Last week, people around the world looked on with horror as Trump threatened the total annihilation of Iran, saying “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” As shocking as it was to read a post from the U.S. president threatening to destroy a whole society with millions of people, Trump was saying openly what is usually only said behind closed doors. And Trump can only make that threat out loud because, in fact, their whole system really is a threat to all of civilization.
Their war in the Middle East is a blatant display of the kind of destruction and chaos this system relies on, and how those in charge all over the world are willing to go to any length to defend their interests.
We have already seen this destruction on full display in the U.S.-Israeli genocide of Palestinians, which uses mass starvation as a weapon of mass displacement, while destroying schools, water treatment facilities, hospitals, ambulances, and refugee encampments. Their mass murder has no limits, and Israel is actively seizing new territory in the West Bank, setting up new settlements with far-right, armed settlers. Every step of the way, Israel is armed and defended by both Democratic and Republican politicians.
We saw this same naked brutality throughout the U.S. war on Iraq that went on for years. The U.S. bombed hospitals, roads, universities, bridges, power plants and more. They openly destroyed much of the entire civilization, displaced about half the population, and threw the whole country into chaos for years to come.
We saw the same brutality on display in U.S. wars from Afghanistan to Viet Nam. Targeting and torturing civilians, using chemical weapons, destroying villages — committing war crimes is nothing new for the U.S.
We see this same mass destruction in Israel’s U.S.-backed war on Lebanon, where Israel is destroying southern Lebanon in order to seize territory and push the border further north. They bomb civilian targets, forcing people to flee north or face death. Last week, in a single attack, Israel killed over 300 people in ten minutes.
While the U.S and Israel destroy civilizations in the Middle East, the U.S. is causing economic collapse in Cuba, imposing a blockade of oil and other goods since January. Cuba faces daily blackouts, shutting down hospitals and schools and water pumps as entire neighborhoods go days without electricity. The U.S. isn’t just threatening whole civilizations, but actively destroying them.
Despite a so-called ceasefire, tensions have only escalated in their murderous war on Iran, with the U.S. now threatening to impose a total military blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. This will worsen the disruption to the global supply of oil and other goods, and threatens the many countries which depend almost entirely on oil and imports that travel through that region. Many Asian countries, like Thailand, are facing catastrophic levels of oil and fuel shortages. This is all about to get worse.
Instead of being something entirely new, this is an intensification of U.S. imperial policy in the Middle East and around the world, and it’s giving us a glimpse of the future in store for all of us. We are living through an era of increasing competition between global powers, and the U.S. is taking drastic measures to reinforce its power and gain control over resources in a major competition with China. The brutality we see reflects the lengths U.S. imperialism is willing to go to ensure their world dominance, which only means more chaos and misery for the people of the world.
Here at home, we see the consequences all around us. The Trump administration wants to nearly double the military budget to $1.5 trillion dollars — a blank check for mass murder and destruction. To do this they are threatening to cut off funds for the many social services we need, from healthcare and disaster relief to education and transportation and more. This is on top of the economic chaos from this reckless war, with skyrocketing energy prices and growing inflation.
This crazy system threatens all of humanity the longer it remains. We cannot let our future be in the hands of people willing to bring down the whole world just to keep enriching a tiny class of billionaires.
Witnessing this level of destruction on a daily basis can feel overwhelming. But ignoring it won’t put a stop to it. To do that, it will take the efforts of each and every one of us.
We do the work that makes this society run. And when we stand together, we can begin to see the power we have to change things. We’ve seen that power demonstrated in the past, and recently in the streets of Minneapolis, when thousands came together to defend their communities against ICE terrorism. Our power hasn’t gone way. But it still needs to be organized.
