Vol. 73/No. 48      December 14, 2009

Conservatives and liberals alike have expressed criticism of the “new” course presented by President Barack Obama in the war in Afghanistan—sending 30,000 more troops and continuing the U.S. war there through at least July 2011. Former vice president Richard Cheney accused Obama of projecting “weakness” and charged that his delay in coming to a decision undermines the confidence of the troops.

Vice President Joseph Biden has opposed sending the additional troops, proposing instead increased use of bombings from aerial drones, Special Forces operations to kill al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, and pressing Pakistan to crack down on Taliban bases along its border.

Rep. John Murtha, Democrat from Pennsylvania, laments that there is not much that opponents of the war in Congress can do to stop the escalation. He has predicted that Congress would pass a $40 billion war-financing bill early next year to pay for the deployments, reported Fox News. This would be consistent with the bipartisan votes in Congress for funding the war during the George Bush administration.

Arizona senator John McCain, defeated by Obama in the 2008 presidential elections, criticized the president’s plan to begin withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July 2011. “We don’t want to sound an uncertain trumpet to our friends in the region,” McCain said.

Others, like Sen. Carl Levin, Democrat from Michigan, emphasized the withdrawal date, saying the goal needs to be to accelerate the transition to Afghan responsibility.

Whatever tactical differences these capitalist politicians may have with the White House on Afghanistan, they are in fundamental agreement with the “war on terror,” a perspective of decades of military clashes as the U.S. ruling class seeks to compete with rival capitalists abroad for markets in the midst of a sharp, worldwide economic contraction.

The U.S. capitalist rulers are facing the deepest crisis of their system in decades. This is at the root of the Obama administration’s “dithering” and “delays.” It registers the awareness by the rulers of the growing vulnerability of their system and their lack of confidence in finding a decisive course forward against the world’s toilers. Accelerating war is the only course they can offer.

While Obama talks about “winding down” the war in Afghanistan, 115,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq. Washington is threatening Iran and North Korea with more crippling sanctions. Working people should also demand: Hands off Iran and North Korea!

Class-conscious workers should be encouraged by the protests by workers in Iran for back pay in wages and in defense of unions. These actions help stay the hands of the imperialist aggressors against Iran and are an essential step in working people winning the political space necessary to chart a road forward against the dead-end course of Iran’s capitalist rulers.

Obama’s announcement of the escalation of the war in Afghanistan was met with protests in several cities across the country. Such actions deserve wholehearted support. But protests alone, however large and determined, will not stop imperialist wars. To do that, working people must join in a worldwide struggle to take political power and use it to overturn the dictatorship of capital root and branch.
 
 
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