Michael Jones is an American writer, former professor, media commentator and the current editor of Culture Wars magazine (formerly Fidelity Magazine). He has written widely on the sexual revolution, capitalism, the history of the Catholic Church and its relation to Jews as well as on wider cultural issues. Jones then obtained his Ph.D. from Temple University and began to teach at Saint Mary's College, of Notre Dame, Indiana. In recent years, Jones has focused on and has written numerous articles examining usury and wider economic issues. In 2014, Fidelity Press published Jones's approximately 1300-page work Barren Metal: A History of Capitalism as the Conflict between Labor and Usury. Jones traveled to Iran in May 2018 to attend the 6th international Conference of New Horizons. What comes below, is the full-text of Habilian Association’s Interview with this known Russian theorist.
Habilian: As the first question, how do you assess the performance of Obama in the foreign policy, especially in the Middle East? In your opinion, was Obama able to realize his promise of making change in the US foreign policy? For example, could Obama make fundamental changes in the Bush administration’s strategy of preemptive war and war on terror?
MJ: Well, Obama was a tool of the oligarchs. He did what the oligarchs wanted. At this point, the oligarchs wanted a deal with Iran and he carried out a successful campaign and it eventuated what I thought was a good deal. But he was not leading, he was a follower. He followed the will of the oligarchs. He did what they wanted.
Habilian: As you know, Trump went out of Iran’s nuclear deal. Would you please tell me Trump himself decided or other things dictated?
MJ: No, there are three reasons, three wealthy Jews, Sheldon Adelson, Paul Singer and Bernard Marcus. They get the major campaign contributions… The three reasons for the revocation of the nuclear deal are three wealthy Jews, Sheldon Adelson, Paul Singer and Bernard Marcus. Trump is doing the bidding of these wealthy Jews because he needs Jewish support to save himself from the deep state. It’s that simple.
Habilian: With Donald Trump as the US president, what do you think will happen to the US war on terror? I mean what are Trump’s strategies?
MJ: His strategy is to stay in office. He has no strategy; he doesn’t think in strategic terms. His goal is to stay in office. He knows that the Jews are the only power group powerful enough to keep him in the office. So, he’s trying to placate the Jews and do whatever they want. It’s that simple.
Habilian: What kind of relationship exists between the radicalization and Islamophobia? Do you see any relations between them?
MJ: Islamophobia is a product of American propaganda to justify the wars in the Middle East. To justify American wars. Islamophobia treats all Muslims the same. It ignores the fact that there is a civil war going on in Islam right now. It has historical roots, which I would like to explore at some point intellectually, but I mean the historical roots between the conflict between the Saudi Arabia and Iran goes back to the beginning of Islam. That’s why Shia Islam is different than the Sunni Islam, OK? They’re two very different cultures, and Islamophobia ignores that completely and ties all Muslims together.
Habilian: What are the main causes of Islamic Extremism?
MJ: Wahhabism, Salafism, and the writings of people like Said Kutub, these provide the intellectual justification, but the Americans and Saudis provide the money to weaponize these people. You need both, it’s like a weapon that needs two parts to come together before it goes off.
Habilian: In your opinion, is ISIS a movement or an army? Is it retrogressive or modern? And if it is retrogressive, isn’t is inspired by the modern school of thoughts, like nihilism, which justifies violence?
MJ: They are proxy warriors. So, they are paid to do what they do. But there are inspirations in their intellectual foundations’ term. I think what it comes to Islamic variant is the version of Islam that places will above reason. Pure submission to the will of Allah even if it’s irrational. This is I think the basis they’re coming from. Also, I think they have been influenced by contemporary or recent European philosophy that is like Nietzsche. Also there is an element of nihilism, a well-driven ideology like Nietzsche as well.
Habilian: How do you evaluate western governments’ counter-terrorism policy?
MJ: It’s hypocritical. Because they support the terrorist if they do their bidding. It’s just a question of which terrorist are, it’s, it’s completely hypocritical. They support terrorism when it serves their interest. It’s that simple.
Habilian: Regarding the US support for Saudi Arabia’s genocide in Yemen and its supplement of terrorists in Syria, do you think that has this government moral credibility to lead the war on terrorism?
MJ: No, the United States has lost all credibility whatsoever in the world. There’s no moral credibility at all anymore. All it has is military power and that’s not working either. That’s the whole problem. These wars in the Middle East have destroyed America’s credibility. It’s that simple.