War Escalates on Iran

Working people are paying the costs of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. 

An economic analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that U.S. bombing is costing nearly $1 billion per day. This is more than the cost of enacting free and universal childcare, from infancy to school age, nationwide. Gas prices rose 14 percent in the first week of bombing.

So far, 13 countries have faced direct bombing, including Cyprus and Azerbaijan. Israel launched 3,400 strikes on Iran in just the first week. On the first day of the war, the United States bombed an Iranian girls’ school, killing 150 children. In total, nearly 2,000 people have been killed, overwhelmingly in Iran and Lebanon.

…but look on the bright side, the war industry is booming!

Palantir, a surveillance firm which contracts with ICE and the Israeli military, has seen its stocks soar by 15 percent since the war began. Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest military contractor, has seen its stock soar over 35 percent in 2026, as the U.S. escalated its threats against Iran.

Military contractors like Palantir and Lockheed are massive funders of both the Democratic and Republican Party, including Kshama’s opponent Adam Smith. Lockheed gave over $1.5 million to federal candidates in 2024. Adam Smith has the honor of being the largest recipient of war industry donations among Democrats in the House.

The war on Iran is a symptom of a new, more aggressive phase of U.S. imperialism. It is a direct extension of the genocide in Gaza — an attempt by the ruliing classes of Israel and the U.S. to assert maximum control over the Middle East.

In order to stop world war, working people need to break with the parties of war.

We need to take concrete steps towards building an independent workers’ party which can challenge the capitalist interests behind this war. Defeating Adam Smith and electing Kshama to Congress would be one major step down that road.