Donald Trump has unleashed weeks of savage bombing of Iran, threatening “death, fire and fury” as the regime refuses to capitulate.
On the first day the US bombed a school, killing 186 people, mostly children. Almost 1500 people are dead so far with the US and Israel hitting residential buildings, electricity infrastructure and a water treatment plant.
A strike on an oil depot in Tehran produced nightmarish scenes, blanketing the city in toxic smoke and acid rain.
The war is a naked act of imperialist aggression designed to force the Iranian regime to comply with US demands and weaken the US and Israel’s biggest adversary in the Middle East.
Trump arrogantly expected surrender within weeks. But Iran has been able to strike US bases across the Gulf and is threatening to trigger a global economic crisis through shutting off oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy revealed that the US military “don’t know how to get it safely back open” following a closed briefing.
This is pushing up oil prices and the cost of petrol and threatening a new surge in inflation that will drive up the cost of living.
There is little the US can do to reopen the Strait without a massive escalation of the war. It would likely require a ground invasion of Iranian territory with tens of thousands of troops.
Even for Trump this is likely too much. But in desperation he has threatened to further escalate the bombing, creating more chaos, death and destruction.
At the same time Israel has gone on the rampage in Lebanon as it tries to wipe out Hezbollah. One million people have been displaced after Israel demanded evacuations from the south of the country as well as from the Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Over 900 people are dead.
Israel is preparing for a massive ground invasion to clear out any Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon.
Its far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared that parts of Beirut would “look like Khan Younis” in Gaza.
Labor’s capitulation
Trump’s bombing has also revealed Albanese’s abject capitulation to US imperialism. Albanese was one of the first world leaders to back the war, declaring his complete support for “the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”.
But there is no evidence that Iran is producing a nuclear weapon–and last June Trump claimed US bombing had obliterated its nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong initially tried to claim Australia was not participating in the war.
But it’s clear it is playing a significant role. The Pine Gap spy base near Alice Springs has almost certainly been directly involved in sending surveillance and targeting information for missile strikes to the US and Israel.
There were also three Australians on the US nuclear submarine that torpedoed an Iranian navy ship near Sri Lanka, training as part of the AUKUS deal. The orders to target the ship “were likely transmitted from Australia, through the North West Cape base in Western Australia”, as Peter Cronau pointed out at Declassified Australia.
The Australian government has also sent air defence missiles and a surveillance plane to the UAE. Any information on Iranian missiles it gathers will more than likely be used to launch attacks, not just for defensive purposes.
Albanese is welded to US imperialism through the AUKUS deal with the US and UK. Besides the $368 billion for nuclear submarines, Labor is boosting military spending and expanding domestic weapons manufacturing. It is expanding bases used by the US, like RAAF Tindal and HMAS Stirling, while increasing US troop numbers stationed in Australia.
Albanese’s support for the bombing of Iran comes just weeks since he welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Australia. Tens of thousands demonstrated, defying anti-protest laws.
The Palestine movement needs to redouble its efforts to sanction Israel and cut off Australia’s weapons trade with Israel.
We also need to demand an end to Australia’s military alliance with the US, kick out all US bases and scrap the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.
Trump’s widening war shows the danger that Israel and US imperialism pose to the world.
The US is willing to murder thousands of people and devastate whole countries to boost its power and profits. It has armed Israel’s genocide in Gaza which has killed at least 72,000 people and is ongoing.
This is the savage reality of the capitalist system and the brutal imperialism it produces.
The US’s desperation to maintain its power in the face of the challenge from China could lead to further bloody conflicts. We need to fight to get rid of the system that produces these horrors.
