EDITORIAL
Middle East:
The U.S. Government Is Coordinating and Escalating the War

Apr 22, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is busy assuring the U.S. public that the war in the Middle East is calming down. He says that the U.S. is “committed to deescalating” the situation.

This in the wake of over 34,000 Palestinian deaths and rising. This in addition to the continuing starvation, daily bombing, and massacres imposed by Israeli forces, in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.

The chances of ever-widening war in the Middle East are increasing by the hour and the U.S. military is responsible. By its own actions and by enabling Israel’s aggression, the U.S. government is escalating the chances of engulfing the entire region in war, playing with matches in a tinderbox.

The 300 missile barrage Iran launched at Israel gave the U.S. government the opportunity to showcase its dominance in military affairs in the entire region and to take the spotlight off the continued killing in Gaza and the West Bank. It was the U.S. military that coordinated the plans to repel Iran’s expected attack. Two U.S. fighter squadrons, two U.S. naval destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea, and anti-missile systems at a U.S. military base in Iraq shot down the majority of the Iranian drones and missiles.

To sum it up, in the words of U.S. General Alexus G. Grynkewich, as reported by The Intercept, “We take whatever assets we have that are in theater … under our tactical control or in a direct support role across the joint force and coalition, and we stitch them together so that we can synchronize the fires and effects when we get into that air defense fight.”

The “assets” used in this latest operation are just a small part of the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. The U.S. already had military bases in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, naval warships in the Mediterranean, and air bases in Germany and throughout Europe that can fire on the Middle East. After Israel’s invasion of Gaza, the U.S. government sent more warships into the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and near Iran.

It is the U.S military network that stood behind Israel as it repeatedly bombed Gaza without fear of retaliation by surrounding Arab states. It is what allowed the April 1 Israeli airstrike which destroyed the Iranian embassy in the Syrian city of Damascus, killing 16 people including some leading Iranian generals. Blinken and his boss, Joe Biden, were obviously advised of this planned, blatant attack. For all their belligerent rhetoric about the Iran missile barrage, noticeably the U.S. government said nothing about Israel’s bombing of the Iranian embassy which prompted Iran’s response.

Yes, Israel is engaged in the attacks. But as a proxy, an armed wing, of the U.S. military. The Israeli military function is special: it is Top Gun for U.S. imperialism, always protecting U.S. corporations’ access to the oil and resources in the Middle East. It receives the highest levels of U.S. military aid of all countries for weapons of war, paid for by U.S. taxpayer dollars. After all, the oil riches are taken away from the millions of workers and poor in the Middle East to serve the interests of a tiny global ruling class. The U.S. reserves its right to go to war against any Middle East regime which is not fully aligned with U.S. imperialism.

When war spreads, it will not be limited to the borders of the Middle East. It will not only be the people of the Middle East who are at risk. At the same time sinking the working class deeper into poverty, they are ready to draft troops directly into the Middle East or elsewhere.

The U.S. government is moving the world closer to a world war—a war in which no one in any country will be safe. It will be a war that will be against the interests of working people of this country and of every country.

The working class, truly international and with interests directly opposed to capitalism, can use its collective power to stop the descent into war being brought by capitalism. By engaging an international revolutionary fight to bring down imperialism.