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As the UN marks its 43rd commemoration of the International Day of Peace today, wars of aggression, occupation and intervention cover the globe, waged principally by the US and its proxies to secure control over territory, natural resources, and markets in a multi-polar world. The people now face the gravest crises of genocide, famine, poverty, forced displacement and homelessness. With the theme of “Cultivating a Culture of Peace,” the UN’s 2024 Peace Day statement gives vague encouragement to “lay the groundwork for peace” by “propelling the Sustainable Development Goals” and seizing “this month’s Summit of the Future [as] a vital opportunity to advance these aims.” These words ring hollow, as the UN calls us to trust in the very same institutions and strategies that brought us to the current crisis. Resist US-Led War Movement rejects the UN’s call to follow the same beaten path to more war. Rather, we call for following the lead of the movements fighting against imperialist war and the system itself, seeking to build a new world with lasting peace built on justice. Provoking instead of preventing war According to the UN, cultivating a culture of peace “means focusing on preventing conflict,” but the US and its most powerful allies are instead instigating wars and conflict. After two and a half years of war between Russia and Ukraine, a staggering one million people have perished and over 10 million more have been displaced, yet the two countries are as far from a diplomatic resolution as when the war began. The US and its NATO allies must bear most of the blame, for enacting a coup to install a pro-western anti-Russian government in Kyiv to set the stage for the war to begin with; prolonging it through an ever-increasing supply of weapons and a new pledge of 40 billion Euros in annual military aid to Ukraine. The US and the entire NATO alliance are actively sabotaging the chances of diplomatic negotiation by declaring Ukraine to be on “an irreversible path” to NATO membership, a red line Russia has unequivocally stated it would not tolerate right on its western border. The UN has done nothing to enforce its own ban on the use of cluster munitions by Ukraine, further endangering the lives of more civilians. The one million lives lost in this war add to the estimated 30 million civilians killed in imperialist wars of aggression and counter-revolution since the UN was founded at the end of World War II. The US is also fanning the flames of conflict in East Asia and the Pacific. This includes forming new military alliances, setting up bases, and testing weapons with countries surrounding China and conducting the largest multi-lateral maritime military exercises in nearby waters. Despite lawsuits and mass protests of the people in these countries against these actions which trample their sovereignty and destroy their environment, the violations continue, with little to no interference by the UN, despite its claim that respect for sovereignty must be a fundamental principle to establish a culture of peace. Undermining instead of laying the groundwork for peace This year, the UN also proclaims: “The International Day of Peace has always been a time to lay down weapons and observe ceasefires. But it now must also be a time for people to see each other’s humanity." There is no more palpable example of how the US and its allies have made a mockery of UN bodies and processes than their actions on Palestine. For almost a full year, the world has witnessed the Zionist state of “Israel” committing a full-blown genocide of the Palestinian people. The Zionist state’s relentless bombing and ground war, forced starvation, and ecocide, have killed at least 41,000 people; left tens of thousands of people still missing under the rubble of bombed schools, hospitals, and homes; and completely destroyed the food and water systems of Gaza thereby threatening the future ability of the land to sustain life. Rather than act to stop the carnage, the US has repeatedly vetoed ceasefire resolutions considered by the UN Security Council since October 7. Just days before International Peace Day, the US cast one of only 14 votes against the historic resolution passed by the UN General Assembly calling for the withdrawal of the Zionist occupation from Palestinian territories. And while the UN invokes respect for sovereignty and self-determination as a value on which its “culture of peace” must be based, the UN itself insists on imposing the framework of “the two-State solution for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East,” even though this violates the Palestinian people’s collective right to self-determination and national liberation of Palestine from the River to the Sea. In other countries, the UN has also worsened situations by directly contributing to more conflict and violence. One example is the deployment of UN “peacekeepers” in Haiti and the Congo, where they act as another armed force which further militarized the countries and abused the people; or in Cyprus, where they occupy a demilitarized zone but do nothing to challenge the occupation of the country by Turkey and the UK. Summit of the Future will lead to future wars The UN states that its road to peace ends by reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The draft document for the upcoming Summit of the Future doubles down on the SDGs and proposes 58 action steps to reach them. But these proposals will never result in anything but the exacerbation of the current crisis, when they promote the same institutions and strategies that led here. The UN plan to “catalyze increased private sector investment in sustainable development, including by promoting inclusive and innovative finance mechanisms and partnerships” will put more power into the hands of private corporations and away from national development in control of the people. The UN proposal to “Scale up and fulfill our respective official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by most developed countries to reach the goal of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance (ODA/GNI), and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to Least Developed Countries” does not address why there is the disparity in the first place–and how the UN’s very call to drive more private sector investment into “development” and continuing to tip all the rules of trade in favor of the large multinational corporations will worsen these conditions it claims to be trying to repair. Perhaps most indicative of how skewed the UN’s priorities are is its statement on trade: “We are committed to a rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core.” This ignores the actions taken by leading WTO members such as the US and G7 powers in implementing aggressive military strategies that keep their in-house multinational corporations in a favorable position for global trade. Finally, the UN view on how to address the outcome of war–the forced migration of tens of millions of people–is to “Maximize the positive contribution of migrants to the sustainable development of origin, transit, destination and host countries and strengthen international partnerships and global cooperation for safe, orderly and regular migration to comprehensively address the drivers of irregular migration and ensure the safety, dignity and human rights of all migrants, regardless of their migration status.” The aim of such a policy is to utilize migration for development and manage the process to make it seem more humane, ignoring the exploitative and violent roots of why people are forced to migrate. The solution: peoples movements for just peace The people are experiencing the US-backed Zionist occupation carrying out an unmitigated genocide of Palestinians; NATO fueling, instead of de-escalating, its proxy war in Ukraine by pledging billions of dollars more military aid and weapons with longer ranges and higher destructive capacity; unilateral sanctions destabilizing more than one third of the world’s countries bringing their economies to the brink of collapse. While the UN may tout the rules-based order and lofty principles of a culture of peace, Resist US-Led War Movement rejects these as hypocritical. The UN’s 2024 Peace Day Declaration is hitched to the Sustainable Development Goals and Summit of the Future–a strategy that will inevitably lead to war. Resist sees the true beacon of hope emanating from the people who choose to fight instead for a just and lasting peace. Resist US-Led War reiterates the call from its manifesto to: Build a Just Peace, through justice, social equity, and solidarity amongst peoples, including the recognition of the right to self- determination, economic, and food sovereignty, and self-defense of nations and oppressed peoples from reactionary aggression and violence. Build peace through genuine sustainable development, job creation, and the health and well being of our communities.
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While Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 Presidential election race, the oppressed and exploited people of the world are still made victims by two sides of the same pro-war imperialist American government.
Ultimately, both the Trump and Biden-Harris Administrations further entrenched… the US war machine. Both expanded military bases, alliances and military assistance around the world. Both expanded the US military budget and pushed forward the modernization of the nuclear arsenal. Both escalated tensions against China and Russia to pre-empt strategic competition. During the elections, the Democrats and Republicans battled out who could be the bigger war-hawk overseeing the world’s largest military chest, currently funded at $841.4 billion with an additional $32.4 billion for national security programs within the Department of Energy (DOE), and $438.0 million in defense-related activities. In Trump’s time as President, he represented the Republicans openly fascist faction of the ruling class and activated the ultra-nationalist and most rightwing currents in the US to take on more visible activity, and more escalated forms of action among both State and extra-state forces alike. Though Trump’s politically chaotic public statements about the US withdrawing from NATO and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan promoted an anti-war illusion to his populist base, Trump’s administration in 2016-2020 was responsible for missile strikes in Syria and Afghanistan, pushing for NATO countries to increase their defense spending, overseeing the drastic military build-up in the Indo-Pacific that Obama started, and illegally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Zionist occupation state Israel. He backed coup-elected Juan Guido in Venezuela to push for further sanctions and destabilization of the nation. He further passed a nuclear posture review that broadened the circumstances under which the United States can use nuclear weapons to encompass cyberattacks. During his 2020 election campaign, Biden marketed himself as a “reasonable” Democratic alternative and response to the fascism under Trump, Biden was able to win over large sectors of progressives towards fundamentally right-wing politics under the guise of “progressive values.” Throughout his term, Biden has exposed himself through his aggressive foreign policy, heightened repression and policing within the US, and the continued worsening economic crisis which is exacerbated by the neoliberal policies under his administration among other things. In the midst of the massive upsurge in global solidarity for Palestine, Biden was brought to court for complicity in genocide. “Genocide Joe” Biden traveled to Israel after the start of the Israeli genocidal war, provided the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with huge quantities of munitions, refused to publicly call for an indefinite ceasefire, and vetoed UN resolutions it opposed while openly calling himself a Zionist. This all reflects the president’s strongly held personal beliefs on the need to support the Jewish state and the idea that public support for Israel gives America greater behind-the-scenes leverage. VP Kamala Harris herself has a concerning pro-war record. Exposing her own genocidal support of Israel through US military aid and diplomatic support, she stated after October 7th, “our support for Israel’s security is ironclad, and we stand with the people of Israel in defense against these attacks.” She has reiterated the U.S. commitment to the transatlantic NATO alliance with America's European partners and earlier this year, she vowed the U.S. would support Ukraine's fight for "as long as it takes, showing that she’d continue Biden’s practice of shredding any Ukrainian peace deal brought to the table. On a visit to Taiwan, the Philippines and other Indo-Pacific states, she stressed what she called the United States' "enduring engagement" in Asia, hitting on previous administration talking points about ensuring an "open and free" Indo-Pacific region, and "freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea. What that really means for the people of the region is more corporate land grabs and militarization to protect them. Harris herself has a political career predicated on the criminalization of poor working-class Black people in the Bay Area of California, as attorney general. She supported inmate slave labor, criminalization of poor parents over truancy, an increase in Black incarceration, and expressed support of the death penalty. We need a stronger anti-war movement to fight against whichever faction of the ruling class takes power in the White House in November. Our task is to take up the calls of the world's people against US military funding, US military base expansion, sprawling military alliances, and war mongering by Washington. We continue to stand with the anti-militarism agenda representing these calls, not the war agenda of any Republican or Democratic candidate, and call on our movements to continue to struggle against US-led war through the elections and beyond.  This speech was delivered by the Resist US-Led War Movement Secretariat at an event in Washington, DC, during the start of the 2024 NATO Summit. It has been modified so as to be a standalone analytical study of the current state of US-led war and how networks like the Resist US-Led War Movement can be used to build an international united front to end all wars of aggression.
This discussion begins with an overview of the current state of US-led war today, followed by an analysis of the ways that NATO is still used as the primary tool of US-Led War, and how an anti-NATO united front of the people must be formed to prevent the worst kind of destruction that modern technology is capable of in the hands of the imperialists and war profiteers. The US has already decided that it is planning for open conflict with its rival states. Its stated goals are very clear in its official documents like the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy. This makes it all the more crucial for us to understand the plans being set in place to convince us, the common everyday people of the world, to accept this nightmarish scenario as inevitable. War is not inevitable if we are prepared to fight for a new social paradigm in which the root causes of conflict have been resolved through the combined struggle of the people. Let us reflect on the current status of US-led war, and how NATO plays a significant role. The US is currently waging war on three main fronts: In Europe, the US uses the NATO alliance to cement its strategy with fellow imperialist and reactionary states in the European Union and around the continent in general. This includes the most powerful Western imperialist countries making up the G7, and the so-called Eastern Flank of countries acting as a shield between the G7 powers and the borders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, NATO’s self-perceived frontier. On this front of US-led war, the G7 is the brain, NATO is the brawn and Russia is the chief rival. This has altered the face of Europe, with military spending skyrocketing and new bases being built from the Mediterranean islands, to the Carpathian basin, to the Baltic Sea. This year’s military exercise Steadfast Defender mobilized over 90,000 troops in the largest European military drills since the Cold War. With Sweden and Finland’s ascension to NATO, the US-led camp gains access to the vital Swedish airbase of Gotland and thus secures the entire Baltic for NATO and cuts off Russia’s Baltic Fleet at Kaliningrad, while the recent allowing of US troops to station at dozens of new outposts along Finland’s eastern border puts combined NATO troops within miles of being able to invade Russia’s only highway on the Kola Peninsula and cut off its Northern Fleet port at Murmansk. Sweden and Finland push Russia further into a corner by NATO, and this makes Ukraine that much more of a flashpoint where over 320,000 Ukrainians and Russians are suspected to have lost their lives. The NATO Summit declared Ukraine’s future in the alliance to be “irreversible,” pushing this iron-hot tension to explosive levels. In West Asia, Israel and the Gulf Monarchies make up the US’s preferred alliances in its war drive against Iran. The US relies on Israel’s ideology of Zionism to push its expansionist agenda and wage attacks against Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the Horn of Africa to keep these countries weakened. Palestine pays the harshest price with over 75 years of occupation, ethnic cleansing and genocide to keep Israel, the US’s favored war dog, forever combat ready. The Gulf Monarchies of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait form a backbone of military bases crucial for US positioning. The ultimate dream of wedding Israel and the Gulf Monarchies diplomatically has met lukewarm response, with the Abraham Accords of a few years ago tying UAE and Bahrain to the Zionist entity but failing to secure the gargantuan Saudi kingdom, and the genocide against Palestine has dashed these hopes further. Nevertheless, the US continues to wield these two alliances against its primary rival in the region, Iran, which it has subjected to assassinations, cyber warfare and a massive sanctions regime. NATO remains a key player in this region too, with NATO members sending warships to protect Israel as it wages its genocide and positioning of NATO technology to fortify the US’s allies that surround key oil and gas fields. The US’s most active front of war is the Indo-Pacific where it actively prepares for open conflict with China and the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea. Japan, the Pacific member of the G7, has volunteered as the clear imperialist partner of US-led war, changed its constitution to rearm its military to exponential proportions, and solidified trilateral military agreements between the US on the one hand, and South Korea and the Philippines on the other hand. The so-called QUAD alliance with Japan, Australia, the US and India seeks to win India away from economic and military partnerships with China and Russia, which it has failed to do. The Hiroshima Accord of 2023 stations British aircraft carriers, from a NATO country, in Japan for regular use. The 2023 Washington Declaration between the US and South Korea stations US nuclear armed submarines in South Korea for the first time in 40 years. New US bases and missile systems placed in the Philippines solidify the country and its people as a shield and launching pad in the so-called First Island Chain, a chain of military bases and missile systems along the major Pacific archipelagos extending from the East Asian continental mainland coast. Australia becomes a storage site for NATO technology, with new nuclear submarines from the US and UK placed under the AUKUS deal while surveillance technology from the US, UK and Canada is utilized as part of the Five Eyes alliance. This combined front, this “Pacific NATO” as this iron web of military alliances has been called, enacts some of the most intense military exercises such as the Rim of the Pacific happening as we speak on US occupied Hawai’i, mock “decapitation” exercises over the Korean Peninsula simulating invasions of the DPRK, and even urban warfare training in Taiwan, the US’s most sought-after resources for control of semiconductor markets and military positioning just miles from China. The NATO Summit Indo-Pacific forum exposed just how intertwined these alliances are to US-led war strategy. This is the chess board the US has set with its allies and puppet states to wage all-out war against the up and coming states it sees as its most existential rivals. One only has to look geographically at the three most dedicated trade and infrastructure deals the Biden administration has worked to bring into place to see the economic incentive in breaking the rise of these rivals: the European Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the India-Middle East Corridor, and the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Prosperity. These economic agreements and development plans are the latest attempt for the US and its allies to break open new markets and exploit the people and resources of these countries. To maintain its hold on resources for technological war preparations against these three fronts, the US wages constant counterinsurgency wars against people and nations standing in its way all around the world, and NATO ensures its ability to do so. In Africa, the Americas, South Asia and Oceania, the US and its allies continue their resources wars by destabilizing nations like Haiti, the Congo, Sudan, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, New Caledonia, and many others. Whispers of Argentina and possibly even Kenya joining NATO should warn us of how far the US is willing to go to hold onto its dying and desperate empire. NATO goes far beyond the North Atlantic. NATO is everywhere, and NATO is first and foremost a tool for counterrevolution. This preparation for all-out war that NATO is laying the plans for this week in Washington, DC, is of course not just all-out war on China, Russia, Iran or the DPRK. It will be an all-out war on all of humanity. In fact, the people of the colonies and semi-colonies and the poor and working class people of all capitalist and imperialist countries are experiencing the impacts of rural bombings, paramilitary violence and abductions, disappearances, police violence, forced migration and border militarization, and more surveillance than ever before. Especially impacted are rural and peasant communities in the countryside and working class people whose entire livelihood is uprooted by war. Women and children make up 75% of displaced people in conflict areas where they face increased gender based violence, experience food insecurity, human trafficking and displacement. Preparations for war therefore amount to a state of war for the masses, even if some are experiencing it more than others based on which part of the US’s global military chessboard they happen to live. But these very conditions of suffering and oppression, essentially, are the basis for building our broad, international united front against war and militarism. The reality of the crisis and desires for a just peace are the biggest drivers that push people to struggle against the system that oppresses them. And if no country is untouched, then we can find unity with the people in each country in the fight for a just and lasting peace, a peace beyond the imperialist system that unendingly keeps US-led war alive. The people must be awakened to see their conditions of war and militarism as not individual experiences, but collective experiences. Only then can we raise their consciousness to see that collective suffering can be solved with collective, systemic change. We must raise the militancy of the people, in each of our respective countries, to fight and win their rights and achieve economic, social, political and environmental justice. By gathering in teach-ins, forums, or other educational settings, we are able to share the experiences of our mass organizing against war and militarism in our countries and how we are coming closer to breaking the hold imperialism has via our own countries’ ruling classes. It is even possible to collaborate on long-term and globally-reaching campaigns together, such as this one against the 75th NATO Summit, of which Resist US-Led War was a proud member of the Resist NATO Coalition with other organizations, putting our efforts together to unite and organize the people against the root cause of NATO and US-Led War itself, the imperialist system. Resist US-Led War is a network of peoples’ organizations and so puts the biggest emphasis on organizing a mass movement of the people as the key solution that will change this war-ridden society. While people’s organizations can and should form a united front with whatever institutions and states that make sense at a given time and circumstance in the anti-imperialist struggle, we still assert that it is the people themselves that are the true makers of history and the most important factor of the movement for just peace. The people may seem devastatingly desperate today, but it is US imperialism that is desperate. This 75th NATO Summit is an act of desperation. Unlike the war profiteers, the people have a world to win. The people have something that’s worth fighting for.  NATO just concluded its annual Summit in Washington DC. While celebrating its 75th anniversary of “service to the world,” NATO issued its 38-point Washington Declaration. Point by point, the declaration outlines NATO’s most aggressive and provocative strategy yet for fulfilling its three core tasks of “deterrence and defense, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.” Contradicting its self-declared title as a defensive alliance, NATO shows how in pursuing its three core tasks it is actually gearing up for war on three named fronts–against Russia, against Iran, and against China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)–and making the world more unsafe, unstable and violent for the people of the world.
Deterrence and defense: NATO-speak for nuclear build-up, massing troops and weapons in member countries, and spending billions to modernize weapons NATO says that “Nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of Alliance security,” making the twisted argument that security is dependent on the very weapons that pose the greatest annihilative threat to life on the planet. With the Washington Declaration, NATO continues to push its members to modernize and expand their nuclear arsenals. Hypocritically, NATO calls for the complete denuclearization of North Korea and for the prevention of the building of a nuclear weapon by Iran. NATO’s modernization doesn’t stop at nuclear weapons, but also “further accelerating the modernisation of our collective defense,” which includes “battle decisive munitions and air and missile defense… new technologies and innovation...air surveillance capability… Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defense capabilities required to effectively operate in all environments.” Is it any wonder that NATO this week conducted the Defence Industry Forum with special guests from weapons corporations and launched the “Drone Coalition,” signing a new Memorandum of Understanding pledging $48.8 million to supply one million drones to Ukraine? As NATO continues to identify Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security,” it has ramped up “more frequent and large-scale training and exercises,...including through Steadfast Defender 24, NATO’s largest military exercise in a generation,” that mobilized over 90,000 troops. The military drills have also extended into the Arctic, with NATO wasting no time in involving its newest members, Finland and Sweden, by conducting exercise Nordic Response with 20,000 personnel including from the two countries this year. Modernization and expansion come at a cost–literally. NATO boasts that the “Allies are stepping up: defence expenditure by European Allies and Canada has grown by 18% in 2024, the biggest increase in decades. They are also investing more in modern capabilities, and increasing their contributions to NATO operations, missions, and activities.” Altogether, NATO members poured a total of $1.34 trillion into military spending just in 2023. When these countries spend more of their budgets on the military, they have less for their people’s basic needs, leading to more wealth inequality, more instability, and less security. Instead of crisis prevention and management, NATO incites and prolongs crises NATO claims it “does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia.” But NATO was founded from the start to contain Russia, relentlessly adding more member countries closer and closer to Russia’s borders after promises to not do so, and enabling the US to use existing or build new bases to surround Russia. With the addition of Finland and Sweden into its ranks, the alliance is positioned literally on Russia’s doorstep and covers the entire Arctic region with the exception of Russia itself. Although Russia has unequivocally stated that it would not tolerate Ukraine joining NATO, the Washington Declaration makes crystal clear that NATO is dead set on crossing that red line by saying, “Ukraine’s future is in NATO…we will continue to support [Ukraine] on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.” The stubborn insistence that Ukraine will join NATO preempts any chance for a diplomatic solution. But the longer the US-NATO proxy war continues, the more money NATO members will continue to shell out to keep providing military equipment, assistance and training to Ukraine; the just-inked “Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance for Ukraine” commits a minimum of Eu40 billion annually. NATO claims “Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, is the most direct asymmetric threat to the security of our citizens and to international peace and prosperity.” But it is NATO with the US leading the charge which has manufactured terrorist threats and used the War on Terror doctrine to wage state terrorism on the people and counter-insurgency on legitimate liberation movements. It was to come to the “collective defense” of the US that Article 5 of the NATO pledge was first invoked to draw NATO into the invasion and over 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. Cooperative security means new webs of military cooperation and big bucks for the war profiteers NATO has its tentacles in every region of the world, using special designations (i.e., “Global Partners”), offices and outposts (i.e., in Japan and announced to soon be in Ukraine), and cooperative agreements with dozens of countries in strategic locations. At this year’s Summit, NATO announced the opening of a new NATO office in Jordan, corresponding with its view to “foster greater security and stability in the Middle East and Africa;” announced new Defense Cooperation Agreements (DCA) between the US and Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, in the expanding Arctic frontier; and held meetings with leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, to discuss China’s continuing “challenge [to] our interests, security and values” in the Indo-Pacific. With its expansion, NATO brags that it has “undertaken the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense in a generation. We continue to enhance NATO’s deterrence and defense against all threats and challenges, in all domains, and in multiple strategic directions across the Euro-Atlantic area…Providing the necessary forces, capabilities, resources, and infrastructure for our new defense plans, to be prepared for high-intensity and multi-domain collective defense.” This rhetoric could be lifted straight from the US’s own strategic defense plans for Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), a sweeping campaign to create a wholly connected military, with information and forces coordinated across land, air, sea, space and cyber terrains. By the Pentagon’s own admission, JADC2 would likely have no end–meaning no end to the billions of dollars wasted on the new technology. NATO is inherently a tool to wage war for imperialism. NATO 2024’s focus on “bolstering allied defense and deterrence; support for Ukraine; and strengthening NATO's global partnerships” means war and misery for the people. As long as NATO exists, there will be no peace in the world. The only solution is for the people to resist NATO and fight for a just and lasting peace until it is achieved! On April 10th the Resist US-Led War Movement joined the International Women’s Alliance and BAYAN USA in launching the international campaign to Cancel the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises. RIMPAC is the world’s largest US-led joint war exercises, held biannually in occupied Hawai’i and involving the militaries of more than 20 US allies. In support of the people of Hawai’i who have been organizing against RIMPAC since it began in 1971, the international campaign aims to galvanize people throughout the continental US and around the world to expose and oppose the destructive and lethal war games. The international campaign will culminate with a convergence in San Diego this summer, where the US Navy will host an opening reception prior to departing for RIMPAC in Hawai’i.
The day following the campaign launch, the White House hosted the first ever Trilateral Summit of the US, Japan and the Philippines. Shoring up US military alliances in a build up to war with China, the Trilateral Summit undergirds the very reason we launched this campaign against the RIMPAC joint military exercise -- the exercises are blatant shows of force designed to project the power of US-led military alliances. The alliances themselves are tools used by the US to secure its long term military and political interests, over which the US is rapidly losing its grip. On the Philippines’ side, the US-Marcos puppet regime raked in $128 million in military aid from the US, amounting to more than the past 10 years combined. This will go primarily into infrastructure for the at least nine new bases that Marcos is allowing the US to use under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Funds will also purchase new attack helicopters, missiles, fighter jets, rifles and other weapons that the Armed Forces of the Philippines uses in repressive military operations against their own people. Further, the Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 (PERA Act) was introducedenate in the US Senate to strengthen and modernize the U.S.-Philippines alliance through significantly increased U.S. security assistance--a total of $2.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing over the next 5 years. On the Japanese side, the US-Kishida parter imperialist regime advocated for a place in the Australia-United Kingdom-US (AUKUS) military agreement to secure investments in military AI, cyber and hypersonic warfare, while declaring plans to double the nation’s military spending within the next 5 years. This would make the country the fourth largest military spender in the world after the US, Russia and China. Japan also discussed its other Trilateral Agreement with the US and South Korea and plans for continued military exercises that have been taking place over the Korean Peninsula as an unprovoked show of force to the government of the DPRK. With this Trilateral Summit, the governments of both Japan and the Philippines made it clear that they will toe the line of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, marking China as their main target and allowing their countries to be used as pawns in the US so-called “Island Chain Strategy” of encircling China with bases, missile silos and surveillance radars. Japan and the Philippines pledged to conduct even more military exercises together, including joint patrols around the Taiwan Strait, outside the maritime borders of all three nations. This will only put a target on both countries as the US plans its aggressive strategies miles across the ocean in Washington DC. As the US works to put in motion ever more military agreements in Asia and the Pacific with the help of its partner imperialist and puppet governments like Japan and the Philippines, the peace loving people of the world must unite and show our mass opposition to US-led war and the build up to World War 3. Join us in the international campaign to Cancel RIMPAC and say no to all provocative military exercises and alliances! The US uses RIMPAC to strengthen the abilities of 26 of its allies’ militaries to wage wars of aggression around the world, further fueling tensions between major military powers. Through weapons testing and war-games during RIMPAC, defense contractors and fossil fuel corporations reap hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. The US military occupation of Hawai'i violates native Hawaiian sovereignty and turns Hawai'i into a testing ground for current and future wars. RIMPAC leads to environmental destruction, violence against women, and a gross neglect of the day to day needs of people all over the world by advancing US-led wars. But just as people around the US and the world took to the streets to condemn the Trilateral Summit, we will do the same for every manifestation of rising militarism that we are able to, culminating in the mass mobilization to San Diego this summer! Get involved in the international Cancel RIMPAC campaign today! Sign up on the campaign interest form: https://tinyurl.com/CancelRimpacSupport To learn more, view the recording of the campaign launch: https://youtu.be/uL1V967FhVc. Also download the slides for an in depth look at RIMPAC and the campaign. The Resist US-Led War Movement demands an end to the build up to another regional war in West Asia and North Africa. The continuing Israeli assault and genocide on Gaza and the Palestinian people is inflaming tensions throughout the whole region, tensions deeply rooted in the long history of foreign intervention. US leaders are deliberately stoking the fires of their war machine, and so only a united international anti-war movement has the power to demand they stop.
This region of the world has been in a constant state of war for over one hundred years, and since 1945 it has been the US that has led, financed, advised or otherwise encouraged wars in order to protect its profit-making influence. Over the years, these have killed tens of millions of people, destroyed critical infrastructure, caused mass starvation and destruction of food and water systems and other crimes against humanity. The genocidal assault on Gaza with US-provided weapons is part and parcel with this history. The US sent Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin and even Biden himself to meet with the Zionists and promise them full support. Biden then went on TV decrying the killing of US-Israeli citizens in the October 7th military strike by Palestinian resistance fighters, saying nothing about the killing of US-Palestinian citizens by Israeli forces in Gaza. Biden also had the gall to openly support the Israeli government’s claim that the bombing of the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza that killed over 500 seeking refuge and medical help, was an accident caused by the Palestinian side. Upon this announcement, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as well as the leaders of Egypt and Jordan canceled a meeting with him, demonstrating the diplomatic isolation that the US is pushing itself into in its continued support for Israeli war crimes. US shipments of further weapons to Israel are escalating geopolitical tensions to new heights, provoking Iran to respond by pledging its own intervention if an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza occurs. The US responded by sending a second aircraft carrier to the region. Following this act, US military bases in Iraq and Syria were hit with missile and drone attacks and a missile was fired from Yemen, all countries where armed groups in alliance with Iran exist. This shows that Iran’s promises are not empty, and that the people of West Asia, regardless of religious or political affiliation, stand against the Israeli assault on Gaza. The US has pledged $105 billion in emergency military spending, the largest single purchase in US history. This would include $14 billion for Israel but also $60 billion for Ukraine, $7 billion for Taiwan and $14 billion for US-Mexico border militarization. This shows how desperate the US-led war machine has become, and how profit-hungry the weapons companies have become. Instead of condemning its allies' war crimes, the US deliberately covers them up and asks US citizens to keep funding them through their tax dollars. Instead of negotiating with its rivals, like Iran, Russia or China, the US seizes on military options given that it is still the most powerful military in the world. But despite this last fact, it has isolated itself further from the rest of the world more so than ever before by its own actions. The rise of its regional rivals, in this case Iran, is a sign that if the US continues on its path of supposed military dominance of the world it will, this time, lead not only to the continued genocide of the Palestinian people, but also an expanding and devastating conflict that will drag millions into what may become the beginnings of a third World War. The anti-war movement must unite and take to the streets, demanding the US end its march to World War Three. The people united is the only chance for a just and lasting peace around the world. The Resist US-Led War Movement condemns yet another promise of military aid to the Zionist state of Israel to wage what will undoubtedly be another brutal campaign of indiscriminate violence against the Palestinian people.
In reaction to Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” by Hamas and the people of Gaza, in which Palestinian fighters carried out coordinated attacks against Zionist military targets throughout occupied Palestine, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu declared all-out war on Hamas, the elected governing party and military of Gaza. US President Biden pledged full support to the Israeli military. This is at a time when support for continuing the over $75 billion in weapons to Ukraine is at an all-time low and the UN, led by the US, is considering a full-on military invasion of Haiti. All of this comes as Netanyahu’s own government is facing harsh criticism by Israeli citizens due to its corruption and political repression of Party rivals. War is meant to distract from the actual problems facing the Zionist society, largest of all being the occupation itself. Despite only Hamas being named in this declaration, history has shown that Israeli military operations deliberately target civilians while using very little precision when targeting actual military targets. This is due to racist stereotypes of Palestinians as “terrorists” and even “vermin” and “snakes” constantly touted from Israeli leaders themselves to instill racial hatred into the minds of soldiers and citizens alike (often the same, given Israeli mandatory military service). Over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza alone from Zionist airstrikes since 2006 in the name of “war on Hamas,” and there is nothing to suggest it will be any different this time. The state of Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid in the world, with around $260 billion estimated since the Zionist occupation started in 1948. This is often in the form of money used to invest in domestic weapons development that is then advertised as “battle tested” to other militaristic states looking to purchase them. This “testing” is done through the constant killing of Palestinian civilians, making all states who provide support for and purchase these weapons complicit in this violence, most of all the US. Many governments and humanitarian organizations have accused the state of Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violation of international humanitarian law. Peace-loving people of the US and around the world must take the evidence presented seriously and do whatever necessary to end the US support for the Zionist occupation of Palestine. The Palestinian offensive from Gaza is the resistance of a people with no other option than to fight against a military occupier. The violence started with Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and it will only end when it is done. With the unwavering vision of a just and lasting peace in the world one day in the future, the Resist US-Led War Movement calls on its members and all peace-loving people of the world to struggle for it by rejecting another unjust war on the Palestinian people and demanding an end to the US-Zionist occupation of Palestine. Once again, a political showdown in the US Congress has led to threats of a government shutdown, impacting the livelihood of millions of people. From work furloughs to stopped paychecks to suspensions of services, the shutdown would force people to go without food, medical treatment, or a roof over their heads until Congress reaches a compromise on 12 spending bills to fund the agencies which run the government. In the United States Congress, current spending laws expired on Sept. 30. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate passed a 45-day continuing resolution Saturday to stave off a government shutdown with less than three hours to spare.
But when the smoke clears, we’ll see how at least one spending category will have grown instead of shrunk: the military budget. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), is the largest spending bill passed annually by the US Congress, which will fund the many current sprawling military operations of the US, with over 1400 military installations worldwide. The proposed FY24 NDAA authorizes a whopping $886.3 billion for national defense discretionary programs, an increase of $28 billion over the FY23 enacted level. Attempting to wear a progressive mask, Democrats waned and waxed poetic on the Republican threats to rescind the Pentagon’s program reimbursing service members who must travel to obtain reproductive health care, limit access to gender-affirming care for transgender troops, and end various diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the Defense Department Despite the grandstanding on social issues, driving the appearance of major political differences, there is a solid bipartisan agreement to carry on the profit-oriented and war-driven economy of the US. This means that Congress will choose to cut the budget for safety nets and human services, while raising its funding for high tech weapons and nukes that are fueling insecurity and jeopardizing our safety, Instead of investing in long term solutions to the climate crisis, Congress will increase funding for space programs to hunt for resources that are in short supply in the US. The truth is neither Democrats or Republicans truly care about bodily autonomy of women or gender oppressed people, as demonstrated by the utter disregard for human life and ruthless murder, displacement and violence against civilians perpetuated by the US Military operations overseas and domestically. The proxy war in Ukraine has claimed well over 100,000 lives and led to thousands of displaced people and refugees. 150,000 have been killed in airstrikes in Yemen and over 227,000 have died from blockade-imposed famine and destroyed medical facilities in the US-backed Saudi war in Yemen. The use of drones of mass destruction, notably in Kurdistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, the Philippines and across Western and Northern Africa have killed countless unarmed civilians, as well as targeted and destroyed agriculture. The unilaterally enacted economic, financial, trade and other sanctions on individuals, organizations and over 40 countries as a means to force their compliance with US policies have led to mass hunger, disease, and destabilization. We don’t want a “woke military” that will improve diversity, equity and inclusion among its forces just to improve their lethality; we want to end all wars of aggression and support the true and genuine peace that will come from the self determination and liberation struggles of the oppressed people of the world. The budget further extends the “Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance U.S. deterrence and defense posture in the Indo-Pacific region. It funds the initiative at $9.7 billion, an increase of $600 million over Biden’s budget request. This primary front of US led war is on a quick path of escalation to World War III, with US provocation in the region– a war whose build up has already begun with the deployment of nuclear powered submarines to Australia, storage facilities and base expansion in the Philippines and further military alliances brokered, including a tri-lateral agreement between Korea, Japan and the US on US defense interests. The reality we must face as anti-war activists, here in the US and around the world, is that the budget for defense and the lengths to which the US will go to extend and expand its military operations all across the globe, will always give the basis to build a militant anti-war movement. We must be in the streets, demanding an end to the ludicrous spending and war policy of both Parties while struggling against endless militarism, and redirect spending priorities to meet the many social needs of the people–housing, healthcare, education and basic food and livelihood assistance programs among them. More importantly, the Resist US-led War Movement will continue to march arm in arm with the people’s resistance, especially those on the receiving end of the drones, bombs and sanctions, to end all wars of aggression and build a just peace. Resist US-Led War Movement condemns US-NATO aggression and military build-up to war with Russia over Ukraine. We stand with the people of the world demanding genuine engagement in diplomatic negotiations paired with tangible action toward de-escalation of the conflict. For any negotiations to be taken seriously, they must include an end to U.S.-NATO moves that contribute to hostilities in the region. This includes ending NATO multi-lateral naval exercises such as Neptune Strike 22 in the Mediterranean Sea this week involving a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier; plans for Mission Clemenceau 22 in February involving French, Italian and U.S. aircraft carriers and a nuclear-armed submarine; and plans for Defender Europe 22 from May to mid-June involving 33,000 troops from 26 countries rehearsing rapid deployment of large combat units. This also includes putting a stop to the massing of arms to Ukraine; not only have at least $650 million worth of weapons been provided directly by the U.S., but NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are also transferring U.S. tanks, missiles and other weapons to Ukraine. The U.S.-NATO military advisors already in Ukraine must be removed and the 8,500 troops that U.S. President Joe Biden recently ordered to be on “high alert” for deployment to Eastern Europe must be called off. Actions must be taken to cool off the conflict now, but long-term peace will not be achieved without dismantling NATO. One of the most contentious points is the threatened expansion of NATO right at the border of Russia, should Ukraine join the alliance. Since its founding in 1949, NATO has acted as an armed wing of US-led war and imperialism, mobilizing its member states in North America and Europe to unleash lethal military campaigns in the name of “collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security” with an explicit purpose to surround and contain Russia. This has led to the building up of bases and military installations in the Black, Baltic and Mediterranean Seas; recruitment of former Soviet member countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and the propping up of U.S.-friendly and fascist governments in nearby Poland, Hungary and Ukraine. Select NATO countries like Germany and France critical of Ukrainian weapons transfers are silenced to maintain the facade of a united NATO attitude of war posturing. It’s clear the US seeks to maintain NATO as the same military trump card against Russia as it was used during the Cold War. To uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty we must end U.S. intervention. Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated: “We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend, including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. Given the geopolitical and economic importance of Ukraine in the region, the U.S. has been trying to exert influence over the country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Through threats of sanctions, to stoking Russophobia in the academe and among NGOs through billions of dollars in grants, pushing Ukraine to join NATO, and heavily arming Ukraine, the U.S. has contributed to destabilization under the guise of democratizing the country, securing its economy, and protecting it from invasion. Resist US-Led War Movement joins the people in demanding U.S.-NATO Out of Ukraine! Respect the Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Ukraine! Dismantle NATO! We call on the people to Build Solidarity and Fight for Just Peace! Sign the pledge against NATO | Conduct actions against war over Ukraine ON THE AUKUS DEAL: JOINT STATEMENT OF ASIA PACIFIC RESEARCH NETWORK AND RESISTOn September 15, the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia announced their newly forged trilateral military alliance-- AUKUS. A stated aspect of the agreement is the modernization of military assets to address growing “security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.”[1] The Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) and the RESIST US-led War Movement (RESIST) consider the AUKUS as a threat to genuine security in the region. We stand in solidarity with the peoples of the Asia Pacific demanding that AUKUS be immediately scrapped. The security pact sets its eyes on improving cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and other technologies. But, the most contentious initiative under AUKUS is Australia’s acquisition of, at minimum, eight nuclear-powered submarines through BAE Systems PLc.[2] The Australian Defence Force’s arsenal will also be augmented with Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (Extended Range), Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (Extended Range), hypersonic missiles, precision strike guided missiles, and developing a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing enterprise. These enhancements are integrated into the existing military systems of the three countries in the region. These bolster the hundreds of military bases in the Asia Pacific region; the US-Australia Pine Gap base used for intelligence and drone strikes; the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group recently sailing into the South China Sea; and Britain’s recent announcement that they will permanently station two warships in contested waters.[3][4][5] According to the joint statement by the leaders of the three AUKUS countries, the deal was made with “international rules-based order” in mind. They also claimed that AUKUS would contribute to the “peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”[6] History, however, has taught us that these countries think “peace and stability” means manifest destiny; using their military might to influence world affairs to their favor. China, more than anyone, is aware that this new military alliance between and among its rivals is surely aimed at limiting China’s influence and economic control and directed towards neutralizing their military dominance over the region. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemned the alliance’s “outdated Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow minded geopolitical perception”.[7] Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party-owned international media outfit, called Australia a “running dog of the US” for its involvement in the “US-led strategic siege of China.” The Global Times’ editorial went on to assert that “if Australia dares to provoke China more blatantly because of that, or even find fault militarily, China will certainly punish it with no mercy.”[8] Both Washington and Beijing have given their continued fidelity to keeping the peace and avoiding war, but the advent of the AUKUS pact clearly aggravates tensions. What is so important in Asia that key global players would risk compromising relations with allied countries and war with rivals? The answer is economic dominance and trade route control. The AUKUS countries would benefit from securing key supply lines away from global competitors. It would mean, siphoning the Global South’s natural resources, and further penetrating domestic markets of weak democracies where they can dump their surplus goods. In particular, the Straits of Malacca and the global superconductor shortage seem to be primary considerations for key global players’ deepened interest in the region. The Straits of Malacca is a major waterway where “[a] quarter of the world’s trade, half the world’s oil, and two-thirds of its natural gas trade pass through”.[9] Specifically, “70 percent of Japan’s oil” and “80 percent of China’s trade” traverses the Malacca Straits. Anyone who can monopolize control over the waterway could dictate the flow of global commerce and use it to leverage further influence over rival countries.[10][11][12] Moreover, the worldwide microchip shortage is causing major plunges across several industries such as automobile, smartphone, and computer component production. The automobile manufacturing industry anticipates a total loss of at least USD 60.6 billion for this year alone.[13] The shortage-induced economic downturns compounded with the alarming competitiveness of China in microchip production during the past couple of years are prompting Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) member countries (US, Australia, Japan, India) to improve their production processes. They recently expressed their intention to establish “a safe supply chain for semiconductors.” [14] For instance, Australia, as one of the leading sources of essential minerals for microchip production, is advised to further integrate with the supply chain. Meanwhile, the R&D-focused US receives the manufactured chips from East Asia and prepares them for distribution.[15] Certainly, the multi-billion electronics supply chain involving Australia and the US will benefit from the AUKUS military pact. The economic objectives of the QUAD are buttressed by its military objectives, and here is where the AUKUS pact comes into full force. China’s claim to maritime territory of five different countries and territories (Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei) threatens the traditional economic corridors of the QUAD members. While China’s construction of military bases in the region is an existential threat to the US-led military dominance of the Indo-Pacific. AUKUS arrives as a technological upgrade to the military capabilities of the QUAD countries in containing China’s territorial expansion. The AUKUS pact has far-reaching implications that would introduce added friction in a region that is already tense from territorial disputes.
The APRN and RESIST! stand in solidarity with the people of Asia Pacific not just in abolishing the AUKUS pact, but in dismantling all manifestations of imperialism in the region-- may it be from the US, China, or any other country. We are uncompromising in our commitment to end all imperialist conflicts across the globe-- putting an end to their insatiable hunger for Third world resources. In addition to opposing armed conflict, we are also devoted to establishing pro-people national economies in underdeveloped countries replacing existing neoliberal policies. The freedom and liberation of the Global South comes not just from the absence of war, but also from the presence of a sustainable, independent, and mass-oriented system of governance. Ultimately, we demand that China and the US and their allies respect and observe national sovereignty and patrimony of all nation-states. If they are truly sincere in ensuring regional “peace and stability,” then they must withdraw their military troops, assets, and bases from the Global South. REFERENCES:
Biden Administration, Hands Off Indo-Pacific! Peace, Justice and Sovereignty, Not More Militarization!The Asia-Pacific network of the Resist US-Led War Movement condemns the recent visits to the Asia-Pacific region by high-ranking cabinet members of the Biden administration. While these visits were presented as promoting “freedom and a rules-based order”, the Resist US-Led War Movement exposes these for what they genuinely represent: the continuity of US military strategy in order to maintain US-friendly economic and political policy at the detriment to sovereignty and human rights of the people of the region. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Loyd Austin visited Japan and South Korea in March. The two then subsequently returned in July, with Blinken visiting India and Austin visiting Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. Vice President Kamala Harris just finished her August tour of Singapore and Vietnam. Each of these countries represents a fortified political-military “base” for the United States in the region, and the policies reaffirmed by these visits reflects this unequal relationship. Japan has been a favored location for US military bases since the country’s defeat in World War II. The US-Japanese security treaty provides ‘legal basis’ for stationing the US troops there for ‘peace and security of the Far East’, even though the Japanese Constitution outlawed the use of an offensive Japanese military. Japanese taxes would be used to fund the US military bases that dot the island nation, today amounting to 81 US-owned bases in addition to at least 52 Japanese facilities used by US forces. The majority of these bases are on the island of Okinawa, where a 2019 referendum showed 72% of residents are against the construction of new bases. Yet the country’s elite who make up the government continue to push for US military agreements that match their economic interests, including the implementation of harsh crackdowns against mass anti-base protests. Japan is the fourth largest U.S. trading partner and largest source of foreign direct investment into the United States, and its investors are the largest foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities. South Korea remains a key US buffer state to counter the policies of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (North Korea). The US has continuously stationed the THAAD missile system in Seongju since 2017, against the demands of thousands of consistent protesters but to the benefit of THAAD producer Lockheed Martin’s annual billions of dollars in profit. Blinken and Austin’s visit reaffirmed the placement of the unpopular missile system, the retention of the 15 US military bases and support for other state policies designed to keep the current order. One of these polices, the 1948 National Security Law, has been used to quash free speech and label calls for sovereignty and peace as support for terrorism, especially around the calls for peaceful reunification of Korea, a move that would make the US military presence in the country a clearly moot point. Austin’s visit to the Philippines came right after an approved $2+ billion weapons sale and the one-year anniversary of the country’s widely condemned Anti-Terror Law, which has been used to extrajudicially arrest and execute hundreds of activists. The key point of discussion was the Visiting Forces Agreement that has allowed the US to circumvent constitutional bans on foreign bases, troops and facilities on Philippine soil, thus enabling US troops to station at Philippine military bases following the popular movement which led to the ejection of US bases from the country in 1992. The Agreement was rescinded by the Duterte regime in retaliation for human rights concerns expressed by some members of the US Congress, assigning Austin’s meeting the objective of winning the Agreement back through promises of further military support. Over 600 US troops are regularly stationed on a rotational basis in the Philippines to counter what the US sees as the encroachment of China and the suppression of mass actions for sovereignty against the billions of dollars in US foreign ownership in the country’s economy. Vietnam and Singapore are two other countries the US seeks to maintain strong influence with. Austin’s speech in Singapore proclaiming that, “no one can go it alone” marked a turn from the unilateralism of President Trump and towards the multilateral Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Yet ASEAN has from its start been used to promote foreign monopoly control through capital investment via US-friendly trade agreements. Singapore also renewed the US’s use of domestic military bases. Vietnam has long expressed concern over Chinese claims to territorial waters, and the US used this opportunity in 2019 to approve the first sale of Boeing weapons to the country since its war of liberation. An extra stop in Hanoi for Austin reaffirmed the US’s posture in the region. Harris promised over $100 million in new USAID funding for Covid-19 relief, energy infrastructure, higher education, support for people with disabilities and business innovation, funding that historically has been used to further privatize once-public industries. Blinken’s visit to India was intended to strengthen the so-called Quadrilateral Alliance (Quad) between the US, India, Japan and Australia against the posturing of China. This was in the shadow of massive nationwide demonstrations of farmers against neoliberal agricultural laws favoring foreign agribusiness and one of the world’s most devastating Covid-19 outbreaks due to government inaction. Blinken said nothing about the Indian military’s well-documented human rights abuses in its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir nor its crackdowns on activists and national and religious minorities in the country. Australia was not visited, however its government’s long time subservience to US military and economic interests in the region guarantees Australian government’s support for US aggression. More than 2,500 US marines are now permanently stationed in Darwin (North Australia) on a rotational basis. Pine Gap in Central Australia remains the largest US intelligence base outside of the US itself, and the US is allowed access to any Australian military base in the country. Australia’s military spending is slated to reach $570 billion over the next 10 years and multinational weapons companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have been given more than $22 billion in weapons manufacturing contracts over the past four years, whilst requiring to pay only minimum tax. This demonstrates Australia’s low priorities for public funding of health, education and social services in order to maintain the highest military capacity to fulfil the escalating requirements and unequal relationship of the Anzus Treaty with the US. In the wake of these high-profile US cabinet visits, the people of Asia Pacific resume their calls for sovereignty, justice and independence from all big powers imposing economic and military dominance. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy will continue to pit the region against itself for imperialist gains. Austin made the US’s objectives clear while en route to Japan in March: “Our goal is to make sure that we have the capabilities and the operational plans and concepts to be able to offer credible deterrence to China or anybody else who would want to take on the U.S.” In this statement, the US clearly delineates China as its existential threat while labeling anyone rejecting US-centered policies an equal threat. This justifies US support for fascisized policies such as the Philippine Anti-Terror Law and the Korean National Security Law, bringing the heavy arm of the state down on people mobilizing for their rights. Harris’s suggestion for the US to host the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference further exposes how this militarist agenda strives to achieve the economic agenda of an Asia-Pacific in the pockets of US monopolists and financiers. As the ruling elites of Asia-Pacific governments choose their sides in the new multi-polar world order, the people stand united against US-led war and militarism, be it in the form of foreign military bases, joint military exercises, arms sales or US-funded state violence. We have seen the people mount widespread protests for years against the US military bases in Okinawa; the provocative joint US-South Korea military exercises; and the enactment of military agreements which trample on Philippine sovereignty. The Resist US-Led War Movement calls on all those who stand against wars of aggression and for a just and lasting peace to link arms with the people of the Asia Pacific and stand firm against the destructive war preparations of the US and its superpower rivals. FROM BUSH TO BIDEN: WAR PROFITEERS WIN BIG IN THE US WAR ON AFGHANISTANIn the wake of the US drone strike against the ISIS-Khorasan group in Afghanistan mere weeks after the US military “pull-out”, the Resist US-Led War Movement condemns this blatant attempt to reassert power through aggression in the country. When Biden declared at a White House press conference that, “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he was acting as the mouthpiece for the monopoly weapons corporations who have worked hard over the last 20 years to maintain the occupation of Afghanistan as a pool of constant superprofits.
$2,000,000,000,000--two trillion dollars was poured into the US war and occupation of Afghanistan, resulting in 171,000 people killed, four million people displaced, tens of thousands of new refugees, and heightened instability in Afghanistan and the region. After 20 years of the US “War on Terror” waged on Afghanistan, it is clear that the only winners have been the war profiteers who reaped hundreds of billions of dollars by waging this war and are poised to continue benefiting from the instability left in its wake. Money-Making Venture for Monopoly Capitalists One look at the balance sheets of the top five largest US corporations in the weapons industry shows how they capitalized on the war on Afghanistan to turn enormous profits. According to research conducted by The Intercept, since the start of the war in 2001, investment returns skyrocketed 331.49% for Raytheon; 625.37% for General Dynamics; 974.97% for Boeing; 1,197.14% for Northrup Grumman; and 1,235.60% for Lockheed Martin. Private military contractors outnumbered US military troops 3 to 1 in both Afghanistan and Iraq since 2017, with over $220 billion spent between the two countries. L3Harris (formerly the Harris Corporation) was awarded a $1.7 billion contract to supply Afghan security forces with communications technology. Testing Ground for Future Wars For 20 years, the US used Afghanistan as a military testing ground for war tactics and technology. Using Afghanistan as an international “base” for carrying out the War on Terror, the US secretly operated numerous black sites to disappear and torture alleged terrorist detainees from around the world. Control over Afghanistan ensured a strategic center for the torture program in Asia. Under Trump, the US dropped the so-called “Mother Of All Bombs” on Afghanistan, in the largest non-nuclear bomb attack in history. Perhaps most notoriously, the US war on Afghanistan became synonymous with drone warfare. With the use of drones for everything from surveillance to missile and bomb attacks, the US honed its done technology through 20 years of application in both all-out aggression and counterinsurgency operations. From 2001-2017, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimated at least 16,000 people killed by drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia alone, with tens of thousands more injured or otherwise impacted by the trauma of drone surveillance and attacks. The Center for the Study of the Drone reported that 102 countries now use drones for military purposes, with the US far surpassing any other country in the use of weaponized drones and production of drones for export. US weapons TNCs such as Boeing also lead the world in developing weaponized jet-powered drones, drones with the capacity to carry large and heavy weapons, micro-drones, and drones with artificial intelligence technology to guide drone “swarms.” Drone warfare and surveillance is an integral part of the militarization of the US-Mexico border wall. The US Navy is now investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the development of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), pointing to the expansion of the US’s use of drone technology from Afghanistan to its new focus--the Indo-Pacific and China. War for Geopolitical Gain While the US used the rhetoric of fighting terorrism and fighting for the rights of women as justification for launching its war on Afghanistan, its true intentions were never humanitarian. For decades leading up to the war, the US sought to surround Iran militarily from Afghanistan on the Eastern border and Iraq on the Western border. The US also aimed to control the vital trade routes that crisscross Afghanistan, essential for billions of dollars in trade across South Asia. Before the current “Pivot to Asia” doctrine, it was crucial for US strategy to have a “center” for the borderless War on Terror. In the new multi-polar situation, while the new “center” for the US is shifting to the Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan remains important to the US’s geopolitical priorities and will continue to be subject to US aggression and destabilization through sanctions, surveillance, espionage, military strikes and the like. International Solidarity with the People of Afghanistan The US resoundingly failed to achieve any of the objectives it outwardly expressed for invading and occupying Afghanistan. No sustained peace was won, the people suffered for twenty long years under air strikes, nighttime home raids and arbitrary arrests, and national unity was not achieved through the US-backed government. Yet, the Afghani people still stand united in the call for a just and lasting peace in their country. US weapons monopolies and their supporters in government destroyed any semblance of peace so as to continue lining their pockets. The only way to fight back against their power is by supporting the Afghan peoples’ struggle for self-determination against foreign domination. The US war machine was defeated after 20 years of struggle against a force determined to eject it from their homeland by any means necessary. Now is the time to support grassroots movement building on the ground so that the entire Afghan people can win a say in their country’s future. International solidarity is the strongest weapon against the power of US-led war and the military-industrial complex. |