Selection from "On the Escalation of War in the Colonies", 2518

The following is an excerpt from Felix Costel's seminal essay, "On the Escalation of War in the Colonies", published on April 11, 2518, in the Nassau Journal of Political Science. 
... One need only look at the events of the past two decades to get an understanding of the military's inevitable failure. Take the focus of much of our government's attention and ire: the Eridanus system. The system was wrested from independent control by the military in 2497, only for it to once again reassert itself as separate from Earth's rule a mere 5 years ago. The success of the 2496 campaign clearly will not be replicated here, as the renewed conflict on Eridanus II has turned into a prolonged guerrilla campaign akin to those seen on the numerous other colony worlds that have since sought their independence. 
Secretary of Defense Yi has insisted on the imminent success of UNSC forces on the world; I ask, where is this success? A Marine division did "liberate" Elysium City last year, and then immediately lost control of it less than three months later. Casualty reports have only increased. At the time of writing this, the number of UNSC personnel killed and wounded on Eridanus II has entered into the 60,000 range, with even the most conservative estimates suggesting a total civilian death toll well into the hundreds of thousands. The protracted campaign in Eridanus has proven only to be a bloody repetition of those on Gao, on Gilgamesh, on Mamore, on Olduvai - need I continue?
This is all not even to mention those worlds that seem to remain outside of the military's reach entirely. The independent forces on Alpha Corvi II have yet to meet Marines in action on their own world. Then there is the most frustrating example of Thebes, which not only remains entirely untouchable by our military, but provides a guiding example to other separatist movements for what a stable, free, and independent society may yet look like. And, of course, the constant threat of Theban "advisors" and "volunteers" deployed abroad. 
All across known space, one can see military failure after failure. The future holds little hope for any future attempts Earth will make at reclaiming her wayward children.
So, the question is then: what is to be done?
I believe the answer to be simple: withdraw from the Outer Colonies, grant sovereignty to those that wish it, recognize them, and work with them for future, improved relations.
However, this will never happen. Frankly, it is not something that shall even be considered by our esteemed government. No change in administration or party control of the Senate will be effective in changing this. The bottom line remains thus: it is not within the economic interests of Earth or the Inner Colonies to let the Outer Colonies go free, and so they will never accept this outcome. The continued escalation of military presence in this region of space only serves as a proof of this.
The mechanisms of interstellar capitalism ensure that the less-developed worlds will remain at the mercy of the more-developed worlds. Within the industrialized and urbanized Inner Colonies, production must always increase, and growth must always continue. Such a state can only be ensured by the continued transference of resources and raw material from the Outer to the Inner Colonies, and to Earth. Releasing the Outer Colonies poses a direct threat to this status quo. 
If granted political sovereignty and the ability to determine their economic futures, who is to say that the Outer Colonies will not prevent the Inner Colonies from accessing their wealth of resources (and who is to say that they would be wrong to do so? Certainly not I.)? Even something has simple and small as a tariff on exports threatens this status quo: increased cost of resource acquisition means increased cost of production means decreased growth. To the capitalists of Earth and the Inner Colonies, this is unacceptable. The only acceptable outcome is the continued acquisition of cheap, easily acquired resources to fuel the continued growth of Earth's corporations and Earth's government, though they would never admit as much. 
And then is the fact that, put simply, war is profitable. The more men and matériel deployed to worlds like Gao, or Eridanus II, or Mamore, the more the government of Earth is required to buy, the greater the profit for the corporations of Earth and the Inner Colonies. For them is created a situation that is almost impossible to lose: either the UNSC is successful in firmly reclaiming the Outer Colonies (however unlikely this might be in reality) and maintain continued access to its cheap and plentiful resources, or the UNSC continues its campaigns ad infinitum, forced to purchase ever greater quantities of body armor, weapons, warships, etc., etc., as Earth's complete withdrawal from the region is, once again, not an option of serious consideration. In turn, corporations acquire more money to slide into the pockets of Senators, and a greater ability to fund new research and development to further support the war effort. Thus, there is simply no incentive for Earth to ever cease its campaigns. Here, I recall Randolph Bourne, who described it most succinctly: "war is the health of the state".
The only other solution is, then, to grant the Outer Colonies the necessary strength to resist Earth's aggression. ...