"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children… This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
General Electric is worried the Japan disaster could upset its nuclear plans
Former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech on April 16, 1953
"It is believed they are intended to guard key facilities such as oil and gas installations and financial institutions." the BBC informs us. But since when have the rebellions targeted oil and gas installations? The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa are about the workers and middle classes of these puppet regimes having control over their lives, their nations and their natural resources. I know I am writing the obvious here but I can't help it. The object of this invasion is for the local crooks to protect the goose that lays the golden egg for themselves of course, and more importantly for the big global thieves.
The US is "aware of the deployment.", White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He adds, "We urge our GCC partners to show restraint and respect the rights of the people of Bahrain, and to act in a way that supports dialogue instead of undermining it."
"GCC partners; what a laugh. The local crooks haven't taken this move without the nod from Washington. You can see why they fear and hate Wikileaks so much, these lies are exposed, are confirmed as lies through the correspondence they have with each other that the rest of us are not privy to. Some 150 Saudi Arabian armored troop carriers and other vehicles have entered Bahrain the media says. Well where does this military hardware come from? From the US.
US imperialism is stretched to the limit. It is bogged down in two predatory wars it cannot win and cannot get out of. Just consider one example: with 15 million Kurds in Turkey there is no way that the Turks will allow a separate Kurdish state along its southern border. In Iraq, no politician can travel outside the Green Zone without massive security. Then there are all these uprisings against US supported dictators and feudal thugs. Domestically, US capitalism is forced to put its own workers and middle class on rations to pay for its role as global policeman, defending the interests of global capitalism and the corporations from the struggles that arise out of the aspirations of the workers of the world to control the resources of their respective nations and their own destiny.
Any further invasions or deployment of US troops on the ground would make matters worse as a draft would have to be introduced. This would be a disaster as these predatory wars are not popular here in the US. One reason there hasn't been a more pronounced public opposition is that the burden of these invasions is falling on the shoulders of a small section of the US population; a draft would change that.
This is why the US is calling in the chips to its stooges in the Arab world. It had the Yemeni regime claim the assassinations the US was carrying out in that country in order to shield itself from criticism. It has used bribery and the threat of eliminating aid that is nothing but cash payment for services rendered.
The US has agreed last November to a $60 billion arms deal with the Saudi's. This is what all the arms transfers to these regimes is for, to suppress democratic rights and support absolute monarchs and dictators. The billions in US taxpayer money in the form of arms to the region, to Israel, to Saudi Arabia, to Egypt, Yemen etc. has less to do with the defense against an Iranian attack. The arms are for moments just like these, uprisings by an oppressed people against US supported dictators.
In that sale last November, some US politicians sent a letter to Hilary Clinton concerned about a "sale of such magnitude" . This was a result of the Zionist lobby being concerned about such a large sale impacting Israel's "qualitative military edge”. The letter also expressed concern about the Saudi's commitment to non proliferation efforts, to halt the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Clinton assures them and the world that the Saudis are being responsive when it comes to weapon development. This is a regime that beheads people for adultery or supposed adultery. It publicly lashes women who dare to venture outside the home without a male relative. It gave 200 lashes to a women who was gang raped for doing exactly that, leaving home with a male who wasn't a relative. It forbids free speech and the right to association. What American worker can support this? No American worker should support the US government when it arms and props up such regimes. Counter to all the talk about national interest we must propose international working class solidarity and self determination for the workers of those countries under the heel of US capitalism, the oil companies and their local stooges. Enron robbed Californians, and the energy industry through its stooges robs and murders the workers and middle classes of the former colonial world. Hilary Clinton's support for this, like Thatcher's rule in Britain, shows how much more important class solidarity is than gender solidarity, or racial unity.
The US is the largest supplier of arms in the world. It's ally, Pakistan, a very poor country that is also home to many sweat shops and factories that supply cheap goods and cheap Labor to western corporations was the top developing-world arms buyer in 2006 with $5.1 billion in new deals according to the Arms Control Association. Cuba sends doctors to countries, the US sends weapons. It's a great business opportunity, total world spending amounted to $1.321 trillion in 2008.
You only have to look at the numbers, who has the nuclear weapons, to see where all the weapons of mass destruction come from:
China: About 240 total warheads.
France: Fewer than 300 operational warheads.
Russia: Approximately 2,600 operational strategic warheads , approximately 2,000 operational tactical warheads, and approximately 8,000 stockpiled strategic and tactal warheads.
United Kingdom: Fewer than 160 deployed strategic warheads, total stockpile of up to 225.
United States: 5,113 active and inactive [1] nuclear warheads and approximately 4,500 warheads retired and awaiting dismantlement. The 5,113 active and inactive nuclear warhead stockpile includes 1,968 strategic warheads, approximately 500 operational tactical weapons, and approximately 2,645 inactive warheads. 2000, figures, source: ACA.
Israel is believed to have anywhere from 200 to 300 nuclear weapons but with US support, refuses to say. I wonder if that might be a cause of some tension among the Arab people given the US's stance on Iran and others.
Workers cannot support any intervention by capitalist regimes or their stooges. How can western capitalism play a progressive role? Look who sells the arms to the world; the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, US, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China, together with Germany and Italy account for around 85% of the arms sold between 2002 and 2009. (Global Issues)
The uprisings and struggle for democratic rights we are seeing throughout the world show us that workers will fight, even in the most oppressive conditions. But they also reveal a weakness in organization. There is a lack of an international coordinated offensive of workers against these regimes and international capitalism. Instead of interventions by imperialist nations under the guise of restoring order and security, workers can intervene through international solidarity, by refusing to handle the goods of any regime that is denying workers rights, independent trade Unions and democratic ideals. This is what is missing.
While this blog supports all struggle for democratic rights wherever they take place, we recognize that only a rational and planned democratic socialist system can prevent the wars, disease and environmental disasters like the nuclear catastrophe developing in Japan. Capitalism is hostile to the planet and the natural world in which we live.
For a world federation of democratic socialist states.
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