From Iran to Palestine: Stop the U.S. - Israeli war machine

The attack on Iran is illegal and unjustified and will further destabilize the region which is already in the throes of violence initiated by the US and the Israeli state.

The Israelis started the attack and the US was quick to join them. Their justifications for the war have little to no basis in fact or logic. Marco Rubio stated that the US needed to join in a ‘preemptive’ attack to stop Iran from firing at US bases in the region — which it only did in retaliation for the Israeli/US attack in the first place.

Regime change?

They state that the goal is to change the regime in Iran in solidarity with the people protesting their government in that country. All the attack has done is solidify the ruling class position inside Iran. Whenever there is an attack of this kind people tend to rally around their rulers in the hope that they will protect them. It also gives the rulers further justification to shut down opposition movements.

You cannot bomb people and call it liberation. The only path to freedom for the Iranian people is through self-determination and independent struggle.

Iranian workers protesting their government have made the same case,  "The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company stresses the necessity of continuing independent, conscious, and organized protests. We have said it many times, and we repeat it again: the road to liberation for workers and working people does not run through manufactured “leaders” imposed from above, reliance on foreign powers, or factions within the ruling establishment. It runs through unity, solidarity, and building independent organizations in workplaces and communities, and at the national level."

The US is in no position to achieve the regime change they desire. This could only be achieved if they led an invasion of Iran but that is unlikely. The Pentagon estimates that the US would need at least a half a million troops to secure the country and they don’t have that many available.

The only thing that the US can achieve is mass destruction of the country. All they can do is launch air and missile attacks. They will certainly kill a lot of people but that's not the same as establishing control.

The track record of the US in recent invasions in the region prove that they have no intention of bringing peace or liberation to the people. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, the US installed brutal governments after their invasions. In Afghanistan they installed the drug warlords after ousting the Taliban and in Iraq they instituted a new governing structure designed to create the conditions for sectarian conflict and war.

Weapons of mass destruction?

The third justification for the bombings offered by Trump is the need to end the Iranian nuclear weapons program. It is almost laughable that they are still relying on this argument. After the 12 day war, Trump announced that the Iranian nuclear program had been completely obliterated. The US and the Israelis have been saying that Iran is 6 months away from building nuclear weapons for the last 30 years.

The Iranian nuclear program — which was set up by the US under the Shah in the 70s — is the most scrutinized on the planet. Meanwhile the Israelis have a completely illegal nuclear weapons program that has not been subject to any inspections since its inception. And the US is, of course, the only state that has actually used nuclear weapons on civilians.

The hypocrisy is astounding but the Trump administration seems to have no ability to self-reflect on these contradictions and sees itself as above the rule of international law and norms.

Ironically, the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei means that the US killed the last member of the senior Iranian leadership that was open to negotiating an end to the nuclear program. The new leadership is much more hardline and will be an even more intractable foe.

The US and the Israelis have started a war with no discernible end goal. The cycle of attacks and retaliation on US bases by Iran has the possibility of spiralling out of control and has certainly made the world a more dangerous place.

What is behind the war?

The main reason why Iran has been a target for the US for the last 40 years is because it refuses to accept US domination and is part of the rival bloc that threatens US imperial rule.
 
Iran is allied with the United States' main rival — China — and has been an important supplier of fossil fuels that has helped China’s economic growth for years.

The Pentagon strategy is one of denying China the ability to secure allied states, thus curtailing its growth.

That is also what is behind the moves to kick China out of Latin America, particularly Cuba, Venezuela and Panama.

The US wants to remain the sole global superpower and will destroy any country that challenges that domination.

The inter-imperial rivalry between the US and China gets closer to outright conflict every time the US launches another assault.  

Palestine and Lebanon

The United States’ proxy army in the Middle East — Israel — is being counted on to help maintain control of the region.

As the attacks on Iran continue, the Israelis have enacted even more draconian policies against the people of Palestine. They have completely shut Gaza from the outside world and are continuing with their bombings and starvation campaigns. They have shut down checkpoints across the West Bank and accelerated land grabs led by the military and the settler groups.

They have also begun a new invasion and mass bombing campaign in Lebanon. The UN estimates that the Israelis have violated the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon more than 10,000 times, including more than 7,500 air strikes and 2,500 ground incursions.

The fantasy for the Zionists is to create a ‘Greater Israel’ encompassing huge swaths of territory in Lebanon, Syria, all of the occupied territories and in Egypt. All of this is in contravention of International law, but as the genocide in Gaza has laid bare, there are no consequences for Israel as long as they are backed by the US.

Carney and Canadian support

Canadian Prime minister Mark Carney, shamefully, announced full support for the US/Israeli aggression. The Canadian government remains steadfast in its support for US imperialism, as it has for decades under both the Liberals and the Conservatives.

This is a far cry from the speech that Carney gave in Davos chastising unilateralism and bullying by the US. He was lauded as a great statesman for speaking the truth about how power imbalance really works in the global imperial system.

When it came time to speak up against that abuse after the attacks on Iran, Carney showed that he isn’t really opposed to the great power game and is, in fact, onside with the goals of the US.

The Canadian ruling class is equally bullish on the war. Canadian fossil fuel companies see the conflict, and the subsequent spike in fossil fuel prices, as an opportunity. The longer the war goes on the better it will be for tar sands producers. So we should not expect any condemnation from the Carney Liberals.

Indeed, the Liberals are not just onside with this war but are still selling weapons to the Israelis and the Americans. Carney is also looking to oversee the largest increases in weapons production in the history of the country. His budget outlined an increase in annual military spending from $30 billion to $150 billion by 2035.

This money will be redirected from crucial social services such as healthcare, education, federal services, transit funding, Indigenous supports and environmental programs.

Carney has exposed himself as a warmonger and movements in Canada must continue to target his support for US imperialism. 

The anti-war movement in the US

This war is already deeply unpopular in the US. In polling after the attack, only 27% of the population is in favour with a majority opposed.

Demonstrations began within hours. At the time of writing there have been hundreds of protests across the country.

All this is happening in a context of cratering popularity for Trump. The movement against his racist ICE thugs attacking and killing Americans has been broad and deep.

The impact of the Israeli genocide cannot be overlooked as part of understanding the shifts in consciousness of the American people. Recent polling showed a staggering shift towards support for Palestine. Gallup polls show that in the 18-34 year old range, 17% supported Israel and 65% supported Palestine. This is a dramatic change from a few years ago.

Empire in decline

We are watching the US empire in a period of decline. The US remains the most powerful economic and military power globally but they are spending a huge amount of time and money to maintain that position. History teaches us that imperial overstretch eventually exhausts the resources of the core.

They may look all powerful now but that will change. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, initial swift victories made the US look unassailable but both wars ended in humiliating defeat.

Since the war in Vietnam, a combination of the resilience of the resistance movements under attack and a mass anti-war movement combined to force the US to end these wars with little or no gains. If that same constellation of forces can come together this time we can hasten the demise of US imperialism.