We’re again in the same kind of situation that we encountered this April, when the “Israeli” settler state was threatening to instigate a regional war that could bring unprecedented escalations with Iran. Yet like was the case last time, the Zionist aggressors and their Washington backers are acting with great risk towards themselves. They’ll either back away, like they did in that past instance, or go ahead with these provocations and thereby accelerate Zionism’s collapse. So far “Israel” has struck Beirut, which is big enough of an action that it may bring strikes on Tel Aviv. That would be an entirely proportionate response, and Hezbollah promised it would retaliate against an attack like today’s strike with wrath that “Israel” hasn’t yet seen. And should “Israel” respond to the coming Hezbollah action by invading Lebanon, it will provoke Iran in the way that the Zionist state has come to fear.
When “Israel” retaliated against Iran in April with a ridiculously minor strike, it showed that it knew how disastrous a full confrontation with the Iranians would be. Now it doesn’t appear to be exercising that kind of caution any longer. If Netanyahu escalates more than he already has, then he’s about to imperil the Zionist project for the sake of not wanting to look weak. Except now he’ll ensure a war with not just Iran, but also the comparable military force Hezbollah.
This is not something “Israel” can manage. Scott Ritter observed this week that “Israel’s military strategy has long relied on its technological superiority and swift, decisive actions. However, both Iran and Hezbollah have developed sophisticated defense and attack strategies that could overwhelm Israel’s capabilities. The Iranian and Hezbollah forces are not the same as they were a decade ago. They have learned, adapted, and prepared for scenarios that Israel may not be fully ready to counter. Any conflict would not be a repeat of past skirmishes but a new, far more dangerous confrontation.”
If “Israel” provokes these forces, the conflict will become an existential danger to not just Zionism, but also the entire imperialist economic order. As Ritter predicted when it looked like “Israel” would provoke Iran into full war in April, such a total conflict with Iran would create blowback far worse than the Ukraine proxy war has. He described a scenario where the global economy gets so dysfunctional that the USA’s people come to a true crisis point; a moment where the bulk of them can’t meet their basic needs for as long as their government perpetuates the war.
Again, we’ll see whether that next level of escalation actually happens, because Iran and Hezbollah have gained the strength to seriously limit what “Israel” can do without destroying itself. The important thing is that we communists in the U.S. continue to build up the strength of our own anti-imperialist resistance forces. That we connect with the revolution-compatible majority in our society, and mobilize them towards overthrowing our monopoly capitalist dictatorship.
This task is extremely urgent, and it’s urgent for numerous reasons: the danger of new nuclear escalations with Russia, the particularly alarming prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency, the perpetually dire need to stop the genocide against Gaza, our government’s effort to persecute Uhuru, and so on. Over the last couple days, another one of these immediate imperialist threats has been the destabilization that Washington seeks to bring to Venezuela. The right-wing opposition has invented a narrative about Maduro having stolen the election, and mobilized to try to throw the country into chaos so a coup can happen. We should take this danger towards Venezuela’s revolution seriously, and put together publicized shows of solidarity with Venezuela as fast as possible.
The same applies to the Uhuru case, to the cold war escalations, and to every other front of this struggle. It can feel overwhelming, which is part of why many people get burnt out from organizing. What I want to convey in this moment, though, is that we should view the urgency of what’s happening as an opportunity to make massive new gains. To take advantage of how history is moving faster, and get our movement in place to defeat the imperial state.
This means illustrating to the USA’s people why the anti-imperialist side is the side that represents their material interests. That can free our society from the rule by international monopoly finance capital, like how the Iranians, the Venezuelans, and others have done for their own societies. The project to end U.S. imperialism is a continuation of the legacy of 1776, of the anti-slavery war, and of the other progress which has so far taken place within this country. When we end the imperial state’s activities, we’ll be able to both develop our own economy without getting hindered by this state’s degrowth efforts; as well as partner with civilizations like China’s, which our government has told us to hate. These goals are interconnected, because it’s only through cooperating with China that we’ll see the benefits which the Belt and Road Initiative has brought to so many other places.
It’s by framing things in these terms that we can direct the anti-establishment energy in this country towards goals which can bring the people to victory. MAGA presents itself as something that can get us this victory, but it was co-opted a long time ago at this point. And from the start, its anti-establishment rhetoric was undermined by Zionism, anti-communism, and anti-China ideology. A crucial part of our task is to separate the country’s proto-revolutionary spirit from the pro-imperialist ideas that MAGA’s leadership puts forth.
We need to make it clear that any leader who sides with Venezuela’s opposition, or with “Israel” against the Axis of Resistance, or with Washington against Beijing, is not an ally of the American people. They’re an ally of the global financiers, which are working to both keep Americans from gaining liberation and take away the liberty of peoples like the Venezuelans. The anti-communist and Zionist ideologies are strong, but so is the case that we have to make. Our enemies offer the people more war and austerity; we offer them a future of peace, liberty, and unprecedented economic development.
In the last 24 hours alone, our cause has seen great victories: the Venezuelan people have massively rallied in support of their revolution, and the fascist effort to destroy the country has been defeated. The next biggest front of this conflict is going to be in Palestine, where the “Israeli” occupiers are about to experience an entirely justified counter-attack and then claim to be the victims. When the imperial psyop machine mobilizes to promote this narrative, we must respond not just by working to expose Zionism’s crimes, but by drawing attention to the global class struggle behind the conflict. The Axis of Resistance is on the same side as the American workers; it and the other anti-imperialist forces are working to defeat the global financial institutions that keep us exploited. It’s this idea that has the power to unite the people of the empire’s core against their government, and bring them to the equivalent level of revolutionary consciousness that Venezuela’s people have gained. Keep pushing forward in the effort to get the masses to that stage.
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