1. Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum: A criminal threat of mass murder
...the war against Iran marks a new stage in a decades-long effort by American imperialism to offset the declining position of American capitalism through relentless violence. The strategic aim is to reestablish conditions of colonial domination through terror and conquest. This is not simply the product of Trump’s mind, any more than the recklessness and criminality of the Nazi regime sprang solely from Hitler’s psychology. It arises from the objective crisis of capitalism and the determination of a ruling class to preserve its power.
In that framework, there is no line the perpetrators will not cross. The normalization of threats to obliterate civilian infrastructure—and the deliberate courting of a radiological catastrophe in the Persian Gulf—raises the prospect that the United States and Israel will resort to still more extreme measures, including the use of nuclear weapons.
Commenting on the use of nuclear weapons at the end of the Second World War, historian Gabriel Jackson wrote: “In the specific circumstances of August 1945, the use of the atom bomb showed that a psychologically very normal and democratically elected chief executive could use the weapon just as the Nazi dictator would have used it. In this way, the United States—for anyone concerned with moral distinctions in the conduct of different types of government—blurred the difference between fascism and democracy.”
This observation takes on a new significance in relation to the war against Iran. The issue is not only the criminality of the threats now being issued, but the fact that they do not encounter any significant opposition from within the established political structure. This is itself a devastating exposure of the advanced breakdown of American democracy and the convergence of imperialist violence abroad with authoritarianism at home.
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This silence reflects the degree to which the entire political establishment, across party lines, has accepted the framework of American imperial violence as the natural order of international affairs. Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Donna Brazile declared: “Democrats understand that Iran has posed a threat, not just to the region, the Gulf, but to the world itself.”
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There exists immense opposition to this war among workers and youth in the United States and throughout the world. The question is whether this opposition will be transformed into a conscious movement with a strategy and perspective.
On March 28, demonstrations are being held under the banner of “No Kings,” following two major protests last year. At the very center of every protest must be the demand for an end to the war against Iran. No to the US-Israeli war of extermination against Iran. No to the broader assault on the Middle East, including the genocide in Gaza. Any movement that treats war as secondary, or avoids naming it directly, leaves intact the principal mechanism through which the ruling class is driving toward dictatorship and catastrophe.
A movement against war cannot be built through appeals to Congress, to the Democratic Party, or to the corporate press that has normalized extermination. It must be built by bringing the fight against war into the workplaces and industries that make society run: the ports, logistics hubs, refineries, rail networks, schools, and hospitals.
Trump’s ultimatum is not merely a threat against Iran. It is a warning to the whole world of what the ruling class is prepared to do to maintain its power. It must be answered not with appeals to the institutions complicit in these crimes, but with the mobilization of the immense social power of the working class. The fight to end the war must be placed at the center of the developing struggles over wages, jobs, living standards and democratic rights. The struggle against war is inseparable from the struggle against dictatorship and the capitalist system that produces both. The alternative to barbarism is the independent, international, socialist mobilization of the working class.
2. This week in history: March 16-22
- 25 years ago:
50 years ago:
75 years ago:
US General Douglas MacArthur issues military ultimatum against China
100 years ago:
3. Trump orders ICE agents to deploy to airports in force
[Speaking on CNN, White House anti-immigration aide, Tom] Homan said that ICE agents would not conduct X-ray and other scanners but could be deployed to guard exits or check IDs as passengers queue up for their inspections. He brushed off questions about other specifics—such as whether the agents will be armed or masked—suggesting that this was still being worked out in internal DHS discussions.
He told CNN interviewer Dana Bash, “Hopefully, we’ll have all those answers here by this afternoon, but we’re working on it. And when we deploy tomorrow, we’ll have a well-thought-out plan to execute.” Bash seemed taken aback, replying, “With respect, if you’re doing this in 24 hours, how well thought-out could it possibly be?”
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Both Trump and Homan’s comments suggest that ICE agents will be involved in checking identification and that they will focus on green card holders, international travelers and other non-citizens, who could well be asked to step out of the line for more intensive interrogation, including the surrender of electronic devices for inspection by the federal agents.
The most ominous threat in Trump’s weekend messaging came on Sunday morning, when he denounced the Democrats for blocking the DHS funding, while claiming they “are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA …”
He went on to say, “Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party!”
This remarkable statement suggests that the next target for military action by the “commander-in-chief” is a political party that received 75 million votes in the 2024 election and holds nearly half the seats in both the House and Senate. It is nothing less than a declaration of war against his domestic opponents.
Equally remarkable was the indifference and complacency with which House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to this threat. He also appeared on CNN and was asked by Dana Bash to respond to Trump’s declaration that the Democratic Party was now “the greatest enemy America has.”
Jeffries said, “Donald Trump should keep his reckless mouth shut before he gets somebody killed.” The answer evinces a certain nervousness over the threat of violence, although the implication is that Trump might inspire some “lone wolf” attacker, not that he is actively preparing for the use of military force against political opposition within the United States.
The House Democratic leader acknowledged the danger that deploying ICE agents at airports might pose, saying, “The last thing the American people need is for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports across the country potentially to brutalize or to kill them.”
But he continued, “Our basic premise and value proposition from the very beginning has been simple. ICE should conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country.” In other words, ICE agents should be unmasked but can otherwise carry out the same murderous violence that “every other law enforcement agency in the country” is responsible for. US police have killed more than 1,000 Americans every year in this decade: 20 people a week, three a day.
The Democratic Party supports the repressive apparatus of the capitalist state because it is also a party of the financial oligarchy, which requires that apparatus to maintain its wealth and privileges. Its only quarrel with Trump is that the tactics of ICE are so brutal and heavy-handed that they risk provoking mass popular opposition that could take on an openly anti-capitalist political form.
4. Colorado healthcare workers issue statement supporting striking JBS meatpackers
“The same economic pressures that lead to dangerous line speeds, inadequate safety protections, and a lack of proper PPE and equipment in the past are mirrored in our own workplaces through chronic understaffing and cuts to essential services.”
5. Sri Lankan fake-left FSP calls for sham “global people’s power” against Iran war
The Frontline Socialist Party is not calling for an international anti-war movement based on the working class, but an international coalition of opportunist groups dressed up as “Global People’s Power.”
6. Australian government transports ex-detainees to Nauru to thwart High Court ruling
Once again, the Albanese Labor government is effectively defying a High Court ruling to stop illegally punishing former immigration detainees who have been shackled in ankle bracelet monitors and subject to curfews.
7. Australia: Teachers to strike across Tasmania against real wage cuts
This week, Tasmanian and Victorian teachers will carry out full-day strikes over pay cuts and dire conditions, but the Australian Education Union bureaucracy is keeping their struggles entirely separate.
8. South Australian election underscores crisis of two-party system
Labor was returned to office but its vote fell in key working-class areas in an election characterized by the disintegration of the Liberals and the rise of One Nation.
9. Fire kills 14 workers at South Korean auto parts plant
This tragedy underscores the increasing corporate and official disregard for workers’ safety and lives, not just in South Korea but internationally, especially in the auto industry.
10. Video: Strong interest in “Where Is America Going? Fascism or Socialism” at the Leipzig Book Fair
The presentation of Where Is America Going? Fascism or Socialism, featuring David North at the Leipzig Book Fair, met with strong interest and underscored the growing interest in a socialist perspective against fascism and war.
11. German city of Duisburg maintains entry ban against “The Mauritanian” Mohamedou Ould Slahi
“The Mauritanian” Mohamedou Ould Slahi has become the public face of the prosecution against the US prison camp Guantánamo, where he was imprisoned and severely tortured for 14 years. But despite being released 10 years ago, and his innocence proven beyond doubt, he is not allowed to travel to Duisburg. The German authorities continue to treat him as a “terrorist.”
12. Court ruling temporarily halts Trump-Kennedy vaccine rollback
A federal judge has stayed the Trump administration’s revised childhood immunization schedule and frozen 13 ACIP appointments, delivering a temporary check on Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agenda.
13. Jacobin calls anti-capitalist opposition to war “sectarian”
On March 18, Jacobin, the online publication affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), published an article by Eric Blanc titled “Sectarianism Has Never Ended a War.” By “sectarianism” Blanc means adherence to socialist principles and opposition to the Democratic Party.
Blanc’s latest commentary develops themes he advanced on March 9 in a Jacobin article headlined “Why Is There No Antiwar Movement in the US?” As the World Socialist Web Site wrote of that essay: “The piece is essentially a political brief for the Democratic Party, calling for the subordination of antiwar sentiment to the interests of American imperialism.”
These articles appear as the Trump administration is deploying thousands of Marines to Iran in preparation for a land invasion that will have catastrophic consequences for the populations of Iran, the United States, the broader Middle East and, indeed, the entire world. Untold thousands of soldiers will die on both sides and Washington’s illegal war of aggression will metastasize into a global conflict, increasing the danger of nuclear war. Trump is already demanding another $200 billion to fund the war, the cost of which will be borne by the working class in the form of brutal social cuts and an escalation of the drive to dictatorship.
Under conditions where a large majority of Americans already oppose the war and strikes are spreading across the country, opposition to the war is bound to erupt, drawing in millions of workers. For the American ruling class, the great danger is that mass opposition will escape the confines of official politics and its two-party system, and assume a revolutionary, anti-capitalist character.
This is the context in which Jacobin and the DSA, agencies of the Democratic Party, wage war against what they call “sectarianism” and “ultra-leftism.”
14. Cuba suffers another island-wide blackout as US bars arrival of Russian fuel
Cuba has suffered a second nationwide blackout in less than a week, underscoring the catastrophic impact of the US fuel embargo.
Newroz, the traditional spring festival of the peoples of the Middle East and Central Asia—particularly the Kurds and Persians—is being celebrated this year amid an eruption of imperialist barbarism directed against Iran and the broader region.
16. East London bus drivers opposing fatigue face strike breaking by Stagecoach
More than a dozen workers assembled on the picket line holding placards demanding “No more long shifts,” drawing support from passing workers including drivers of other bus companies.
17. Spain’s Socialist Party-Sumar government unveils €1 billion military aid package for Ukraine
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned that the US-led war against Iran was distracting from NATO’s war against Russia.
The fight for the Ukrainian socialist and anti-war activist's freedom is an essential component of the struggle against imperialist war, genocide, dictatorship and fascism.