War Expands: Ukraine, Palestine, and now Lebanon

The Third World War is spreading and intensifying. US and British imperialism, despite occasional statements to the contrary from the mouths of their political representatives, are working both to intensify the Ukraine-Russia war and to spread and deepen the war in the Middle East on a much wider area.

The Zelenski government in Ukraine is constantly demanding more arms, ammunition and financial aid. The Western imperialists never refuse these requests. It is no coincidence that the use of the F-16 fighter jets transferred to Ukraine in the war coincides with the attack launched by Ukraine in the Kursk region towards the Russian interior. This attack has a symbolic meaning rather than its content and consequences: The war is no longer confined to the territory of Ukraine, but the territory of Russia has also become a battlefield. For the first time since 1941, a small part of Russia's territory has been overrun by foreign troops, a humiliating situation for the Putin administration, which is clearly one of the goals of the Western imperialists and their puppet Zelensky.

Ukraine is trying to hit Russian military positions near the border not only with its ground forces but also with its air force and UCAVs. To make this effort even more effective, it wants to use the medium and long-range guided missiles it has received from Western imperialism to launch attacks on Russian territory. So far the US and Britain have not authorised this, but in recent weeks this is one of the issues they have been discussing with each other and with other members of NATO. At the same time, attempts to escalate the war are increasing and exposing the cracks in Zelensky’s government, with resignations from the civil and military bureaucracy on the rise. Many senior military officers, as well as several ministers, resigned in early September, including the Foreign Minister, because they were seen as unsuccessful or because they opposed the attempt to expand the war into Russia.

It is obvious that it would not be enough to provide Ukraine with missiles capable of striking the Russian interior, but that their use would require the active support of Nato specialists. Recalling this fact, Putin added that if these weapons were used to attack Russia, it would mean that “NATO countries would go to war with Russia”: “As the essence of the conflict changes, Russia will make appropriate decisions based on new threats.” What are “appropriate decisions”? Both Putin and the Russian Foreign Minister have repeatedly declared that they ‘will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if necessary’. More recently, Dmitri Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, was even more threatening: “Russia is being patient about not using nuclear weapons. But every patience has an end.” Russia’s nuclear doctrine has recently been amended[1] and the conditions for using these weapons have been further relaxed. Most recently, President Lukashenko of Belarus, where Russian tactical nuclear weapons were deployed last year, declared that if NATO countries attacked Belarus, they would immediately use these weapons: “We say it clearly: Our red line is our state border. If they cross it, our response will be immediate.”

The same discourse of change and nuclear war is also voiced by US imperialism, with US Secretary of State Blinken telling reporters in Kiev: “As needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, we have adapted, and I have no doubt we will continue to do so.” The ideologues of British imperialism have also been arguing that it is necessary to extend the war into Russia in order to “warn Putin of the consequences of his actions” and to prevent him from going too far, saying that “given certain conditions” Britain should risk war with Russia: “The principle and precedent for such an extension of the war has already been established because Western weapons have already been used on Russian soil. For example, the tanks in the Kursk offensive. There is no difference whether they shoot down a Russian bomber within a kilometre of Russian territory or hundreds of kilometres away. Risks must be accepted and exercises must be conducted. Parliaments and the people must be ready to fight and face the consequences. The truth is clear enough and this is how we won the Cold War: To prevent war with Russia we must be ready for war with Russia.”

Until recently, the use of nuclear weapons was widely regarded as a crime against humanity. Bourgeois politicians generally did not make speeches that would upset this perception. During and after the collapse of the USSR, international agreements on nuclear disarmament etc. were welcomed and it was claimed that the danger of nuclear war was now a thing of the past. Now look at the current situation! Both Russia and the USA are increasingly talking about the possibility of using nuclear weapons. Nuclear arsenals are being overhauled and renewed. Nuclear weapons tests, which have been cancelled for many years, are being put back on the agenda. Nuclear exercises are being conducted and these weapons are being deployed in new locations. Russia has already put its nuclear forces on indefinite alert. All this means not only military preparation; humanity is being accustomed to the use of tactical nuclear weapons![2] Attempts are being made to create the impression that their use is normal. Large sections of the youth, poisoned for years by war games on computers, watched this live on television when Iraq was bombed, in a state of mind like watching a film! Today, the same normalisation process is taking place with regard to nuclear weapons. Young generations are being brainwashed by computer games involving nuclear weapons, nuclear war simulations and so on. The idea is popularised that small nuclear weapons are not so bad and can be used. Is it not clear how terrible the end result of these preparations is?

Zionist Israel on an unending rampage

In London, Paris, Berlin, in many cities of the USA, workers are organising huge demonstrations for the end of the massacre committed by Israel and for the liberation of Palestine. The working masses in Israel are also organising mass demonstrations against the war. The question “why the attacks of 7 October, the beginning of the Gaza war, could not have been prevented” and the demands for an end to the war in order to free the hostages as soon as possible are spreading among the Israeli masses. Hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets, chanting slogans in favour of peace and demanding Netanyahu's resignation. Despite the unconditional support of the US, Britain and a few Western imperialist countries, the Zionist regime of Israel is increasingly recognised worldwide as committing crimes against humanity.

But these peaceful demonstrations are not enough to stop the fascists at the head of Israel and the Western imperialist powers that support them. The world war is born out of the contradictions of capitalism and the genocidal war that Israel has been waging for a year has become a part of this great war. This war reveals with sufficient clarity the desire and goal of imperialism to further escalate the Middle East front of the world war (just like the Ukraine front), to spread and expand the war. Having massacred more than 40 thousand people in Gaza, mostly women, children and the elderly, Israel does not stop there and spreads the war to the West Bank and then to Lebanon. In addition, it does not hesitate to bomb Yemen.

Israel first killed some Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon and the next day the leader of Hamas in Tehran, the capital of Iran. This was a clear provocation against Iran. Despite all their bluster and vows of revenge, the Iranian rulers failed to respond effectively to these attacks. Then the Zionist aggression once again turned to Lebanon and targeted Hezbollah cadres there. Israel surprised everyone by launching an operation through Hezbollah’s means of communication, in which it neutralised hundreds of people. This is also an operation of terror, that is, intimidation. This attack, which was intended to send the message that there is no point beyond its reach, was followed by a much higher level attack. The leader of Hezbollah and its top command were bombed and massacred in the organisation's headquarters. We can clearly say that Israel is raging in aggression, it does not recognise any boundaries, law, etc. does not hold it at all. It has the full support of the USA-UK behind it. Without this, it is not possible for it to behave in such an aggressive manner or to carry out these attacks. Iran is unable to respond effectively. After the bombing of the Beirut headquarters, the information that Iranian President Khamenei was transferred to a safe place is a symbolic expression of the fact that Iran has lost the initiative to Zionism in the tension and conflict with Israel and had to go on the defensive. This situation will not soften the Israeli-US-UK aggression, but will further escalate it.

After Nasrallah’s assassination, there were many comments such as “the region is on the brink of a war” or “one more step towards a regional war”. For our part, we have been saying from the very beginning that there is already a war in the Middle East and that this is one of the fronts of the Third World War. In particular, we state that the war waged by Israel against the Palestinian people since 7 October has become a part of this great war. Drawing a line of demarcation by saying that the Middle East war in this context has already been going on for a long time and that this war will only escalate and intensify is not a simple matter of naming. Likewise, those who cannot see this reality can support the regional forces associated with the Russia-China bloc against the US-UK-Israel (and the EU) in the region and the local forces that are their extensions, claiming that they are fighting against imperialism and so on.

At the root of this false assessment lies the denial of the fact that the war is imperialist in character on both main sides. Such interpretations deny the imperialist character of Russia and China. “Principles” that can only be useful in street fights, such as siding with the small against the big, the strong against the weak, are substituted for the Marxist approach to unjust wars. According to those with this mindset, opposing both poles of the war means remaining “neutral”! A just war to which Marxists can take sides can be divided into two main categories. The first is revolutionary civil wars or wars to spread the revolution abroad. There were various examples of this in the historical period when the bourgeoisie was revolutionary. The wars waged in the past and today by the working class or labourers in general against the propertied classes are also in this category of just wars. The second is the wars of national liberation of a people who are in the position of an oppressed nation, that is, a people under political subjugation. We cannot omit a special situation that must be added to these: If a country is occupied at the end of a war, a war waged by the labourers in that country against the occupiers will also be in the category of a just national war.

All other wars are unjust wars of plunder and interest, regardless of the size, power and level of capitalist development of the parties. Small capitalist countries also enter imperialist wars in order to increase their own power and to get a share in the plunder. In the end, some will win and some will be defeated. Being defeated does not make the ruling class of the defeated country a victim or an underdog; in such cases the working people of the defeated country are faced with the very difficult task of fighting against both the invaders and their own ruling class. But history has also witnessed the existence of proletarians who overcame this difficult task: The Paris Commune of 1871 is a typical and glorious example!

If we turn to the terrible war waged by Israel, it is obvious that the imperialist-Zionist aggression cannot be stopped unless an effective barricade is raised against the Israeli government and the imperialist powers behind it, especially the USA and Britain. Actions such as anti-war rallies and peaceful demonstrations are meaningful actions to put forward the anti-war attitude and demands of the masses and to put pressure on the governments. They are an important starting point in the struggle against militarism. However, once the wheels of war start turning, it is not possible to turn the capitalists from the path of war by such actions alone. Unless strikes are organised to stop the arms industry, to block the transport of arms and troops, unless general strikes are organised to bring life to a standstill and thereby really hurt the capitalists, the capitalists will not give up their goals.

Today we face the reality of a world war and the way to put an end to it is through the revolutionary mobilisation of working people against militarism and capitalism. It is the most urgent need everywhere to create a united resistance front of labour against the economic destruction caused by capitalism, the rising danger of fascism and the growing world war.