Why Can’t the Left Stop Trump’s Wars?
Trump Starves Cuba, Israel Obliterates Ceasefire
Em Smith
In the last three months, Trump has kidnapped Venezuela’s president, murdered Iran’s Supreme Leader, and threatened nuclear war in the Middle East.
On April 7, Trump warned: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Later that day, Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran — a ceasefire which was broken within 12 hours when Israel carpet bombed Lebanon and killed 250 people.
U.S. imperialism has entered a dangerous new phase. The U.S. ruling class is nervous. They are unable to stop a rising China internationally, or solve any of the problems at home. And like wild animals, capitalists are dangerous when they’re nervous.
Trump and the American capitalists are desperate to find a solution to their problems. They think they will find that solution in the oil wells of Venezuela and Iran, and by destroying countries like Cuba which have refused to submit to U.S. domination. U.S. imperialism is losing control. It wants to regain control through military force.
Over the last several months, the Trump government has been trying to starve Cuba of oil, with the transparent aim of provoking an economic crisis and toppling the Cuban government. Trump has instituted a total blockade of oil imports to Cuba, and has even blocked Cuban doctors from being deployed to other countries.
So far, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has stood up to this pressure: “In Cuba, the people who are in leadership positions are not elected by the US government.”
Toppling Cuba’s government has been a goal of U.S. imperialism since the Cuban Revolution, which overthrew capitalism in the country. Trump won’t give up easily. His next logical step is the use of military force.
And why wouldn’t he? The left and the labor movement have been impotent in the face of Trump’s wars.
Why is the left so ineffective?
On the one hand, labor unions and organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have chained themselves to the Democratic Party.
The Democrats are complicit in Trump’s wars. The Democratic Party enacted crippling sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. It was Obama who declared Venezuela an “extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security.
Still, union leaders shovel hundreds of millions of dollars to the Democratic Party, including Democrats like Washington Congressman Adam Smith, who have carried out these policies. Smith is the largest recipient of war industry donations in the House, yet has the support of major unions like UFCW, AFSCME, and LiUNA.
DSA — an organization of 100,000 members — has continued to endorse Democrats like AOC (who voted against cutting military aid to Israel), while refusing to support independent socialists like Kshama Sawant, who is running to end U.S. military aid to Israel and supports ending U.S. sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran.
On the other hand, the left is fractured into a thousand organizations. Most of these organizations ignore any effort that isn’t under their direct control. For example, most left organizations — the RCA, PSL, SAlt, and others — have not so much as written an article about Kshama’s independent campaign for Congress. This also helps the Democrats, and Trump.
The left won’t be able to stop Trump’s or the Democrats’ wars until we break the socialist movement away from the Democratic Party and overcome the sectarian divisions that are hobbling us.