01 août 2006
IS Tendency statement on Israel, Lebanon and Hizbollah
Against the US-Israeli War on Lebanon
1. Israel’s war in Lebanon is the latest stage in the imperialist offensive mounted by the United States and its allies since 11 September 2001. The conquest of Iraq was intended to unleash a process of “regime change” that would remove the obstacles to US domination of the Middle East. Instead, thanks to the resistance in Iraq, the Pentagon finds itself bogged down in a guerrilla war that it cannot win.
The Bush administration has therefore set itself the goal of removing the Islamic Republican regime in Iran, whose influence in Iraq has grown since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. This would reverse the blow to US interests in the Middle East struck by the Iranian Revolution of 1978-9. Israel’s offensive against Hizbollah therefore offers Washington an opportunity to eliminate a powerful anti-imperialist force that has close links with Iran. The complicity of George W Bush and his closest accomplice, Tony Blair, in this war of aggression is shown by the role that the US and Britain have played in blocking the call by the overwhelming majority in the United Nations for an immediate ceasefire. ...
And Alex Callinicos explains why 'Two states' is not the solution to the Palestinian problem (Socialist Worker, London, 5 August 2006)
