Some people—including people who have actively opposed crimes of the U.S. and its ally, Israel, in the Middle East—frequently express frustration that the Obama administration doesn’t seem to realize (as these forces see it) that every escalation of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and the region escalates the conflict with ISIS, drives more people to ISIS, and digs the U.S. into deeper quicksand.
But from the perspective of the rulers of the U.S., they cannot do otherwise. The U.S. rulers understand that the Middle East has become a volatile and rapidly shifting cauldron of contradictions, with new fissures breaking open suddenly, and unpredictably. None are eager for yet another major war there. But they also understand that maintaining U.S. control (and relative stability) there is crucial for U.S. global interests and domination. So the U.S. rulers feel they have no choice but to try and deal with the Islamic fundamentalists and the whole regional situation, even as they understand any course is full of risks. In other words, they’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t. And all of this is taking place in the context of the larger global picture, including the rise of global and regional rivals like China and Russia and other reactionary ruling regimes and forces within the Middle East and central Asia.
The critical point here is that oppressive criminal wars are built into the DNA of this system. The rulers will not “listen to reason”—they have their own logic. Instead of appealing to them to be “reasonable,” people must oppose their wars by determined, mass resistance.
And to emphasize the point: neither side in the debate in the U.S. ruling class over how to defend their interests in Iraq represents anything positive for the people!
This article originally appeared on revcom.us on June 15, 2015.