Following the U.S. assassination of prominent Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last Friday, Iran has launched a missile strike against U.S. military bases in Iraq.

It is unclear what will happen from here, but there is a possibility of escalation and the potential of a major war. This would be a disaster for the people of Iran and Iraq, for the ecology of the region and of the entire planet, and likely for the United States as well.

There are two hallmarks of modern warfare: civilian deaths, and ecological devastation. Between sanctions, the Gulf War, and the 2003 invasion and occupation, the U.S. government is responsible for more than 2 million Iraqi civilian deaths. Falluja is a toxic nightmare of depleted uranium and birth defects, and the emissions from U.S. wars are a major contributor to global warming. This is not to mention the torture and other war crimes.

A war in Iran would only create untold suffering and instability, as we have seen from the fallout of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Iran is no saint, either. Those who lionize Iran simply for standing up to U.S. power forget the lessons of the past. Most modern wars are not fought between good and evil, but between two different varieties of evil. This is the trajectory of civilizations. They are expansionist, aggressive powers that must fight to maintain their position. Iran is no more a force for good than was Saddam Hussein. Deep Green Resistance stands against all imperialism, whether the aggressor is the United States or China or Iran, and whether the weapon is cyber warfare, proxy conflicts, sanctions, international “aid,” or Predator drones.

So how do we resist a war such as this?

We are a radical environmental organization that advocates for dismantling the global industrial economy by any means necessary. We believe the Deep Green Resistance strategy provides a viable way to oppose imperialism by making modern industrialized warfare impossible. We do not aim to simply stop this war. We aim to stop all modern warfare, including the oldest war of them all: the war against the planet.

Civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, and September 11th, by James Buckley. Used under CC BY-NC 2.0. Image is from 2010, so figures are more heavily skewed towards civilian deaths by now.

Featured image: Kuwaiti oil wells on fire during the first Gulf War. Public domain photo.