For the U.S., these wars, interventions and attacks are not being waged to bring “peace,” liberation, or a better life to the people. These wars are waged to maintain America’s deadly, suffocating stranglehold on the Middle East and the world, and to ensure the continued existence and regional dominance of their mass-murdering partner, Israel.
Iran is a country oppressed and dominated by world imperialism. Its Islamic Republic is a reactionary, patriarchal theocracy. Its aim has never been to break out of imperialism’s grip on Iran but rather to increase its own influence and position within the global capitalist-imperialist system, including by making deals with the U.S. when it can, or with other imperialist powers such as Russia and China.
Neither side in this war should be supported. But by far the greater aggressor and danger to humanity is represented by the U.S. and its Middle East outpost, Israel. And people within the U.S. have the responsibility to vigorously oppose the crimes and war moves of both the U.S. and Israel.
The Clashing Reactionary Interests Driving the Danger of Wider, More Destructive War Haven’t Receded… They’ve Intensified
After Israel concluded its attack on Iran, Biden said, “I hope this is the end” of the escalating back-and-forth attacks between Israel and Iran, and that it would now be possible to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, lowering tensions in the region.
The reality, however, is that Biden and the leaders of Israel and Iran fundamentally are driven to act by the nature and workings of the systems they represent, and how they perceive what’s necessary to maintain and strengthen those systems. And the workings of the capitalist-imperialist system, which all of them are enmeshed in, pit different capitalists, different factions of the ruling classes, and different countries against each other in various, sometimes unpredictable, ways.
Right now those conflicts are extremely sharp in the Middle East and have been getting sharper and sharper over the last year in particular. Israel’s “restraint” in its latest attack on Iran doesn’t change that.
Take the U.S. Biden and Harris are both staunch supporters of Israel as a crucial bastion and armed enforcer for the U.S. in the Middle East. Both share Israel’s goal of containing, weakening or outright defeating Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. But on the global stage, it is also crucial for the U.S. to position itself as a defender of “human rights” and international law—i.e., the current U.S.-dominated order. In that light, indiscriminate, blatantly genocidal actions by Israel in Gaza create problems for the U.S. on that front. And in the Middle East, U.S. dominance doesn’t just depend on having an Israel in the region but also on alliances with other reactionary Arab regimes—including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf States. And Israel’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon are making it difficult, if not impossible, at the moment for the U.S. to forge the kind of anti-Iran coalitions they’ve been seeking.
Meanwhile, both Russia and China contend for influence in the region against the U.S. China, for instance, recently hosted talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, in a bid to pose as the peacemaker between two regimes that contend for regional influence… and begin to pull a key American ally (Saudi Arabia) out of the U.S.’s tight orbit.
Take Israel. The outlook of the dominant political forces in Israel are that this Zionist state cannot continue to exist indefinitely without “resolving” the issues of the Palestinian people and Israel’s external enemies. That is what has driven its frenzied, barbaric genocide against the people of Gaza and its terroristic assaults on the people of Gaza. Netanyahu’s party, Likud, literally calls for the Jewish state to stretch from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea—that is, all of historic Palestine.
And most in Israel’s leadership consider Iran an existential threat, especially if it’s able to produce nuclear weapons. These forces are now emboldened—especially following the severe blows they’ve inflicted on Hezbollah in Lebanon—by the sense that they may have a once-in-a lifetime opportunity: “The strategic goal at the end of the day is creating a reality that Iran won’t pose any threat, not now or not in the future,” one Israeli analyst said.
This is why right-wing Israeli politicians are already criticizing Netanyahu for not seizing the moment to carry out a much broader attack. Israel’s fascist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Saturday’s strikes should only be an “opening blow.” And further attacks aimed at “damaging Iran’s strategic assets” must come next. A former Prime Minister wrote, “The decision not to attack strategic and economic targets in Iran was wrong. We could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran.”
Israel may already be planning follow-on attacks, perhaps after the U.S. elections. And they may be further emboldened by the U.S. warning to Iran not to respond to Israel’s latest attacks, or else they would face a “U.S. response.”
Israel could also be emboldened because their attacks on Saturday may have significantly degraded Iran’s air defenses and missile capabilities, including around key energy installations, leaving Iran more vulnerable.