On the U.S. Assassination of Soleimani and the Heightened Danger of War:
Oppose U.S. Imperialist Aggression—Trump/Pence Out Now!

Updated January 4, 2020 | revcom.us

 

The world has been rocked by the U.S. assassination of the Iranian general Qassim Soleimani. Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force, an Iranian government force that commands militias in different countries of the region. The assassination of a high government official of one sovereign state on the soil of another sovereign state is objectively an act of war by the U.S. This assassination will set off a spiral of tit for tat which carries grave dangers for the people of that region, and the world as a whole.

To be clear: Soleimani was a longtime butcher for the reactionary Iranian regime, which itself has committed real crimes against the people. But the butchery carried out by America in that region alone is 1,000 times greater than anything the likes of Soleimani could dream of! It is critically important that people in this country oppose this American act of war with mass political action.

Why Is the U.S. Carrying Out Assassination and Mass Murder in the Middle East in the First Place?

The purpose of all the U.S. soldiers and mercenaries in the Middle East is this: to dominate a strategically vital part of the world that has oil and energy resources. The U.S. aims not only to plunder these resources, but even more to gain leverage over other rival and allied powers like China, Japan, and Europe that need these resources (and to contend with local powers like Iran that also seek to project their influence in the region). To do this, the U.S. has directly invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, sponsored wars and coups by puppets and proxies in many more countries, and carried out drone assassinations all over the region.¹ In the past three decades alone, millions of ordinary people have died in that region over these conflicts, with the vast, vast majority of these murders “made in the USA.”

Trump is already telling you that the purpose of this was to “save American lives.” Leaving aside the real purpose of this assassination—again, to fight for U.S. domination of an entire region of people—and what these “American personnel” are doing over there in the first place (which was to act as willing tools to the murder and brutality involved in that “mission”), let us make this fundamental point from Bob Avakian: “American Lives Are Not More Important Than Other People’s Lives.”

These wars and war crimes stem from a system, U.S.-dominated capitalism-imperialism. This system grinds up the lives of billions of people a day all over the globe. The wars that the system wages, generation after generation, are one big reason it must be overthrown, through revolution. And in fact, humanity does not need this system—it could live a whole different way! There is a Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian, that sets out a blueprint for how a revolutionary society on the road to emancipation could relate to the rest of the world: doing away with relations of exploitation and plunder, and actively healing the wounds of the past and overcoming the inequalities of today. The fact that these crimes are unnecessary makes them all the more painful and intolerable.

Clashes at the Top, Openings for the People

In addition to whatever “blowback” of different kinds the U.S. may get abroad, there is also opposition within the U.S. Demonstrations are taking place all over the country this weekend, and more need to happen. Forces within the U.S. ruling class opposed to Trump (the top Democrats and liberal media like CNN, the New York Times, etc.) are raising questions. Some worry that this is an impulsive move, with no viable strategy behind it, one that could backfire in very serious ways against the U.S. Some point to the way that U.S. allies—and adversaries—around the world are opposing this. Others are openly questioning Trump’s motivations and point out his whole history as a habitual, self-serving liar.

This opposition generally proceeds from and often openly couches itself in terms of what will advance U.S.—that is, imperialist—interests in the region, and the spokespeople for it generally reinforce the idea that the U.S. are “the good guys” in the region. These ideas are false and damaging and have to be struggled against. But these conflicts also create more space for others to raise questions and opposition of different kinds.

All of this takes place in the context of Trump’s impeachment and his looming trial in the Senate. Trump will doubtless use this attack on Iran and whatever conflict ensues from it to demand “national unity” around him. But this may not be so easy to do, especially if the suspicion spreads that he may have ordered the attack in part to serve his struggle to stay in office.

To be clear: while the Democrats are themselves defenders of this criminal system and this system itself must ultimately be overthrown, the Trump/Pence fascist regime poses an urgent and immediate threat to humanity—a threat both highlighted and aggravated by this attack—and this regime must be driven out, now. In this context, and especially with forces at the top of society now divided, if people take up the kind of massive, sustained, nonviolent protest demanding the ouster of the whole regime that RefuseFascism.org and the #OUTNOW! Movement are fighting for, this could change the whole equation for the better.

Let us seize the time.

U.S. OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST!

TRUMP/PENCE FASCIST REGIME OUT NOW!

REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!

 

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1. See these articles in the “American Crime” series at revcom.us:

• “1953 CIA Coup in Iran: Torture and Repression – Made in the U.S.A.”
• “November 2004—War Crime Fallujah”
• “U.S.-UN Sanctions on Iraq—‘A Legitimized Act of Mass Slaughter’”
• “‘Operation Iraqi Freedom,’ 2003”
• “The 1991 Persian Gulf War – ‘Operation Desert Storm’”
• “Israel’s U.S.-Armed and -Backed Massacre in Gaza (2008-2009)”
• “U.S. Proxy War Against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, 1979-1988”
• “The Afghanistan and Iraq War Logs and the Persecution of Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and WikiLeaks”
• “Mass Murder in the Skies Over Iran: The Shoot-Down of Passenger Flight 655… by the U.S. Navy.”  [back]