Hey Joe! Don’t you know? US wars have got to go!

Progressive organizations the world over have extended their congratulations to the people of the United States for voting Donald Trump out of office. Truly, it seems as though the entire world is breathing a collective sigh of relief that this man and his aggressively racist administration are finally on their way out the door. We’ve seen his administration enact new, brutal economic sanctions against Iran, Venezuela, and many other countries; which critically endangers those countries’ abilities to combat the ravages of COVID-19. We’ve seen his administration escalate tensions with China, leading to a significant increase in anti-Asian racism and hate crimes here in the US. We’ve seen his administration deepen ties with brutally repressive governments the world over. We’ve seen his administration continue to sharpen the practice of unleashing the same brutality that it wields against victim nations against black, indigenous, and immigrant lives here in the US.

With ol’ Cheeto Benito on his way out, we can just call it a day and take it easy for the next 4 years, right?

Well, we in the Anti-War Committee aren’t taking it easy. We got our start following the Clinton administration’s bombing of Iraq in 1998. During the Obama administration, the homes of several AWC members were raided by the FBI specifically because of our anti-war and international solidarity work. While we are all as relieved as anyone else to see Trump leave, our own experience with the Democratic Party tells us that we can’t slow down and take it easy for the next 4 years.

For one thing, Biden is inheriting the disastrous effects of the foreign policy actions taken by Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, Elliot Abrams, and every other slimy aggressor in the Trump administration. The US under Trump has continued to provide support to the state of Saudi Arabia in their war against Yemen, a war that has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis. US-backed Saudi targeting of food production has led to tens of millions of Yemenis being pushed to the brink of famine. Yemen’s health infrastructure was ravaged by the Western-sponsored bombing, precipitating the worst cholera outbreak in recorded history. Sources such as the Washington Post have reported that the US provides support to Al-Qaeda in the region, all while designating the Houthi movement, a group that resists Al-Qaeda in Yemen, as a “terrorist organization.”

Interestingly enough, you might have heard Al-Qaeda in the news cycle again recently. In his January 12th address, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that “Al Qaeda has a new home base: it is the Islamic Republic of Iran…We ignore this Iran-Al Qaeda nexus at our own peril…we must defeat it.” This is the latest in a long series of assaults against Iran by this administration. Trump banned immigration from Iran with his racist Muslim ban.  He pulled the US out of the JCPOA – aka the Iran Nuclear Deal.  He ordered the assassination of General Qassim Soleimani in Iraq this year. Donny and Mike have ramped up the US’s brutal sanctions that continue to devastate Iran’s ability to provide for its people and combat COVID-19.  Just over the summer, the US seized oil from Iranian ships threatening the country’s ability to export goods and support its own economy.

While the US has intervened in Iran’s affairs for decades upon decades, a new intensification of sanctions and propaganda against Iran took shape back in 2012. The US’s backing of Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen began way back in 2015. Those dates can’t be right, can they? We know Donny and Mike assumed power on January 20th, 2017. That would mean that the Vice President helping push these campaigns forward was none other than Joe Biden! The same Joe Biden that was Vice President during the Obama administration’s campaign against Syria that initiated a massive refugee crisis. The same Joe Biden that was Vice President during the Obama administration’s campaign in Honduras that devastated the country so thoroughly that a couple of years ago we had a caravan of refugees come to the US from Honduras seeking asylum. The same Joe Biden that was Vice President when the Obama administration’s campaign against Libya devastated the most prosperous country on the African continent and created the conditions that allowed for open-air slave markets in the country.

One thing is abundantly clear: the US war machine will not stop with the departure of Donald Trump. Biden has already stacked his cabinet with foreign policy officials that are committed to continuing the US’s destructive campaigns of intervention and war. The Democrat’s own legacy of war and intervention continues with the inauguration of Joe Biden.

So no, the Anti-War Committee can’t take a break now that Biden is in office! No, the broader peace movement can’t take a break now that Biden is in office! No, all the movements fighting for peace and justice can’t take a break now that Biden is in office! We’re going to stay in the streets and keep fighting for and end to US wars, no matter who is calling the shots!