Senators John McCain and Barack Obama differ in their proposals for when and how the United States should begin a major troop withdrawal from Iraq, and under what conditions they would enter into negotiations with the government of Iran.
On just about every other issue related to U.S policy in the Middle East, the presumptive presidential candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties are in near total agreement. And when it comes to the goal, the word “near” can be deleted. Both share—as must all ruling class-approved candidates for the position of CEO of the empire—an unquestioning dedication to U.S. domination of that key strategic region. Seventy percent of known global oil reserves are located in the Middle East.
Both Obama and McCain have expressed a limitless devotion to the state of Israel. Both have emerged as leading voices in the chorus of demonization against the governments of Iran, Syria and Sudan, and popular movements such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas and other Palestinian resistance organizations.
Both share in the assumption that it is the natural order of things for huge numbers of U.S. ground, air, naval and nuclear forces to be deployed across the region and the planet.
In a 2007 speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Obama called for “a 21st century military to stay on the offensive from Djibouti (in the Horn of Africa) to Kandahar (Afghanistan)”—in other words, the entire Middle East.
McCain and Obama are united in calling for a new “surge” of U.S. troops into Afghanistan. Obama promises to send at least two more combat brigades—7,000 soldiers—to join the 16,000 U.S. troops already on the ground, out of total of 40,000 NATO forces in Afghanistan. McCain has not said how many more troops he would deploy there.
Maintaining the occupation of Iraq
While McCain has said it would be fine with him if U.S. troops remained in Iraq for 100 years, Obama has represented himself as the anti-war candidate. Rallying the anti-war vote is important to his hopes for victory in November. But despite his often recounted opposition to the war prior to the invasion, Obama is today as committed to a long-term U.S. occupation as his Republican rival.
“Obama’s Plan to Responsibly End the War in Iraq,” detailed on his campaign website, calls for, “A Substantial, Immediate Redeployment of American Troops,” with “one to two combat brigades redeploying each month and all troops engaged in combat operations out by the end of next year.” But the very next sentence of the “plan” stands out in stark contradiction: “Residual Force to Remain: Under the Obama plan, American troops may remain in Iraq or the region. These American troops will protect American diplomatic and military personnel in Iraq, and continue to strike at al Qaeda in Iraq.” (http://www.barackobama.com/)
Who, aside from combat troops, would be doing the “protecting” and “striking?”
Estimates for the number of troops needed to secure the Green Zone in Baghdad (including the gigantic new U.S. embassy) and to constitute the strike force range from 60,000 to 80,000.
Both McCain and Obama support the turnover of Iraq’s rich oil resources to the same cartel of U.S., British, French and Dutch companies that had 100 percent control of the country’s petroleum from the mid-1920s until the 1958 revolution that ended Iraq’s first colonial period. The holdings of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, British Petroleum, Total and Shell were nationalized in 1972. The billions in oil revenues that formerly flowed into the accounts of the oil monopolies and Western banks were redirected.
Nationalized oil funded Iraq’s extraordinarily rapid modernization program, including water purification and electrification, a national health care system, schools and universities free of tuition, a modern road system and much more.
Iraqi social and educational programs became the envy of the region. Tens of thousands of people from poorer Arab countries and Africa came to Iraq to receive health treatment and education free of charge. But for Big Oil and their media mouthpieces, this was an unforgivable sin. They have never given up on taking back what they regard as “their” property. Obama and McCain are both committed to helping them do this.
Threatening Iran
Both McCain and Obama have joined in the fear mongering campaign against Iran.
McCain made the news at a campaign stop last year, mouthing the words, “Bomb, bomb, bomb—bomb, bomb Iran,” to the tune of a Beach Boys song. The son of a Navy admiral, McCain himself flew 23 bombing missions in another illegal and unjust war before being shot down over Vietnam.
McCain has criticized Obama for stating that he would seek talks with the Iranian leadership without pre-condition. But Obama has made it clear that he sees negotiations as just another tool in seeking to bring about their shared objective of weakening Iran and achieving regime change.
Obama’s website proudly claims co-sponsorship of the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act and the “Iran Counter-Proliferation Act, which calls for sanctions on Iran and other countries for assisting Iran in developing a nuclear program.”
McCain agrees. In a June 2 speech, he stated that the U.N. Security Council “should impose progressively tougher political and economic sanctions. Should the Security Council continue to delay in this responsibility; the United States must lead like-minded countries in imposing multilateral sanctions outside the U.N. framework.”
Thirteen years of U.S-U.N. sanctions against neighboring Iraq killed more than a million people and prepared the way for the 2003 invasion. In a clear and unmistakable reference to military action, including the possible use of nuclear weapons, Obama has repeatedly stated that he would take “no option off the table” in regard to Iran.
When Iran carried out a series of missile tests on July 10-11 in response to an Israeli dress rehearsal for a massive air attack, both Obama and McCain joined in condemning Iran. In addition to the threat from Israel—the only state in the region that actually possesses nuclear weapons—Iran is surrounded by U.S. military power. The U.S. occupies neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, and has a huge deployment of naval and air forces right off Iran’s Gulf coast, including nuclear-armed Trident submarines.
Glorifying Israel, demonizing the Palestinians
McCain and Obama were featured speakers at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference held in early June. AIPAC is considered the most influential pro-Israel lobby group in the U.S. Each candidate tried to outdo the other in unbridled praise and promises of ever-greater military and economic assistance to Israel in the future. Neither had a single sympathetic word for the Palestinians, who are living under a brutal and racist apartheid system, nor a hint of criticism for the Israeli state.
In a rare moment of truth in this campaign, Obama said: “I have been proud to be a part of a strong, bipartisan consensus that has stood by Israel in the face of all threats. That is a commitment that both John McCain and I share, because support for Israel in this country goes beyond party.”
This “commitment” to Israel has indeed been thoroughly bipartisan for many decades, but not for the reasons that the corporate politicians would have us believe. It has nothing to do with sympathy for Jewish people, nor is it the result of Israeli or Jewish control over U.S. foreign policy.
The hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. aid sent to Israel—far exceeding that granted to any other country or even continent—is viewed in Washington as an investment. Israel, despite having a population of just 6 million, has been built up into the world’s fourth most powerful military, and serves as proxy force for U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Painting the aggressor as the victim, Obama affirmed his intention to stay the course: “I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat—from Gaza to Tehran. Defense cooperation between the United States and Israel is a model of success, and must be deepened. …As president, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade.”
Israel has launched a succession of wars of conquest since 1948. But McCain joined with Obama in turning history upside down. He promised even more U.S. funding in the future: “The threats to Israel’s security are large and growing, and America’s commitment must grow as well. I strongly support the increase in military aid to Israel, scheduled to begin in October. I am committed to making certain Israel maintains its qualitative military edge.”
Expanding the U.S. military
In order to implement expanded intervention around the world, both McCain and Obama are calling for a major expansion of the U.S. military. U.S. military spending is already greater than all other countries combined.
The “National Security” section of McCain’s website states that “America requires a larger and more capable military.” McCain’s justification is routinely couched in racist and anti-Muslim rhetoric; e.g., “fighting against violent Islamic extremism.”
Obama calls for adding 65,000 soldiers to the Army and 27,000 to the Marine Corps. His website’s entry on “A 21st Century Military for America” includes subsections like, “Preserve Global Reach in the Air,” and “Maintain Power Projection at Sea.”
The expansion of the already enormous U.S. military, whether carried out by a Republican or Democratic president, has nothing to do with protecting the people of the United States and everything to do with defending imperialist interests in the Middle East and worldwide.
Neither candidate will do a thing to jeopardize the dominance of U.S. imperialism.
The La Riva/Puryear campaign
The PSL’s La Riva/Puryear campaign stands for the immediate removal of all U.S. and foreign forces from Iraq. All U.S. bases and the gigantic U.S. embassy in Baghdad should be shut down immediately. Reparations should be paid to the Iraqi people for the vast destruction inflicted on their land by the launching of an unprovoked war of aggression.
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and other officials who carried out this criminal war should stand trial for their actions.
The human cost of the war has been horrific. More than a million Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion on March 19, 2003. Over a million more died due to U.S.-led sanctions from 1990-2003. Since 2003, more than 4.5 million Iraqis have become refugees and hundreds of thousands more have been wounded.
Nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in the war. More than 60,000 have been wounded, injured or suffered serious illness. The war has officially cost over half a trillion dollars—a figure that is rising at a rate of $450 million per day, $5,000 per second.
Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans want to get out of Iraq. They view the country as an incredibly valuable prize of war. Iraq is home to more than 10 percent of the world’s oil reserves. The La Riva/Puryear campaign calls for the right of the Iraqi people to control their country and calls for an immediate end to the colonial occupation.
