U.S. Out of the Middle East!
NO TO MILITARIZATION AND USE OF FORCE AGAINST THE PEOPLES
The government has announced a major arms deal for the Middle East, including $30 billion to Israel, $13 billion to Egypt and an unnamed amount, estimated to be at least $20 billion to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, over a ten-year period. The weapons are offensive ones, such as guided bombs and fighter jets. This increased militarization of the region is being done in the name of “peace and security,” although it has been repeatedly demonstrated that use of force by the U.S. against the peoples provides war, insecurity and solves no problem. Indeed it creates greater dangers and crimes against the peoples. Iraq certainly is witness to this reality. Just as in Iraq, so too for the region. The solution is all U.S. troops home now! No use of force! The path to security and peace is to defend the rights of the peoples in the region, including their right to determine their own affairs. The U.S. has no business in the region — U.S. Out of the Middle East Now!
In making the deal, the U.S. emphasized that it has been selling arms in the region for decades, and plans to remain there for the long term. For what purpose? There is not a single example in the many decades the U.S. has been in the region of assisting the peoples or providing security. On the contrary there has been a steady militarization of life, including arming Israel with nuclear weapons and inciting antagonisms between the various countries. And now the U.S. is threatening use of nuclear weapons against Iran and demanding that U.S. troops remain indefinitely, with a its military footprint “enhanced.”
The U.S. government is continuing to try and blame Iran for its failure in Iraq, and use it as the excuse for this militarization. Secretary of State Condolezzaa Rice said, “There is no doubt that Iran constitutes the single most important single-country strategic challenge to the U.S. and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see.” The experience of the U.S. orchestrating Zionist aggression, including billions a year in arms, and U.S. aggression, such as that against Iran in the 1950s and the current occupation of Iraq, all make clear that the Middle East the U.S. “wants to see,” is where it is free to rampage against the peoples, control all human and natural resources and crush all resistance.
This is not what the peoples here or in the region want to see and indeed all are refusing to submit to U.S. empire. Peoples here and worldwide want relations of mutual respect and benefit. They want the vast wealth being produced utilized to guarantee the rights of all and not for more weapons of destruction. Americans in particular have repeatedly expressed their demand for an end to the war in Iraq and to all U.S. aggression. Numerous organizations are active striving to block war against Iran. All are confronting a situation where since the government refuses to submit to the majority, the majority will have to take over the government! The 2008 elections are posing the possibility for anti-war candidates to run and give expression to this drive of the people to have their demands represented and to govern and decide themselves.
We want and need an anti-war government that respects sovereignty, ends use of force, brings all U.S. troops home, provides reparations for crimes past and present and supports the peoples’ movements for their rights here and abroad. Let all consider how to use the upcoming elections to take steps toward this aim of creating an anti-war government.
The government has announced a major arms deal for the Middle East, including $30 billion to Israel, $13 billion to Egypt and an unnamed amount, estimated to be at least $20 billion to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, over a ten-year period. The weapons are offensive ones, such as guided bombs and fighter jets. This increased militarization of the region is being done in the name of “peace and security,” although it has been repeatedly demonstrated that use of force by the U.S. against the peoples provides war, insecurity and solves no problem. Indeed it creates greater dangers and crimes against the peoples. Iraq certainly is witness to this reality. Just as in Iraq, so too for the region. The solution is all U.S. troops home now! No use of force! The path to security and peace is to defend the rights of the peoples in the region, including their right to determine their own affairs. The U.S. has no business in the region — U.S. Out of the Middle East Now!
In making the deal, the U.S. emphasized that it has been selling arms in the region for decades, and plans to remain there for the long term. For what purpose? There is not a single example in the many decades the U.S. has been in the region of assisting the peoples or providing security. On the contrary there has been a steady militarization of life, including arming Israel with nuclear weapons and inciting antagonisms between the various countries. And now the U.S. is threatening use of nuclear weapons against Iran and demanding that U.S. troops remain indefinitely, with a its military footprint “enhanced.”
The U.S. government is continuing to try and blame Iran for its failure in Iraq, and use it as the excuse for this militarization. Secretary of State Condolezzaa Rice said, “There is no doubt that Iran constitutes the single most important single-country strategic challenge to the U.S. and to the kind of Middle East that we want to see.” The experience of the U.S. orchestrating Zionist aggression, including billions a year in arms, and U.S. aggression, such as that against Iran in the 1950s and the current occupation of Iraq, all make clear that the Middle East the U.S. “wants to see,” is where it is free to rampage against the peoples, control all human and natural resources and crush all resistance.
This is not what the peoples here or in the region want to see and indeed all are refusing to submit to U.S. empire. Peoples here and worldwide want relations of mutual respect and benefit. They want the vast wealth being produced utilized to guarantee the rights of all and not for more weapons of destruction. Americans in particular have repeatedly expressed their demand for an end to the war in Iraq and to all U.S. aggression. Numerous organizations are active striving to block war against Iran. All are confronting a situation where since the government refuses to submit to the majority, the majority will have to take over the government! The 2008 elections are posing the possibility for anti-war candidates to run and give expression to this drive of the people to have their demands represented and to govern and decide themselves.
We want and need an anti-war government that respects sovereignty, ends use of force, brings all U.S. troops home, provides reparations for crimes past and present and supports the peoples’ movements for their rights here and abroad. Let all consider how to use the upcoming elections to take steps toward this aim of creating an anti-war government.
