In the
current war of aggression of Yankee-Zionist imperialism against the oppressed
nations of the Greater Middle East (MOA), whose main axis of aggression goes
from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon, given their failure to crush the national
resistance struggle of the Palestinian people, they consider that the great
opportunity has arrived to strike Iran for which they seek to destroy Hezbollah
(Hezbollah), separate Iran from any support from Syria and strike the
resistance in Yemen.
Meanwhile,
US imperialism and the Zionist State of Israel are carrying out their genocidal
military action with all their might. The Biden administration is talking about
a diplomatic solution to the war and a “ceasefire” in Palestine and Lebanon,
seeking to increase diplomatic pressure against the national resistance
movement in order to confuse and paralyze the armed resistance and those in the
region and the world who give them their passionate support. The imperialists,
in collusion and struggle, are trying to promote with their diplomatic
“efforts” the tendency towards capitulation in the national liberation movement
of the region.
In fact,
the imperialist-Zionist war in its current military campaign, as in the 76
years since the occupation of Palestine in 1948, is doomed to failure from the
beginning, despite “some successes,” if one can call it the cruelest genocide
committed against the Arab-Palestinian people. And the forces of national
resistance, persevering in the hard but invincible armed struggle, will conquer
victory against imperialism, Zionism and reaction. To constitute or
reconstitute the Communist Party, as the case may be, as a new type of
militarized Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist Party is necessary to complete
the democratic revolution and to immediately and uninterruptedly develop the
socialist revolution on the way to the common goal, the ever-golden communism.
The latest
news confirms the firm decision to continue the struggle whatever the cost, the
continuators of the armed struggle of national resistance are ready to take the
place of the leaders fallen in combat throughout the region:
In light of
the statements of the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, who has again
suggested a possible ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. While
addressing troops near the Lebanese border, Gallant said they were prepared to
use all their resources, including “air, sea and land.”
The
response, almost simultaneously, came in the first statement from a Hezbollah
commander since the assassination of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an
Israeli attack on Friday. The number two of the Shiite militia party, Naim
Qasem, said: “We are prepared in case the Israelis decide to enter by land.” He
added that they would name Nasrallah’s replacement “as soon as possible.”
During the
early hours of the morning, an Israeli attack in the center of Beirut caused at
least four deaths. It is the first attack by the Jewish State against the heart
of the Lebanese capital since 2006. The missile killed three leaders of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to the group. In
another attack, this one in the south of Lebanon, the leader of Hamas in
Lebanon, Fatah Sharif Abu el Amin, has been killed (The news is from the
reactionary newspaper El País, today).
It is up to
us to continue supporting the Arab people against Yankee imperialism and
Zionism and reaction. We must instill this in the masses, thus sowing
anti-imperialism.
Let the actions of agiprop reverberate in the
minds of the deep masses to politicize them and make them consciously take
their destiny into their own hands. As Chairman Gonzalo says: the Party does
not make the revolution, the Party directs it, the masses are the makers of
history.
Following
the Zionist attack on Hezbollah with homicide drones, The Times of London
comments that in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Hezbollah is the
closest Iranian point to Israel and the question is whether a ground invasion
of southern Lebanon by the IAF or a continuation of air strikes will follow. It
then adds that Hezbollah, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has been
firing rockets at Israel since October. Israel is not in a position to destroy
Hezbollah, but it can paralyze it.
The Spanish
newspaper El País, in its last Saturday edition, in Opinion, says that it is
very unlikely that the US did not find out beforehand about the Israeli attack
against Hamad's headquarters in Beitur where the Secretary General of Hezbollah
and the deputy chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were killed, but in any
case, that attack would not have been possible without the bunker-busting bombs
provided by the Biden government to the Israeli government of the genocidal Benjamin
Netanyahu.
A
commentator from the Middle East Institute, today on German TV, 24-hour news,
said that Israel will not be able to destroy Hezbollah but it has caused great
damage to its leadership structures by killing not only Nasrallah who was its
political leader but many of its high-ranking military commanders, that
Hezbollah will be able to reorganize these levels but in the medium term, but
that does not mean that it cannot continue fighting because in its lower ranks
it has many commanders who can continue carrying out actions at that level. He
noted that the IAF is likely to invade southern Lebanon to establish a security
zone against Hezbollah rocket fire.
On the ground
invasion of the Zionist enemy, we consider it a good opportunity for the armed
resistance struggle against the imperialist-Zionist enemy to deploy a deep and
wide guerrilla war as its main strategy, taking into account the successful
experience of 2006:
Once the
Israeli ground forces faced the Hezbollah militias, a previously unknown fact
proved to be very useful for the fight against Hezbollah, which applied both
guerrilla warfare tactics and prolonged direct confrontations: an extensive
network of bunkers and underground fortifications secretly built throughout
southern Lebanon.
The bunkers
enabled Hezbollah fighters to protect themselves from Israeli air and artillery
bombardment and to subsequently surprise the advancing Israeli forces.
Before the
development of the Hezbollah guerrilla war in southern Lebanon, the United States
saw that Israel would finish off Hezbollah once and for all, affect Syria; but
in particular it was considered a great opportunity to weaken Iran and its
growing influence in the Levant, so it vetoed all efforts in the UN to give
Israel time to destroy Hezbollah and then proceed to have a joint force of blue
helmets and the Lebanese Army retake control of southern Lebanon.
Faced with
the development of the guerrilla war and other unfavorable events for the
Zionists, the United States gave way on August 11 to the Security Council
Resolution No. 1701, which established a ceasefire, and the deployment of
15,000 blue helmets that would join UNIFIL to restore order in southern Lebanon
respecting the "Blue Line" as a border between both countries.
The exit
prepared by Netanyahu with the Biden government, after so much comedy about
ceasefire agreement and negotiations, could be in view of the latest political,
military and diplomatic events in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, etc., that is, in
the MO region, the invasion of southern Lebanon by the Israeli Armed Forces
(IAF) with the justification of Hezbollah's rocket attacks from that part of
Lebanese territory.
But, it is
well known to all that the Lebanese resistance guerrilla has only used its
rockets against military installations of the Zionist State of Israel and,
against other targets, only in response to the genocidal action against
Palestinian or Lebanese civilians by the IAF and Israeli settlers. On this
occasion, Hezbollah has also proposed a ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel stop
killing Palestinian civilians as a condition for ceasing its rocket attacks
against the territory occupied by the Zionists of Israel.
It is
therefore to be expected that imperialists and Zionists will have to leave
Lebanon once again, as in 2006, running with their tails between their legs in
the face of the onslaught of the guerrilla war of the national resistance.
The
intervention of US imperialism in the war in the MOA:
1. The Obama doctrine, after its continuous
failures in the MOA: in Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, etc., US
imperialism adopts the so-called "Obama Military Doctrine", which in
the MOA is translated as follows:
"(...)
The United States will continue to be the dominant extra-regional military
power in the Middle East, with an unmatched network of regional bases and
numerous assets permanently or temporarily deployed in the region. Its
advantages are reinforced by the military power of its local partners and the
weakness of its adversaries.
The US military
presence in the Middle East is unmatched by regional or extra-regional forces.
Exact figures vary depending on rotational deployments and specific
commitments, but the bottom line is that the United States can respond quickly
to short-term contingencies and has a significant response capacity due to its
pre-positioned assets and its unmatched transport and logistics capabilities.
The U.S. military is able to project and sustain this presence thanks to an
unmatched network of bases and facilities in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United
Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Jordan, and Turkey.
As of late
2013, these bases were home to more than 35,000 troops, including 10,000 troops
deployed on the front lines. The United States deploys advanced fighter
aircraft in the region, including F-22s, as well as attack helicopters, heavy
armor, missile defense capabilities, and advanced intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance assets. The United States also maintains a massive naval
presence around the Arabian Peninsula and in the Mediterranean Sea, typically
involving more than 40 ships. 4 In July 2013, the United States added the
deployment through 2014 of a second carrier battle group with the Fifth Fleet,
based in Bahrain. In addition, in the summer of 2013, the United States
assembled five Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyers and three
nuclear-powered guided missile submarines in the Eastern Mediterranean in
preparation for possible strikes against Syria.
The US
withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 led to a significant decline in the US regional
military presence, given that at its peak it deployed 165,000 troops in the
country. However, a quantitative analysis must be weighed against the high
costs in regional legitimacy associated with the occupation of Iraq. The United
States was also bogged down in the face of a difficult insurgency, which made
its forces a target for retaliation by Iran and local adversaries. This was
costly militarily and politically(...)
The power
of a state's allies contributes to its power. (...) America's power in the
Middle East, according to this view, also derives from the military strength of
its regional partners.
The Israeli
military is the most technologically advanced and best fighting force in the
region. The Turkish military, the second largest in NATO with some 500,000
troops, provides the United States with a strong ally, especially in the fight
against terrorism, and access to strategically located bases. Meanwhile, the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) are increasingly capable of fielding small
but technologically advanced armies. They have acquired from the United States
and other Western countries expensive weapons systems, ranging from defensive
(missile defenses and patrol boats) to offensive (fighter aircraft and armored
vehicles).
Indeed,
since 2007 the United States has approved more than $75 billion in arms sales
to the GCC states.
(...)
The
structure of the regional balance of power, in short, is inherently favorable
to the United States. Its partners are strong, which benefits American power,
but they are also dependent on the United States for their security. This is
optimal for Washington; its key partners are not weak and autonomous, but
strong and dependent.
(...)
The United
States has two major regional rivals: Iran and Syria. Iran’s asymmetric and
unconventional assets enable it to thwart regional developments that oppose
American interests, but much of its conventional military is obsolete. It has
limited power projection capabilities, and its major weapons systems are old
and suffer from poor serviceability and reliability. Training, inter-service
coordination, communications, and logistics are poor. As a sign of Iran’s
military inferiority, its defense budget is roughly seven times smaller than
the combined defense budgets of the GCC states. The Islamic Republic has also
distanced itself from almost all Middle Eastern states and lacks allies beyond
Syria and Hezbollah.
(...)
Meanwhile,
extra-regional powers are not gaining ground relative to the United States.
Russia lost much of its military power in the region after the Cold War. Its
only remaining military facility is a small naval base in Tartus, Syria; Its
only regional partners are Iran and Syria, which are isolated and weak. Russia
does not have the power projection capacity necessary to sustain military
deployments in the region. China, for its part, does not have, and is unlikely
to acquire for many years, military capacity or ambition in the Middle East. It
is therefore not a factor in the regional balance of military power (Middle
East Policy, Vol. XXI, No. 2, Summer 2014 US Power in the Middle East is Not
Declining, Thomas Juneau)
That is the
assessment made by political scientists of US imperialism in 2014, regarding
the “new military doctrine” or “Obama doctrine”: that it is the forces of its
servants that act directly while US imperialism directs, supports and carries
out the highest level military actions. Now, let's see how it plays out after
October 7, 2023.
2. The
involvement of US imperialism with its “Zionist partner” in the MOA after
October 7, 2023:
“Rising
tensions between Israel and Iran have brought the region to the brink of war,
and the United States has reiterated its commitment to defend Israel.
The United
States has a significant military presence in the Middle East, with
approximately 45,000 troops, numerous bases, and formidable air and naval
fleets, raising fears of a potential regional conflict.
Last week's
assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the killing
of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Lebanon heightened tensions, prompting
speculation about a possible retaliation by Iran.
As the
world awaits Tehran's next move, questions are being raised about how the
United States will support Israel, its long-standing ally.
Washington's
military presence in the Middle East (...)
Despite the
drawdown in Iraq and the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the United States
has deployed additional troops to the region since the start of Israel's
assault on Gaza on October 7.
According
to US media reports, the US military operates from numerous bases across the
region, maintaining a rotating force of around 45,000 troops.
The largest
base is the Al Udeid air base in Qatar, established in 1996, which serves as
the regional headquarters of the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
Around
8,000 troops are stationed there, underlining its strategic importance. In
Bahrain, the US Fifth Fleet headquarters is home to around 9,000 troops as of
2022, while Kuwait, a key logistics hub during the 2003 Iraq war, is home to
13,500 troops.
The United
Arab Emirates hosts about 3,500 US military personnel, along with critical
ports for the US Navy.
Jordan, a
crucial ally, hosts about 3,000 US troops, despite a deadly attack on its Tower
22 base by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias in January. Jordan’s geographic
proximity to Israel and its strong ties to the US and UK make it a critical
conduit for intelligence operations in Syria and Iraq.
As of
December 2022, more than 2,700 US troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia to
train and advise its military and protect US interests in the region from Iran
and its proxies. Oman, which hosts a few hundred air force personnel, and other
smaller deployments across the region contribute to the broader US military
strategy. In Israel, the US presence includes the secret Site 512 base, crucial
for radar surveillance against ballistic missile threats. US troops also support
the Iron Dome missile defense system at Nevatim Air Base in the Negev Desert.-
Iraq and Syria
The United
States maintains around 3,500 troops in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, the United
States reduced its military presence to 2,500 troops in 2021, moving entirely
into non-combat advisory roles.
These
troops, stationed at bases such as Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq's western Anbar
province, focus on training Iraqi forces, providing advice, and supporting
intelligence efforts against Daesh/ISIS.
The United
States currently has around 900 special forces soldiers in Syria to support the
(...) YPG/PKK group, which uses the name SDF.
The United
States has smaller bases, such as the al-Omar oil field and Al-Shaddadi, mostly
in the northeast of the country, and a small outpost known as the Al-Tanf
garrison near Syria's border with Iraq and Jordan.
- Naval
power
The
Pentagon announced additional deployments of warships and aircraft to the
Middle East following Haniyeh's assassination, reinforcing its presence in the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
There are
18 US ships in the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman
and three guided-missile destroyers – the USS Lassen, the USS Farragut and the
USS Forrest Sherman – as well as the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy.
The United
States announced it will deploy two aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald Ford and
the USS Eisenhower, support ships and about 2,000 Marines after October 7.
The
Pentagon also ordered the deployment of additional fighter jets to support the
existing fleets of A-10s, F-15s and F-16s in the Middle East (Source: US
military steps up deployments in Middle East to defend Israel The United States
has a significant military presence in the Middle East, with some 45,000
troops, numerous bases and formidable air and naval fleets, Mehmet Alaca,
Ankara, 07-08.08.2024).
3. The US
imperialists, after the Zionist State of Israel's attack on Hezbollah with the
explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies, preparing the next step in the
extension of the war:
“- The
United States maintains a force of additional planes, ships and troops in the
Middle East prepared for the expansion of the conflict
The United
States has maintained an increased military presence in the Middle East for
much of the last year and has some 40,000 American troops spread across the
region, including at least a dozen warships, according to several American
officials. (September 19) AP
- So far,
the United States has not indicated an increase or change of troops as a result
of the latest attacks, and there is already a reinforced force in the region.
“We are
confident in the capacity that we have there right now to protect our forces
and in case we need to go to the defense of Israel as well,” said Pentagon
spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Thursday.
-A military
official said the additional resources have helped U.S. patrols in various
conflict areas, including operations targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq
and Syria, defending Israel and countering threats from Iran-backed Houthi
rebels in Yemen, who have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea and launched
ballistic missiles at Israel.
-Normally,
about 34,000 U.S. forces are deployed to U.S. Central Command, which covers the
entire Middle East. That troop level increased in the early months of the war
between Israel and Hamas to about 40,000 as additional ships and aircraft were
sent in.
-Several
weeks ago, the total soared to nearly 50,000 when Austin ordered two aircraft
carriers and their accompanying Navy warships to stay in the region as tensions
grew between Israel and Lebanon. Since then, a carrier strike group has left
and moved to the Asia-Pacific region.
-The enhanced
presence is designed both to help defend Israel and to protect U.S. and allied
personnel and assets.
-Navy
warships are dispersed throughout the region, from the eastern Mediterranean
Sea to the Gulf of Oman, and both Air Force and Navy fighter jets are
strategically based in several locations to be better prepared to respond to
any attack.
-The U.S.
is back to having just one aircraft carrier in the region. Austin has expanded
the carrier deployment several times over the past year, so that on a few
occasions there has been the rare presence of two at once.
-American
military commanders have long maintained that the presence of a formidable
aircraft carrier — with its array of fighter and surveillance aircraft and
sophisticated missiles — is a strong deterrent against Iran.
-The USS
Abraham Lincoln and its three destroyers are in the Gulf of Oman, while two
U.S. Navy destroyers are in the Red Sea. The guided-missile submarine USS
Georgia, which Austin ordered to the region last month, had been in the Red Sea
and remains with U.S. Central Command, but officials declined to say where.
There are
six U.S. warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including the amphibious
assault ship USS Wasp with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit on board. And
three Navy destroyers are in that area.
About a
half-dozen of the USS Abraham Lincoln’s F/A-18 fighter jets have been moved to
a land base in the region. Officials declined to say where.
Aircraft
The Air
Force sent an additional squadron of advanced F-22 fighter jets last month,
bringing the total number of ground-based fighter squadrons in the Middle East
to four.
That force
also includes a squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft, F-15E
Strike Eagles and F-16 fighter jets. The Air Force has not identified which
countries the aircraft operate from.
The
addition of the F-22 fighter jets provides U.S. forces with a hard-to-detect
aircraft that has a sophisticated suite of sensors to suppress enemy air
defenses and carry out electronic attacks. The F-22 can also act as a
“quarterback,” marshaling other warplanes into an operation.
But the
U.S. also demonstrated in February that it doesn’t need to have aircraft based
in the Middle East to strike targets. In February, a pair of B-1 bombers took
off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and flew more than 30 hours on a
round-trip mission that struck 85 targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps’ Quds Force in Iraq and Syria in response to an attack by IRGC-backed
militias that killed three American service members (source. Sept. 19, AP).
4. News about
“diplomacy” as a war ploy
WASHINGTON
(AP) — The Biden administration is taking a more passive approach than usual
during a week of dramatic escalation between Israel and Hezbollah militants in
Lebanon, with senior U.S. officials holding back from full-blown crisis
diplomacy for fear of making matters worse.
The public
restraint comes after explosions of the militant group’s pagers and
walkie-talkies and an Israeli airstrike on a senior Hezbollah operative in
Beirut threatened to spark an all-out war between Israel and its Middle East
foes and derail already faltering negotiations for a ceasefire in the Hamas
conflict in Gaza.
There has
been no acknowledged public U.S. contact with Netanyahu since senior White
House official Amos Hochstein visited Israel on Monday to warn against escalation.
The first wave of device explosions — widely attributed to Israel, which did
not acknowledge responsibility — came the next day.
And Gaza
ceasefire negotiations were at such a delicate point that Secretary of State
Antony Blinken visited only Egypt on a trip to the region this week because
traveling to Israel in support of a deal could prompt Netanyahu to say
something that undermines the U.S.-led mediation, U.S. officials said.
Asked
whether the U.S. still held out hope for a deal in Gaza, which the
administration sees as crucial to calming the regional conflict, President Joe
Biden said Friday that he did and that his team is pushing for it.
“If I ever
said it was unrealistic, we might as well go,” Biden told reporters. “A lot of
things don’t seem realistic until we do them. We have to keep trying.”
Meanwhile,
the White House and State Department have declined to comment publicly on the
Hezbollah devices that exploded on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37
people and wounding thousands more, including civilians, in what analysts
believe was a highly sophisticated Israeli intelligence operation.
They also
offered no assessment of an airstrike on Friday in a densely populated area of
Beirut — the deadliest such attack in Lebanon’s capital in years — that
killed a Hezbollah commander. The Israeli military said 10 other operatives
were also killed. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 14 people were
killed.