Millions go cold in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana
and in Damascus, Syria
What does the working class in these places have in common? Through military force, the U.S. government has seized oil and gas resources and handed them over to private profiteers who wield total control over, what remains for now, a critical means of survival. The military assault on Syria and U.S. military spending to seize oil for profits has causes deprivation and suffering for workers of both countries.
Syrian oil is nationalized and income from its export goes into public programs. The U.S. ultra- rich can’t stand this, so they impose Texas-style profiteering by force. The U.S. military occupation of Syrian oil fields is preventing oil delivery to Damascus, Syria which has a population of 2.4 million. They too are experiencing very cold winter weather.
The artic storm that hit the U.S. was forecast for over a week. No preparations were made by the Texas or federal government. No airlifting of food, water and thermal blankets was initiated. No emergency income was made available. No emergency orders were issued to ban price gouging of electricity or gas. No money was reserved to fix broken pipes and restore drinkable water to millions. Texas, once Mexico, refuses to give the pennies of FEMA aid to undocumented workers who carry Texas on their backs alongside other workers. There are still blue tarps from hurricanes Harvey and Laura in Texas and Louisiana and unlivable homes all over.
As the storm approached, preparations were being made to bomb Syria. More U.S. weapons were being produced, more U.S. warships were being sent to threaten far-off countries, more U.S. sanctions were being imposed to starve and kill thousands around the world.
The U.S. military is currently directing and funding mercenary forces such as the SDF that are currently occupying Syrian oilfields. They are stealing 140,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Hasakah and smuggling it into neighboring U.S. occupied Iraq. The Governor of Hasakah, Mr. Khalil, said the plundering is directly enabled by U.S. military forces.
Secretary of State Pompeo and Sen. Lindsey Graham admitted to looting Syria’s oil in a testimony to the Senate Foreign Relation Committee in July 2020. Pompeo testified that an American oil company was taking crude oil into Iraq.
At that time Trump stated: “We’re keeping the oil, remember that. We want to keep the oil. Forty-five million dollars a month.”
The bombing in Syria also killed members of the Iraqi security forces who have been fighting ISIS. Iraqis have protested in the hundreds of thousands to demand an end to US occupation. Just last year the Iraqi parliament voted to remove U.S. forces, but the will of the people has been ignored time and time again by the oil hungry US.
Just like the last five presidents, Biden continues to war-monger in Syria under the guise of promoting democracy. He continues to fund the fascist state of Israel and arm the brutal monarchy of Saudi Arabia. Both of these governments are carrying out wars of genocide against the Yemenis and the Palestinians who endure the most extreme cruelties every day.
The politicians and energy company executives who celebrated the “jackpot” they hit when Texas residents’ bills rose by more than 10,000 percent should be jailed. Utilities should be put in the hands of the people who, led by energy workers, can then carry out a just transition to safe, reliable renewable energy.
This bombing should be a wake-up call to those who believe we can support Biden as we focus on only local issues. Syria today; Iran, Russia, or China tomorrow. Nuclear arms production is ramping up and the U.S. is preparing for space war. We must fight for jobs, housing, and a union. In the same breath we must reach the working class with a popular anti-war message as an issue of equal urgency.
The U.S. capitalist economy is dying, and the capitalists are resorting to war profiteering, fossil fuel production, and financial gambling to prop it up. These are the hands behind the rise of the right. If we ignore militarism, if we fail to be internationalists in all our struggles, the working class and oppressed here will suffer mightily.