By Huey Dessalines

January 2, 2020

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon announced Thursday that the airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the elite Iranian Quds Force, was ordered by Donald Trump in retaliation for the militant mass actions against the US Embassy in Baghdad that rang in the New Year, and other militant actions against Yankee imperialism that have rocked the region over the past months. The attack, taking place in the vicinity of Baghdad’s airport, also killed militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was prominent as a spokesperson at the recent embassy actions. The imperialists claim that Soleimani was responsible directly for the attacks on the American embassy this week, and “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” This is yet another provocation and escalation in the region. Iran last year shot down an American surveillance drone illegally flying over its territory.

The Trump regime has consistently targeted Iran as an enemy. These recent attacks are yet more bloodshed hoping to boost Trump’s popularity/chances for re-election. Trump also seeks to take public attention off the impeachment charade mounted by the weak and ineffectual Democratic Party which just recently voted to approve his massive military budget. Undoubtedly, the Democrats will wag their fingers at Trump publicly but continue to do nothing to allay the war danger. This is because both mainstream bourgeois political parties are joined at the hip like Siamese twins and both realize the necessity of constant war as a consequence of the maintenance of the imperialist system.

It is the duty of all Communists in the United States to make consistent and understandable propaganda against the imperialist warmongering of both parties, pull away from the electoral charade, and organize the masses against imperialist war. Lenin said that imperialist war must be converted into revolutionary civil war. It is in this spirit that we must move in the coming days and months.