Alternatively Speaking

Well, it looks like Iran is indeed the next stop on the traveling road show called “the war on terror” Today, The International Atomic Energy Agency, in consultation with Washington passed a resolution to bring, albeit at some undisclosed date, Iran in front of the U. N. Security council for possible sanctions over its nuclear energy program. Do you think the likely aftermath of Hurricane Rita has anything to do with this? You bet it does. The one, two combination of hurricanes Katrina and Rita spell disaster for U. S. domestic energy production. CNN is reporting that there has been “substantial damage” to the Port Arthur oil refinery. If it turns out that the U.S. is facing oil and gas shortages of 20 to 40 percent in domestically produced energy, then that means that energy has got to come from somewhere else. The only obvious candidate, other than Iran, is Venezuela who, by the way, was the lone vote against the IAEA resolution referring Iran to the U. N. Security Council. Chavez, however, has proven a tough nut to crack and he is not quite the drop of poison in the soup that Iran represents to the Zionist cabal in Washington. Besides, he is actually offering to give oil away directly to those in need in places like the South Bronx. So that leaves us with Iran, who have threatened to cutoff oil and pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty if those supporting the E. U. 3 and its master the U. S., dragged it in front of the U. N. Security Council. Iran, rightfully, sees this as an affront and provocation and has said repeatedly it will not back down from its legal right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. A treaty which its neighbor Israel has refused to sign and who has ignored numerous U. N. resolutions relating, among other things, to its possession of nuclear weapons. With the looming political and economic turmoil yet to come in the wake of the two most devastating natural disasters in U. S. history look for the neo-nuts in Washington to resort to their tried and true method of distracting attention to their self made debacles, at home and abroad, by initiating another war. Never mind, that this may plunge the world over the precipice since China and Russia do not look like they will go along with Washington’s designs. The neo-nuts have made up their minds and have apparently twisted enough arms and paid enough people off to set the stage for an escalation of hostilities against Iran. It seems whether natural or man made the only response to disasters that can from the neo-nuts is to lash out and attack. For Iran and the rest of us, we better brace ourselves because, as the WWE’s Brock Lesnar’s entrance theme put it, here comes the pain.

What follows is comment left at the WSWS in regard to a piece dealing with the connection between the war In Iraq, but in the larger view US imperialism in general, and the abandonment of a major American city in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Money used for bombs is money not used for social needs or the rescue of an entire city truck by disaster.

Your article “Katrina, the Iraq war and the struggle for socialism” certainly gets to the point. It echoes my complaints about United for Peace and Justice whose political stances, for me, represent a political dead end. What is the classic definition of insanity? Answer: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. WSWS is absolutely correct in that the system cannot be reformed or rehabilitated. Protests, marches, vigils, petitions, conferences, teach-ins and the like are fine and dandy for raising awareness. However, as, again, the above named article spells out this did not work to stop the present war in Iraq before hand and will not stop it from continuing. If humanity is to survive, as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez forthrightly noted in his speech at the U. N., Capitalism must die. The sooner, the better.

My only concern, and it is a big one, even should a mass political movement develop here in the U. S., does anyone at WSWS really believe the ruling class will simply go away? The above named article does not hesitate to note the brutality of the U. S. ruling class in attempting to subjugate Iraq and we all saw what is in store for us in New Orleans. In short, what I want to know is that, even with a reasonably coherent mass movement, what happens when the momentum of a mass movement is met by the road block of the National Guard, The Police and, not to mention, the Blackwater mercenaries? The state understands what is at stake and this is why it quickly moved to confiscate people’s weapons in New Orleans in the same way it is seeking to make sure Iran is relatively unarmed as well. If you are not armed you are defenseless and therefore easy pickins’. Let me make myself clear, I am NOT advocating violent revolution but as someone once said, “when you block the path to peaceful revolution, you open the doors to violent revolution.”

What I have come to suspect over the last several years is that one of the hidden, but key reasons, the Left in this country has been so weak is that deep down we all know what is going to take to change things in this the belly of the beast and frankly few of us are up to the task. For many years now the Left has engaged in little more than symbolic protest at best and, at worst, narcissistic showboating (largely engaged in by privileged white middle class folks who make up much of the “official" Left and have much less to fear from the police). They really do not want to fight because that would involve, at least for the preponderantly white middle class Left, losing their privileges, tenuous as they may be at present, and real pain or even death. Nevertheless, I can’t say I blame anybody. No matter how noble the cause, nobody wants to die. However, let us be honest and frank, before this the most brutal ruling class of all gives up power, there will be rivers of blood spilled. This is the lesson I’ve learned from the whole mess in Iraq and was confirmed in my mind by the scenes in New Orleans. For the American ruling class, it appears force is now the only option. Again, the question is, can the Left deal with that?