The one way out

The two wars of aggression begun by the Bush administration and continued by the Democrats — with the support of the great bulk of the U.S. ruling class — have turned into a net loss for all but the military-industrial complex, the oil industry and a few top generals.

The Oct. 17 New York Times had two major articles reflecting this dilemma.

In Afghanistan, according to the Times, NATO was facilitating talks between the Taliban and the puppet government while it bombed and shelled Taliban fighters to push them to negotiate. The Times conclusion was that in the “endgame” going on, “so many things could go wrong” for imperialism. One was that support for the U.S. in Pakistan has dwindled each time a drone killed Pakistani civilians or soldiers.

In Iraq, which the Pentagon has chalked up as a victory by surge, the Times found the victory slipping away. The “Awakening Councils,” made up of Sunnis who abandoned the resistance in 2007 for pay and because they didn’t want to fight the U.S., al-Qaeda and the Baghdad regime at the same time, are moving back into the ranks of the Iraqi resistance. While it is unclear just how the struggle will advance, it is clear this means trouble for Washington.

In further news, the U.S. Army was caught lying about making its recruitment quota. The generals had simply lowered the goals. The Army is still unable to build up enough forces to avert sending the same troops three, four and five times to combat zones.

The occupations are becoming quagmires. This is bad news for U.S. imperialism. That is not the same, however, as being bad news for the Afghans, the Iraqis or for the U.S. working class.

Quite the opposite is true. If the wars and occupations were going well for the Pentagon and the State Department, you could be sure that the most militarist U.S. elements would be pushing for the next war and the next conquest. They would be calling for outright aggression against Iran, or even China. U.S. working-class youth, and especially the vast populations in those countries, would be in danger of becoming new victims of the imperialists’ drive to expand their markets.

After decades of war and suffering in Afghanistan and Iraq, with much exhaustion of the population, it is hard to predict what social forces would be in charge should the imperialists be forced to leave. The point is that they would be sovereign Afghans and Iraqis. They wouldn’t be imperialist overlords. Every nation has the right to self-determination, to resist being run by invaders or their hand-picked stooges.

The U.S. should get out, and do it now. It may be a loss for the U.S. bankers, gun-runners and generals, but it would be a step forward for those regions of the world. And it would be a step forward for the working class here in the United States, which is exploited and kept politically hamstrung by the same imperialist ruling class.