As we go to press, there are news reports that a framework for negotiating a settlement of the monstrous and unprovoked U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is in the process of being worked through. With so much unclear, we want to focus on four main points of orientation for the coming days:
One. Right now more is up in the air than is settled. To begin with, the character and main points of the supposed framework for settlement are not clear and it is not even clear whether the two sides actually agree on what it says. There are also reports that the Israeli prime minister Netan-Nazi is very dissatisfied with what appear to be important parts of the proposed settlement and may try to pressure Trump to demand more. In short, there are many variables and unknowns—and many sharp struggles among the imperialists themselves—and until the settlement is reached, the war is not over.
Bob Avakian: Free Yourself from the GTF! The Great Tautological Fallacy
Two. Any settlement cannot change the ugly and criminal character of the U.S.-Israeli aggression. Even launching the war, especially while negotiations were going on, was a major war crime. Then, on top of that, there have been deliberate murderous attacks against civilians and infrastructure vital for people’s survival, and Trump’s relentless and repeated threats to commit genocide—a threat which in and of itself is a war crime! Here we have to point out that a number of senators, both Republi-fascists and Democrats, have raised questions about the settlement. If you were to think that they might oppose it because it was a totally unjust and unprovoked war—well, you would be wrong. They—again, including the Democrats—oppose the settlement because it is supposedly “not tough enough.”
Three. At the same time, the degree of turmoil within the U.S. ruling class at this early point reflects the sharpness of the contradictions among them—including even among the fascists themselves—over how to handle the extremely difficult situation this war has landed them in. Such contradictions could become even sharper and more significant as things develop.
Four. The shameful silence of the American people in the face of these horrors and crimes must stop. This silence is a symptom of a larger problem—a problem with how people are trained to think about the world and about America. The thinking behind this silence and passivity are gone into and thoroughly shredded in Bob Avakian’s recent article “The New York Times Insists on Support for War Crimes—When They Are “Our” War Crimes”. Seize the time now to get this out and, if you already have gotten it out, to follow up.
This thinking that America is still somehow “a force for good in the world” must change…on a massive scale…if humanity is to have even a shot at surviving what lies ahead.
