dark clouds on the horizon, writes Najm Al-Din.
Like the many Americans who have awakened to a painful reality, it’s time Britons heed an uncomfortable truth: our government is controlled by a Deep State– an unelected faction comprising of powerful oligarchs, as well as high-ranking officials in the intelligence community and military industrial complex who dictate our domestic and foreign policy.
With this realisation dawning on the American electorate in light of Donald Trump’s Presidency, I fear Corbyn also stands the risk of being captive to an embedded network of nefarious actors lurking in the shadows to actively undermine his authority.
The Deep State
It’s very easy to admit to a clandestine governing apparatus operating in countries like Turkey and Egypt. We feel the western world is immune to such surreptitious powerbrokers, and dismiss suggestions of a deep state as a paranoid conspiracy theory cooked up by Alex Jones or some peddler of mumbo jumbo. We are told that nothing of the kind can sabotage a Corbyn administration.
But as the UK’s former Iraq expert once warned, the Chilcot Inquiry proved how a British deep state works to subvert the accountability one would expect from a transparent government.
Historically, our deep state committed the nation to centuries of slavery and colonialism, manifesting itself in a ‘hub of world evil’.
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Today, it is working hand-in-glove with the American war machine-a trend set in motion by New Labour and Neocon chief asset, Tony Blair-and engaging in covert military operations in the absence of any parliamentary approval and public knowledge.
Should Corbyn become the next Prime Minister, they will not spare any effort in subverting his anti-war agenda to restore the hawkish Blairite position on British military interventions in pursuit of the Project for the New American Century, according to which the UK is the “most effective and efficient means of exercising American global leadership”.
Foreign policy
Of course, comparisons between Corbyn and Trump are confined to the political realm. Their ethics and personality could not be more different. Like millions of Britons, I feel the leader of the opposition offers a refreshing departure from the snobbery which typifies much of our political establishment.
His capturing of the working class imagination and crusade against austerity and neoliberalism has struck a chord with millions, in stark contrast to the jingoistic race-baiting and hard-edged populism, which has come to characterise Trump’s “America First” ethos.
Nonetheless, similarities abound, with both campaigning on a protectionist platform, dismayed by their country’s meddling in international affairs and favouring a Détente with Russia, which, as we all know, is an unforgivable crimethink.
Furthermore, the reality which awaits a Corbyn victory could eerily mirror Trump’s experience, with flare-ups between the US President and his intelligence agencies also foreseeable on our shores. With the deep state primarily responsible for Trump’s about-face on NATO, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Syria, it begs a series of uncomfortable questions for Corbynistas.
U-turns
What if he also capitulates to the deep state by reneging on his promises? What if he succumbs to the Russophobes in Washington and reverses course on Trident by scrapping the defence review and intensifies a new Cold War, which could very well go nuclear? What if he relinquishes his long and distinguished history of advocating for Palestinian solidarity and mutates into a Zionist shill, running errands for the Israeli lobby?
To what extent will Corbyn remain a true socialist of the old Labour Party remains to be seen, but the fact that he is already being labelled weak and indecisive on the military front speaks volumes. In light of the entrenched bureaucracy forcing Trump to flip flop on his pledges, a shady British consortium of powers sharing a similar agenda to their American counterparts could also thwart Corbyn’s attempts to purge his party of war-mongers.
I will not be surprised if he finds himself wedged between sabre-rattling ministers jostling for power, eventually leaving no choice but to push a McMaster-like figure to the fore, simply to placate his enemies in the intelligence agencies. After all, his apprehension towards nukes and drones imperils our security, as Boris Johnson would have you believe.
Having already run the gauntlet of the press and their right-wing bias, the anti-Corbyn chorus will certainly reach a crescendo if he becomes the next prime minister, where like Trump, he will confront an onslaught of truly staggering proportions. Unless, of course, he can prove his penchant for militarism by signing up to US-led wars.
Remember, it took an airstrike on Syria’s Shayrat airbase for Trump to finally prove his Presidential worth and generate bipartisan praise, with the CNN’s Fareed Zakaria among the more notable plaudits. On the eve of the Iraq war, our very own establishment mouthpieces and gung-ho tabloids echoed Blair’s and Murdoch’s enthusiasm for war, with Michael Gove as then Times columnist chiding a section of the British left, whose antipathy to war apparently made them “Saddam’s useful idiots.”
Instead of locking horns with the intelligence community over his national security policy, Corbyn may have to ultimately cave in to establishment forces to prove he’s not soft on terrorism, by upping the ante on ISIS, Russia and Iran under bogus pretexts devised by the war-profiteers, just to grant him some respite.
Labour voters must be open to the eventuality that Corbyn’s brand of social justice could very well be co-opted, not only by disillusioned party insiders salivating at the prospect of post-election power grabs, but also shadowy elites given their insatiable appetite for war.
