Reality Check on Trump’s Middle East Trip:
Imperialist-Godfather Hails Barbaric Violence, Calls For More

May 22, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

What we see in contention here with Jihad on the one hand and McWorld/McCrusade [increasingly globalized western imperialism] on the other hand, are historically outmoded strata among colonized and oppressed humanity up against historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system. These two reactionary poles reinforce each other, even while opposing each other. If you side with either of these “outmodeds,” you end up strengthening both.

While this is a very important formulation and is crucial to understanding much of the dynamics driving things in the world in this period, at the same time we do have to be clear about which of these “historically outmodeds” has done the greater damage and poses the greater threat to humanity: It is the historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system, and in particular the U.S. imperialists.

Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:28

The interests, objectives, and grand designs of the imperialists are not our interests—they are not the interests of the great majority of people in the U.S. nor of the overwhelming majority of people in the world as a whole. And the difficulties the imperialists have gotten themselves into in pursuit of these interests must be seen, and responded to, not from the point of view of the imperialists and their interests, but from the point of view of the great majority of humanity and the basic and urgent need of humanity for a different and better world, for another way.

Bob Avakian, BAsics 3:8

Like a Mafia-godfather, Trump called together some of the most murderous, barbaric, tyrants on earth for his speech on Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.^* Trump praised them—then demanded that they step up, “take on the burden,” and ruthlessly take care of “Islamic extremists” and “terrorists.”

Islamic fundamentalism and jihadism are reactionary, oppressive forces, which have committed terrible crimes against the people. But Trump’s problem isn’t that they’re reactionary and oppressive. His problem is that they’re getting in the way of America’s own reactionary, oppressive stranglehold on the Middle East.

So he offered the junior butchers assembled in Riyadh billions in arms, and carte blanche support for whatever terrors or tortures they carried out against these forces or other opponents. “DRIVE THEM OUT OF THIS EARTH,” Trump bellowed.

For the head-chopping fundamentalist kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Trump pledged $110 billion more in arms, and explicit backing to escalate its genocidal war in Yemen which has already created one of the most massive, hellish humanitarian crises in the world.

Trump began hammering into place new military alliances—”strengthening partnerships, and forming new ones”—and concluded with a bellicose call for military encirclement and aggression against Iran, which he claimed “has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror.”

Millions in the Middle East have already suffered and died at the hands of the U.S. Now Trump is doubling down on the staggering violence U.S. imperialism and its allies are carrying out across the region and preparing for even greater violence and aggression to come.

This isn’t “reaching out” to Muslims, or dialing back his “Make America Great Again” racism, xenophobia and war-mongering. This is threatening the lives of millions and millions in the region, and pouring gasoline on the reactionary clash between imperialism and fundamentalist Islamic jihadism.

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Stay tuned to Revcom.us for further coverage of Trump’s speech and his trip abroad.

* This mafia ball was hosted by King Salman of Saudi Arabia, whose reactionary war in Yemen has been carried out through the war crimes of targeting hospitals, schools, markets, and apartment buildings, and killing or wounding thousands of civilians. Meanwhile Salman has overseen a vicious crackdown on all forms of dissent within his Kingdom, that’s featured widespread torture and executing 47 people on one day, January 2, 2016, alone—most of whom were beheaded.

Among the other 40-plus guests of honor was Egypt’s military dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. In 2013, Gen. El-Sisi took power in a coup d’etat, massacring 100s of anti-coup protesters and rounding up at least 40,000 people, many who were severely tortured. Since then Egyptian police have been “abducting, torturing and forcibly disappearing people in an effort to intimidate opponents and wipe out peaceful dissent,” according to Amnesty International, in which “hundreds of students, political activists and protesters, including children as young as 14, vanish without trace at the hands of the state...Many are held for months at a time and often kept blindfolded and handcuffed for the entire period.” [back]

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Reality Check on Trump’s Middle East Trip:Imperialist-Godfather Hails Barbaric Violence, Calls For More

Reality Check on Trump’s Middle East Trip:
Imperialist-Godfather Hails Barbaric Violence, Calls For More