The war against Iran: Lessons still unlearned

The war launched by the USA and Israel against Iran is rapidly turning into a fiasco and bringing misery to the Iranian people.

The US President’s dreams that everything will end in a few days and that the Iranian people will rise up against the cruel regime have now turned into a nightmare visited by Trump on the world.

global economy It’s on the brink of disaster as oil dries up. America and Israel have further isolated themselves from world opinion, and outside of a shrinking group of semi-vassal states such as Australia, Trump appears alone and increasingly dangerous.

War offers many lessons, but although life and history are great teachers, there seem to be very few students ready to learn these lessons. This is equally true of defenders of US power, governments of all stripes, and many of those on the Left who claim Marxist identity.

The war was never about “saving” the Iranian people from a right-wing theocracy. This was about securing a cohesive regime that would secure the flow of oil and enable the United States, as a fading imperial power, to maintain global hegemony, both politically and economically.

The slogan that accompanied the wars of aggression against Iraq, tore Libya apart, and devastated much of the Middle East was: No Blood for Oil! Years pass, but still the same disgusting motivation to plunder the world and destroy a people remains.

Our mainstream media knows this to be true, even though the “story” shifts its focus to Iranian retaliation and the oil pressure caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The same media focus on potential oil shortages, and rightly so, but seem less willing to attribute this invasion to the fact that people are paying stupid prices for oil. gasoline and diesel.

Fewer voices can be heard to remind people how the war started and who is responsible. This became largely the responsibility of the Left, that is, of Marxists and those campaigning against war and imperialism.

It’s as it should be, but something is very wrong. Marxism is quite clear that economy is the determining factor and policy works with and responds to economic demands. War, then, can only be understood from an economic perspective. But is it understood this way? Unfortunately no.

Some see this as a political gamble by a beleaguered and dangerously unstable US President. Some portray this as a way to eliminate any potential risks to Israel’s dominance in the region. Some are taking a step closer, acknowledging the strategic desire to weaken China, the main customer of Iranian oil.

All these evaluations are enough to place the blame on the USA and Israel, but there is a deeper, more worrying aspect to this. The United States has been and continues to be the greatest military power and the greatest economic power the world has ever seen. As the Marxist Left would say, it is an imperialist power. It is also a diminishing power.

His main preoccupation for decades has been how to stem the rising tide of his great rival. The rise of China, accompanied by a global capitalist economy running out of ideas and stamina, ensures that wars will either end, start, or be in the planning stages. The failed economic structure is dragging the world to a point of no return. The war against Iran is a war in this endless spiral of decay. As the central power of the capitalist global economy, the United States is more than ready to destroy entire nations in an effort to keep the sinking ship afloat.

No crime is too much. US bombing of girls’ schools in Iran, Israel’s destruction of oil facilities on the Tehran border, acid rain and an unimaginable civil health disaster is making all reasonable people sick. But those who plan such actions are not among the reasonable ones.

These actions must be condemned. Governments need to show at least a modicum of civility. Our Prime Minister needs to stop staying in the shadows and take action. He needs to condemn such actions. “No!” He needs to find the courage to say it. and work to secure the natural resources needed to keep Australia functioning. This is very unlikely. Our political structures are such that they are completely dependent on the demands and interests of the USA.

Those who took to the streets out of anger deserve better than Babil, which has become a protest movement. The latest action in Melbourne was dominated by increasingly sharp accusations against Israel, with talk of the US and its causal responsibility for the war an afterthought at best. Protest has value, is necessary, and has purpose. It also needs to be focused if it is to have any value or purpose.

Protest is also about winning people’s hearts and minds. Sound and fury may be therapy for some, but numbers must matter and numbers must increase, people must be educated, encouraged to talk to others, a movement must be built that can move beyond the noise.

Part of this building process must include raising collective consciousness. He must be able to show and convince people that this or that crime of the USA, Israel, imperialism is not something isolated or in any way perverted, but a symptom of a deeper, structural crisis. It is not enough for ideologues to make unrealizable demands. The protest movement, the anti-war movement, should aim to provide a tool, a voice, for those who want something better than news screens filled with war stories and the Federal Government marching to the pathetic drums and whistles of the fading US empire.

European Union leaders are ready to step back a bit; say there is war It’s not their war. It’s hard to imagine an Australian government being brave enough to question everything coming from Washington. As the sun of US hegemony sets, Australia looks set to go down with the American ship.

William Briggs is a political economist. His particular interests are political theory and international political economy. He has variously been a teacher, journalist and political activist.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect the editorial position of Independent Australia.

Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.