The U.S. is cutting its military spending, but that does not mean peace for soldiers and workers around the world. The current spending "cuts" demonstrate how the U.S. is actually preparing for another world war in the near future. In fact, they aren't cutting spending, but rather relocating the money to fit their new strategy of "pivot to Asia-Pacific."
According to The Washington Post, the U.S. claims to cut military spending to "chip away at the federal deficit while reorienting the armed forces toward Asia." This strategy has as a target their two main rivals, China and Russia. Therefore, it is no surprise that Russia's military spending, according to the L.A. Times, "rose 16%... in 2012." China is currently the second-largest military buyer, and increased its military spending by 7.8%.
We often hear that Russia and China are economic and military foes of the U.S. This competition will become a faceoff in a world war, where the U.S. bosses will have to draft soldiers. Remember that during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, more than 13,000 soldiers were required to extend their service without volunteering. This was essentially a draft. And even though the "stop-loss" practice has been currently eliminated, a draft can and will be implemented during a major conflict.
Even before a draft, soldiers must realize that imperialists' interests are not our interests, and we must fight for communism, which, by eliminating capitalist competition and profit, will end imperialist wars for profit. We may even talk about this imperialist rivalry among ourselves in the barracks.
As soldiers, we must discuss this issue in the context of our interests, not the interests of the imperialists. The bosses here in the U.S., and in China and Russia, will send us to fight and kill each other to save their imperialist profits. They will attempt to convince us that it is in our security and economic interests.
There are, in fact, many soldiers at this moment whose only chance of having a steady job is by joining the military. The truth is that soldiers come from working class families. Yet we are under the impression that we must serve our rulers in order to feed and protect our families. But we must reject this notion because the imperialist rulers send us to war to die and kill for their interests, not ours!
In fact, soldiers and workers in the US, China and Russia are class brothers and sisters who share a common enemy: the capitalist bosses.
As imperialists ready themselves to go to war with each other, workers and soldiers around the world must prepare for a war against all imperialists. They trust us with their arms and weapons. Workers and soldiers ultimately create and handle warfare technology. We have witnessed the rebellions in Egypt and Brazil. When workers and soldiers join together around the world to fight for their own interests, they are an unstoppable force. When the imperialists force millions to join the military, we should be prepared to welcome a draft as an opportunity where even more workers and soldiers can join forces and organize for a communist revolution.
Our communist teachers should win their students to go into industry and the military. We should all struggle with our friends and co-workers to distribute Red Flag to their children and other relatives in the army, and to organize social- political events so that we can get to know them.
All industrial workers who read Red Flag should encourage their young relatives to join the army to mobilize their fellow soldiers for communism. In this way, we will prepare the soldiers of the world to ally with the workers of the world to fight for communism.