by Danny Haiphong
Imperialism’s deep general crisis has become acute in Syria, where Russia has checked the U.S.-led proxy war. So profound is the disarray, Republican Donald Trump says “the US should stand down and allow Russia take out the Islamic State, and concedes that “the Middle East would be more stable had the US left Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi alone.” Confusion reigns in the Empire.
US imperialism's Upside Down World
by Danny Haiphong
“Russia's efforts have shown the world that the US and its allies are in fact responsible for the chaos in Syria.”
It’s been a busy time for US imperialism on the global stage. Russian began operations in alliance with Syria, Iran, Iraq and China to eradicate US imperialism's supposed enemy, the Islamic State, from Syrian territory. US airstrikes destroyed a Doctors Without Borders facility in Afghanistan, killing and injuring more than thirty people including three Afghan children. And Donald Trump continues to make headlines with his inconvenient foreign policy statements. These developments are a product of US imperialism's upside down world.
In US imperialism's upside down world, reality has become difficult to spin. The Russia-led alliance in Syria has produced significant results that threaten the very existence of the imperialist-backed jihadist network. The swift and successful push back of the Islamic State calls into question the legitimacy of the West’s coalition against ISIS that formed back in 2014. Russia's actions also make it increasingly difficult for the Obama Administration to continue to sanction and place blame on Russia for the terrorism and chaos in the region. In effect, Russia's efforts have shown the world that the US and its allies are in fact responsible for the chaos in Syria by bursting asunder every imperial lie stating otherwise.
The Russia-led effort to preserve Syria's self-determination is a victory for anti-imperialist forces everywhere and a sign that indeed US imperialism's world has turned upside down. This is evident in Europe's recent behavior in regards to Syria. US imperialism's long, drawn out war in Syria has placed its European clients in a difficult position. The hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the region to the European Union cannot be absorbed by the crisis-ridden Euro capitalist economy. Germany has led the way in the inevitable exit of the EU from the war on Syria with calls to negotiate a peace agreement along with demands for the US to end its sanctions on Russia. The writing is on the wall for US imperialism in Syria, but none of it aligns with the parasitic system's policy of regime change.
“The Russia-led alliance in Syria has produced significant results that threaten the very existence of the imperialist-backed jihadist network.”
In the same week that Russia made moves to erase imperialist-backed terrorism from Syria, the US showed exactly why it is the primary source of terror in the world. On October 3rd, US airstrikes rained on a Doctors Without Borders Facility in Kunduz, Afghanistan. At least twenty-two people were killed. Although described as "collateral damage" by US-NATO officials, the tragedy in Kunduz is in keeping with imperialism's war in Afghanistan. Since 2001, Afghanistan has been US occupied territory. US imperialism has killed tens of thousands in the process. Obama's brand of "smart" war in Afghanistan is arbitrarily set to end in 2016. However, there have been zero signs that US imperialism's 10,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan will be going anywhere, anytime soon.
The bombing of the Doctors without Borders facility falls within the context of the longest war in US history. The Obama Administration would like us to believe the bombing was the fault of its Afghan puppet government and not its own. President Obama himself, despite being the chief violator of international law, has simultaneously condemned Russia's actions in Syria even as Doctors Without Borders seeks an independent investigation for war crimes against US-NATO forces. The imperialists truly have reality upside down. What is of note is that US imperialism's blatant hypocrisy at present is a necessary piece of a larger strategic puzzle.
This puzzle has imperialism stumped. US imperialism's ruling class knows that endless war is impossible to wage if it is televised accurately. Honest coverage of US imperialism's war in Afghanistan would expose it for the murderous, profit-thirsty venture that it is (and an unsuccessful one at that). The war has done little but turn Afghanistan into a haven for chaos. It has additionally cost workers in the US trillions to finance. In its present stage, a withdrawal of US troops would make it difficult for US imperialism to maintain political control over the country. This why the massacre that occurred in Kunduz has been blamed on the Afghan government (fully backed by the US) and why the war in Afghanistan has scantly made corporate media headlines until now.
“The war has done little but turn Afghanistan into a haven for chaos.”
The vulnerable position of US imperialism in this upside world has changed the political terrain from which the system operates. There was once a time, not too many decades ago, that the Democratic Party promoted the illusion of an anti-war ticket to appease broad sections of its liberal base. Today, it is the fascist megalomaniac Donald Trump’s recent foreign policy remarks that have ‘Trumped’ all other candidates with respect to fact. Trump reported that he believes the US should stand down and allow Russia take out the Islamic State. He also spoke truth to the fact that the Middle East would be more stable had the US left Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi alone. These admissions are not signs that Trump is an alternative to the moribund politics of US imperial elections. His fascist political orientation and ruling class position excludes him from such a category.
What Trump's remarks do indicate is the increased consolidation of US imperialism in the realm of the state. Trump is a right wing imperialist, so his admissions of fact are a stark indication of just how deeply Wall Street controls the political parties in Washington. This development has correlated with the overall crisis-born consolidation of the imperialist political economy that began in the latter half of the 1970's. The consolidation of imperialism was set into motion based on the necessity for the system to survive and expand in a new era dominated by automation and finance capital, both of which heighten the frequency and duration of capitalist crisis. Imperialism has since waged endless proxy wars and military ventures abroad and increased its level of surveillance and policing within US borders to protect the ruthless mass robbery of oppressed people. Under these conditions, the Democratic Party has shown its true colors as the liberal face of Empire.
“Republican Party has been forced to position itself so far to the right by the Democratic Party that it cannot help but make political blunders when left in the hands of people such as Trump.”
After eight years of an Obama-led administration that intensified and expanded upon Bush era wars and bank bailouts, Washington's political parties face a crisis of image. The Republican Party has ratcheted up its efforts to pull the plug from Planned Parenthood and can be counted on to give a racist, anti-worker response to every issue of importance. When it comes to actual concrete policy, however, the difference between the two parties is negligible. Trump's foreign policy statements and indeed his entire existence is evidence of the level of confusion between the two parties brought on by the concentration of US imperialism. Republican Party has been forced to position itself so far to the right by the Democratic Party that it cannot help but make political blunders when left in the hands of people such as Trump.
To turn this upside down world right side up, the problem must be accurately prescribed and understood. What the recent developments in Syria, Afghanistan, and the 2016 US presidential race all have in common are their relationship to the broader system at work. This system, imperialism, is mired in a prolonged crisis. The crisis must be placed in the context of the concrete struggle to overthrow imperialism in place of a new system run by the oppressed and based on human need. We need to grow our forces with deep discussion about the character of the imperialist crisis and how political conditions relate to the economic crisis at hand. The Workers World Party Conference in New York will be taking on this question, and I urge all to attend when it happens November 7th. For more information, email me directly or go www.workers.org. A better world is in birth.
Danny Haiphong is a candidate for Workers World Party and member of Fight Imperialism Stand Together in Boston. He is also a regular contributor to Black Agenda Report. Danny can be reached at wakeupriseup1990@gmail.com and FIST can be reached at bostonfist@gmail.com.
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