On June 14, Trump spent an estimated $40 million on an extravagant military parade in Washington, DC. What was supposed to be a show of strength for US imperialism amounted to measly crowds and squeaky tanks, dwarfed by the millions protesting ICE raids across the country that same day. Just a few days later, Trump ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, backing the Israeli state’s unsupported claims that Iran was close to making nuclear weapons. This bombing was all too reminiscent of the claims in 2003 that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction to justify the big oil-backed US invasion, which cost at least $728 billion, killed almost 5,000 US troops, and, egregiously, 200,000 Iraqi civilians.

The seven B-2 bomber jets sent to bomb Iran cost $2 billion (billion with a B!) each. The $14 billion spent on these jets could fund:

• SNAP benefits for a year for almost 4 million people (at a maximum of $292/month)
• Most of the federal contribution to the entire state of California for public schools ($16.8 billion)
• Free school lunches for every student in the US ($11 billion)

But it’s clear that these services are not the priority for Trump and the US ruling class. Their priority is maintaining the dominance of US imperialism.

Working people bear the brunt of the spending cuts the rich make to afford their wars. Trump’s “Big Billionaire Bill” contains $150 billion in defense spending for extravagant projects like an “Iron Dome” missile defense system for the US, as well as another $170 billion for ICE. To make room for these huge increases, Republicans slashed  Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP funding, kicking millions of workers off of these programs. 

Socialists see the working class across the world as having more in common with each other than we do with any regime or capitalist class in our own countries. The working class has no interest in either side of imperialist wars, and it’s workers who are sent to fight on the front lines of wars for the rich. We fight to build an international anti-war movement against the trillion-dollar war machines and the whole capitalist system that requires the slaughter of working-class people to maintain its power.

Why Do We Keep Getting Dragged Into These Wars?

There are many reasons the ruling class will give for going to war. They’ll say it’s to “uphold democracy” or “fight terrorism.” But these are a thinly-veiled cover for the fact that these are wars for power, money, and control for a few at the top—paid for by the working class. Today’s capitalists prefer to rule through their banks and corporations. But they won’t shy away from sending in their tanks and planes when their rule is challenged, either by mass revolt or an unfriendly regime. When US imperialism was threatened by mass uprisings in the Arab world in 2011, NATO under Obama carried out a bombing campaign in Libya to reassert control and stake a claim to its oil reserves. War is the continuation of capitalist politics by other means.

The logic of capitalism and imperialism means that even if war isn’t immediately profitable, imperialist countries need to fight to maintain dominance and their own prestige. While the economic interests of the ruling class are the driving force, the rise of strongman authoritarianism from the likes of Trump and Netanyahu means there’s more of a danger for serious and rapid escalation. This can be seen with Trump’s pivot from diplomacy to airstrike in Iran. The US does not want to look weak against China, the US’s biggest imperialist rival and the biggest backer of Russia and Iran.

It’s not just a few bad authoritarians but the entire capitalist system that needs war. Capitalism relies on constant growth by whatever means necessary. Profit margins need to continue to go up in order for capitalists to stay competitive, which means they need to find new ways to sell goods and extract raw materials. Today, basically all of the world has already been ravaged and divided up by major imperialist countries. Smaller and less developed countries rely on predatory loans and assistance from the International Monetary Fund or China, making them dependent on imperialist countries. War today is for the redivision of the world and its resources and to widen spheres of influence.

Build a Fighting Anti-war Movement

Before dropping the bombs on Iran, one poll showed only 16% of Americans supported further US military action in Iran. This sentiment is not lost on some right-wing pundits in Trump’s base. Fox News host Tucker Carlson and known January 6 supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene have opportunistically opposed the war. While they call out the despicable amounts of money put towards war, they oppose it by riling up nationalism, like calling Zohran Mamdani—immigrant and democratic socialist candidate for NYC mayor—a “foreign-born midwit.” The false promises of the pro-capitalist right wing are no way forward for the anti-war movement, though. We saw just how quickly Trump, who cynically campaigned on an end to “endless wars,” has now been exposed when at the helm of US imperialism.

But we cannot rely on the Democratic Party, which works to defend the same interests of US capitalism and imperialism, to put up any fight. Their main opposition to Trump’s bombing of Iran was that he did so without congressional approval! It was Obama who signed the $38 billion dollar military aid package with Israel that laid the groundwork for the horrific genocidal war in Gaza under Biden. Without an alternative, there’s a dangerous opening for opportunist right-wingers to pose as anti-war. Instead, we need a new, independent party that fights for the international working class. From Gaza to Ukraine and beyond, US workers have no interests in imperialist war. 

Crucially, the working class has the power to shut down the anti-war machine. During World War I, it was workers in Russia and Germany revolting against their own ruling class who ended the war. They refused to take battleships out to sea and organized strike action against the war. The mass movement against the Vietnam War also shows how working people can shut down the war machine. European dockworkers have set an example today by successfully refusing to load military equipment bound for Israel, but this needs to be taken up much more broadly at all levels of war production. We need a fighting labor movement with militant leadership willing to organize it.

Ultimately, we need to fight for socialism all around the world to end the endless drive towards war. Join International Socialist Alternative today.