Trump Assembles War Cabinet, Pushes Toward Full-On Fascism
It’s Time to Say: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
March 26, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
What does it mean when the Trump/Pence regime’s new national security adviser John Bolton states, “It is perfectly legitimate for the United States to respond to the current ‘necessity’ posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons by striking first.”1
What does it mean when the regime’s new nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, agrees with Bolton on North Korea, and that both of them are on record supporting attacking Iran as well?2
And what does it mean, a year into his presidency, that Trump now feels “unbound,” “heedless of his staff,” and “determined to set the agenda himself”?3
How Dangerous Is This? Do I Need to Pay Attention? Yes, You DO!
Trump has gotten rid of those who “hemmed” in his maniacal drive to impose America First domination, no matter how many laws, treaties, and alliances are torn up or people killed in the process. Now he has two top advisers who share his barbaric approach. All these moves have greatly heightened the real danger of war, possibly in the near future, and represent leaps toward full-on fascism.
On May 12, Trump will announce whether or not he’ll continue to abide by the U.S.’s nuclear agreement with Iran and other world powers. Both Pompeo and Bolton have called for tearing up the accord. This would sharply escalate tensions, and could put the U.S. on the road toward war on Iran. In 2015, Bolton argued “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran.”4
Trump is due to meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un at the end of May. Both Bolton and Pompeo mock negotiating with North Korea and have clamored for military action. Bolton wrote the U.S. could “use airstrikes or special forces to decapitate North Korea’s national command authority, sowing chaos, and then sweep in on the ground from South Korea to seize Pyongyang, nuclear assets, key military sites and other territory.” Such an attack could spiral into a nuclear cataclysm incinerating millions.5
For a year we’ve been told the system’s mechanisms and the more traditional imperialist officials in Trump’s cabinet (the so-called “grown-ups” in the room) would prevent him from risking humanity’s future for his lunatic “Make America Great Again” agenda. Trump’s latest moves show these have been illusions—dangerous, paralyzing, deadly illusions.
Will Voting In the Democrats Stop This? NO!
Now, leading members of the ruling class are sounding the alarm—warning that Trump is assembling a “war cabinet,” and that “There are few people more likely than Mr. Bolton is to lead the country into war.” Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former State Department official under George W. Bush, says, “This is the most perilous moment in modern American history.”
These are not normal intra-ruling class critiques of this or that policy—they are dire warnings of another order, because the crisis posed by this regime is of another order.
These imperialists fear Trump is barreling toward war, which could be suicidal for their empire (and perhaps for humanity itself), and used by Trump to crush his opponents and impose total, fascist domination.6
Yet there’s barely a whimper of opposition from leading Democrats.
What does it tell you when, as Trump is assembling a war cabinet, the Democrats in the House vote for a new budget that increases U.S. military spending by $61 billion to a staggering $700 billion for the coming year?
And what does it tell you when the leading Democrat in office, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, can’t even condemn John Bolton, much less call people into the streets to oppose him. All he can say is, “I hope [Bolton] will temper his instinct to commit the men and women of our armed forces to conflicts around the globe, when we need to be focused on building the middle class here at home.”7
It tells you that the Democratic Party’s first priority is preserving U.S. imperialism and its global dominance, even if they’re genuinely concerned about how Trump is leading the empire they both represent. And it tells you that the last thing they want is to unleash the kind of massive, determined struggle by millions that could actually drive the Trump/Pence regime from power because that, too, could greatly destabilize their whole oppressive social order.
Given this reality, how does spending your time, energy, and money campaigning and then voting for these people do anything to end the grave dangers the Trump/Pence regime poses? Especially now, when the Iran nuclear agreement may be shredded and a course towards war on North Korea may be set before spring even turns to summer, that desperate hope for a “blue wave” is even more delusional and harmful.
It’s Time to Say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
The full consolidation of this regime—which has come dangerously closer in these past several weeks, would do incalculable damage to any chance at a better future. All this makes Bob Avakian’s open letter to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman last fall—“A CHALLENGE FOR PAUL KRUGMAN, AND ALL THOSE CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY”—ring out even sharper.
Does not the common recognition that this regime “may end up destroying civilization,” demand of us—of all those, of many divergent viewpoints, who can recognize that these are the stakes for humanity—that we act together, and do everything in our power, to bring about the massive political manifestation that is urgently needed to drive out this regime?
What Should I Do?
Face the reality that nobody will save us but our own united, uncompromising action—nothing else and nothing short of massive action involving thousands and then millions, nonviolent but defiant, not just for one day, but day after day... and not just taking on the monster on a single front but daring to call for its removal... holds out real and serious hope to avert the disaster that looms. And then join with RefuseFascism.org in this historic effort.
In mounting this battle, there’s nothing more important than watching and widely sharing the film of Bob Avakian’s talk—THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In The Name of Humanity We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America. A Better World IS Possible. It is the most concise, compelling, evidence-based, and damning exploration of how the history of the U.S. has led to the coming to power of the Trump/Pence regime—and why it must, and can, be driven out in the interests of humanity. Widely spreading this film can change the political terrain!
1. “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First,” Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2018. [back]
2. “Trump Names America First, Fascist Warmonger John Bolton to His War Cabinet,” revcom.us, March 22, 2018; “While You Were Being Led to Fixate on Pennsylvania’s Election, Trump’s Fascist Juggernaut Barreled Ahead,” revcom.us, March 19, 2018. [back]
3. “After Another Week of Chaos, Trump Repairs to Palm Beach. No One Knows What Comes Next.” New York Times, March 24. [back]
4. “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran,” New York Times, March 26, 2015. Bolton wrote, “The inconvenient truth is that only military action like Israel’s 1981 attack on Saddam Hussein’s Osirak reactor in Iraq or its 2007 destruction of a Syrian reactor, designed and built by North Korea, can accomplish what is required.” [back]
5. “The Military Options for North Korea,” Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2017. [back]
6. “It’s clear to me that what Donald Trump is doing is assembling a war cabinet,” Nancy McEldowney, a former National Security Council staffer in the Clinton administration, told the PBS Newshour on March 23. “There are few people more likely than Mr. Bolton is to lead the country into war,” the New York Times editorialized. (“Yes, John Bolton Really Is That Dangerous,” March 23.) Richard Haass tweeted: “@realDonaldTrump is now set for war on 3 fronts: political vs. Bob Mueller, economic vs. China/others on trade, and actual vs. Iran and/or North Korea. This is the most perilous moment in modern American history-and it has been largely brought about by ourselves, not by events.” [back]
7. “How the Left and the Right Reacted to John Bolton as National Security Adviser,” New York Times, March 22. [back]
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