Continuing Genocide Does Not Stop U.S. War Funding for Israel and Ukraine
On April 24, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the $95 billion supplemental war funding bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. As the U.S/Israeli genocide continues and mass graves of Palestinians are being exposed, the U.S. Congress approved another $26.4 billion for Israel. More than $17 billion is for military purposes and another $9.2 billion is said to be for humanitarian aid, but few believe Israel will use it for that. There is $61 billion for Ukraine, but $34 billion goes to the U.S. military and war monopolies to replenish U.S. weapons and stockpiles. Another $8 billion goes to Taiwan, including $3.3 billion for "submarine infrastructure," threatening China and the peoples of the region.
In signing the bill, Biden highlighted that a main aim of the proxy war against Russia using Ukraine is not defending the Ukrainians, but rather to strengthen NATO and U.S. command of it. He said, "In the last two years, we've helped unify, strengthen, and expand NATO. Imagine if instead we had failed -- we had failed to step up now and support Ukraine. All those gains would have begun to unravel, the cohesion of NATO would have been weakened, and our national security would have been undermined, without any question."
Similarly, part of the role of the war in Ukraine, and the U.S. refusal to negotiate a settlement, is the effort to unite the military bureaucracy, which is currently divided on war issues, reflected in the months-long factional fighting in Congress over the bill. More than half of the $61 billion goes to the U.S. war machine, with about $23 billion to replenish U.S. weapons, stockpiles, and facilities, and more than $11 billion to fund current U.S. military operations in the region.
There
is little to indicate that Biden's failures on these war
issues, including unifying the rulers and bureaucracy, will be
overcome. Conflicts within NATO persist, especially in relation
to
Germany, and efforts to use war -- whether in Palestine, Syria,
Libya
or
Afghanistan -- have not lessened
the intense factional fighting among contending oligarchs in the
U.S.
This is further evident in the presidential election which is
serving
to sharpen the rivalries, as both Biden and Trump talk about open
violence
occurring in November, not a peaceful transition of power.
Biden attempted to convince workers in the U.S. that war funding is good for jobs. He said the funds will replenish U.S. stockpiles "with new products made by American companies here in America: Patriot missiles made in Arizona, Javelins made in Alabama, artillery shells made in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas," and jobs in 40 states. Workers are rejecting the claims of Genocide Joe that they support war. Those at factories supplying Israel with arms have respected picket lines demanding no weapons to Israel and joined the many demonstrations taking place across the country. Others participated in the Count Me Out for Genocide campaigns by refusing to vote for Biden in the primaries. The stand of the majority is against war and for peaceful international relations of mutual respect and benefit.
In addition to the war funding, the new law includes attacks on Iran, a potential ban of TikTok, which has more than 170 million U.S. users, and seizing Russian assets held in the U.S. -- about $5 billion -- for use in Ukraine. For Iran, the bill expands U.S. sanctions, calling for sanctions on ports and refineries that receive and process Iranian oil and on anyone involved in activity previously covered under the expired UN missile embargo on Iran or in the supply or sale of Iran's missiles and drones. It would also further restrict the export of goods and technology of U.S. origin to Iran. This is an additional effort by the U.S. to isolate Iran and control international trade in conditions where Iran has withstood U.S. attacks, gained influence and provided a game-changer in relation to U.S./Israeli dictate in the region.
The
plan to seize Russian assets in the U.S. will likely backfire, as it
tells the world that the U.S. will act to steal foreign assets whenever
it decides. Already, the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa) and those of the Caribbean and Latin America’s
ALBA (Venezuela, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada,
Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Bolivia, and St. Vincent
and the Grenadines) are working to develop financial institutions and
currency independent of the U.S. dollar. Seizing assets will likely
increase these positive efforts.
The new law demands that
ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, sell the company or face a
U.S. ban within 9-12 months. While this action is partly to promote
China as a threat, it is also to serve U.S. tech giants like Facebook
and Google, who want TikTok’s technology. ByteDance has said it
will not sell and will contest the law in court.
Biden had asked for this war funding almost a year ago but factional fighting in Congress delayed it. With its passage, leaders in the Senate -- majority leader Chuck Schumer and minority leader Mitch McConnell, as well as Mike Johnson in the House, all joined Biden in proclaiming it a major victory. They are trying to make it appear that the deep divisions within the ruling class have been overcome. Biden himself indicated this is not true by raising that the issue of the need for more militarization of the border and increasing presidential powers to control the border has still not been resolved. And neither Biden nor Trump have lessened their talk about U.S-style democracy itself being on the line in the elections, meaning neither is likely to accept defeat.
What is clear is that the people across the U.S. are standing against war and for an end to the U.S./Israeli genocide and rejecting the elections as undemocratic and unrepresentative. Their demand is Stop Funding War and Fund Our Rights!
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 3 - April 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5400314.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca