Saudi Arabia Accuses Iran of “Act of War,” U.S. Rulers Jump on Board…
How Are We Being Trained to See the World?

November 9, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Saudi Arabia claims that this past weekend a missile was fired from Yemen at its capital, Riyadh. The Saudi rulers accused Iran of supplying it for the express purpose of attacking Saudi Arabia, and declared this constituted an “act of war” and a “war crime” by Iran. 

Now the Trump/Pence regime has jumped in to back the Saudi story and fuel the fires of anti-Iran outrage. On Tuesday, Ambassador Nikki Haley went before the United Nations, declared the missile in question “may be of Iranian origin,” accused Iran of “perpetuating the war in Yemen,” and called for international action against Iran.

Never mind that neither the U.S. nor the Saudis have provided any proof. Never mind Iran denies it was involved. Never mind that the missile was reportedly of Yemeni design, or that Yemen’s military claims they fired the missile. 

But leaving aside for a moment whether or not Saudi Arabia’s charges are true or not, what if Iran had supplied the missile that was fired?

Why should we all get whipped up into a frenzy of outrage about this one alleged Iranian missile … when Saudi Arabia has been dropping hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S.-supplied bombs on markets, churches, apartment buildings, food plants, hospitals, and many other civilian targets in Yemen for over two years? 

Why should we focus our outrage on Iran because it may have supplied weapons to the Houthi movement in Yemen fighting the Saudis … when the U.S. imperialists have supplied Saudi Arabia with more than a hundred billion dollars worth of weapons of mass slaughter in the last decade alone—including one $1.3 billion deal for 22,000 bombs and other munitions of murder? 

The Saudis and the U.S. denounce Iran for “aggression” and “war crimes”…. as they are carrying out what is unarguably one of the most cruel, barbaric, and murderous wars being waged anywhere on the planet. 

This ruthless Saudi bombing campaign—using U.S. bombs, aided by U.S. intelligence, and made possible by U.S. mid-air refueling—and its naval blockade could serve as an encyclopedia of war crimes. It has plunged one of the world’s poorest countries even deeper into humanitarian hell. Today, over 17 million people in Yemen need food aid to survive, seven million face starvation, including more than two million malnourished children—including 385,000 who require aid and treatment just to stay alive. As if this weren’t horrific enough, 900,000 people—including tens of thousands of children—are infected with cholera. This totally preventable epidemic has been brought on by Saudi Arabia’s destruction of Yemen’s water, sewage, health systems, and food production and imports.  

And now, after this incident, Saudi Arabia has tightened its embargo, blocked all entry points to Yemen, shutting off even desperately needed humanitarian aid from reaching its millions of hungry, sick, and starving people. Some 15 humanitarian agencies warned of a “nightmare scenario”—the largest famine the world has seen for decades “with millions of victims”—if the blockade wasn’t immediately lifted. 

When is a genocidal slaughter by missiles, bombs, and blockades a “good thing”?

When is a genocidal slaughter by missiles, bombs, and blockades a “good thing”?  According to the U.S. rulers and the dominant media, when the U.S. or an ally is carrying it out. When is a single missile cause to ramp up war threats and danger of war? When it supposedly comes from a country the U.S. and its allies see as a threat ...

This is how people are being trained (not) to think: to see “U.S. interests”—the interests of America’s global empire of exploitation and oppression—as their own interests. At the core of this, the U.S. rulers are training people to stay in the grip of the GTF—the “Great Tautological Fallacy”—which Bob Avakian breaks down in his new, one-hour talk The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible.

Free yourself from the GTF! The Great Tautological Fallacy. A fallacy: an idea, or way of thinking that is false, wrong. A tautology: a round-in-a-circle way of reasoning that asserts something and then claims to prove it by merely asserting the same thing again.  

So, the Great Tautological Fallacy to which I am referring is the notion that America is a force for good in the world and therefore whatever it does is good (or at least done with “good intentions”) even if the same thing when done by other forces, especially by forces opposed to “us,” is bad, is evil. Because … because America is a force for good in the world. 

This is very harmful and dangerous because our interests actually lie in opposing the interests and actions of America’s global empire of exploitation and oppression, and those of its allies like Saudi Arabia. 

Stop Thinking Like Americans, Start Thinking About Humanity!

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