Is This World War III? here ♦ Capitalist War Means Environmental Disaster here ♦
US/Israel/Iran: Is This World War III?
April 21— Is this World War III? Comrades and friends are asking everywhere. Especially now that the US imperialists’ Marines have destroyed Iranian ships on the high seas. And as it leaks out that a US general had to talk Trump out of dropping a nuclear bomb on Iran last Saturday.
But that’s not the main question. In this period of expanding fascism and war, the main question is: What can we do more, and do better, to mobilize masses for communist revolution? And to establish communist liberated zones that will, in the end, merge into a classless communist world without capitalist competition, borders, nations, or any other reason for war.
As we go to press, Iran cancelled “peace” talks in Pakistan. Trump has lost a war he didn’t have to start. He desperately needs a way out. US imperialism has long been in a slow decline and would still be, even without Trump. But he may have pushed it over a cliff.
Talks in Pakistan. Not in Qatar. That’s significant.
Last May, India provoked a major (though short) four-day armed conflict with Pakistan in Kashmir. Two nuclear-armed powers. Pakistan won handily with the help of integrated Chinese high-end weapons and surveillance technology. In the first major contest between Chinese and Western military hardware, China showed that its military gear can compete and even prevail.
Last June, Israel (backed by the US) waged a twelve-day war on Iran. The main aim was to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability. Hundreds of Iranian civilians died. But Iran’s nuclear program survived. And it started to get that Chinese military gear.
Seeing the writing on the wall, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a comprehensive mutual defense pact in September. For decades, the Saudi rulers quietly shared a common security arrangement with the USA, the Emirates, Qatar, and Israel. Now, they are openly allied with Pakistan, whose main trading partner is the USA, but whose main military partner is China. While Modi aligned India with Israel.
Iran has sent weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. And it sent oil via “ghost ships,” circumventing sanctions. Russia has helped Iran with satellite launches and with its nuclear program.
Whatever happens between the USA, Israel, and Iran in coming weeks, the world is already at war.
And workers everywhere are suffering. From shortages of cooking gas. From higher prices. From scarcities. And of course from genocidal wars in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran. In Myanmar, Sudan, Congo.
Even if a “peace” agreement is signed, even if it lasts more than a few weeks, conditions for our international working class would not improve. “Peace” is an illusion as long as the class war rages. Our task is to win that class war with communist revolution. And to mobilize masses to build a global communist society.
Gaza, Iran, Lebanon: Capitalist War Means Environmental Disaster
Compounding the devastating death toll of this war, the US/Israeli bombing of two fuel depots on the outskirts of Tehran created an environmental hellscape of black rain with short- and long-term effects on the people of Iran, and potentially throughout the region.
People suffered immediately from headaches, irritated skin and eyes, and difficulty breathing. This was most severe for children, older people, people with asthma and lung disease, and those with disabilities.
Soil and drinking water supplies were severely damaged by the fallout. But that’s just the beginning. Crude oil contains chemicals known to interact with DNA and which have been linked to multiple cancers. Experts have identified hundreds of incidents with the potential to cause severe environmental damage.
As the war continues, there is increasing danger that Iranian drone attacks on oil refineries and fuel storage hubs throughout the region and on tankers in the Persian Gulf will cause more environmental catastrophes. Every country in the region has oil processing facilities. The environmental impact on people and ecosystems will be long-lasting and complex.
The destruction in Iran and in Lebanon by the US/Israel threatens to replicate the environmental and human disaster that has resulted from the genocide in Gaza. The soil, water, land, and agriculture have been completely degraded. Sewage and waste disposal systems and facilities have been destroyed.
Bombing has produced millions of tons of debris. Much of it is contaminated with hazardous substances. This has caused hundreds of thousands of cases of respiratory infection and diarrhea, again mostly affecting children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing medical conditions.
Capitalism has been an environmental disaster for over two hundred years. Imperialist competition makes cooperation to protect the environment impossible. We now see the beginning of a third world war, and the menace of unheard-of devastation.
We also see the possibility that world war can be the catalyst for revolutionary change. Capitalism’s thirst for profits makes war and pollution inevitable. In a communist society, where our creativity and collective resources will be freed from the profit motive, we can begin to reverse the environmental degradation of capitalism.
The future is in our hands.
Read the ICWP manifesto Mobilize the Masses for Communism here