While U.S. imperialism is losing its grip on the Middle East, regional capitalists are at war to fill the vacuum. From Syria to Yemen, millions of workers’ lives are at stake as Israeli, Saudi and Iranian capitalists wage war to control the Middle East and its oil. The U.S. and Russian imperialists are providing military and political support to opposing sides in these wars that could escalate quickly.
The most destructive of these current conflicts are in Syria and Yemen. At least six million Syrians have fled their homes and at least 400,000 have died since 2012. In Yemen, at least six million are on the edge of starvation and over half a million were devastated in the world’s worst-ever cholera epidemic (NYT, 8/22). In both conflicts, U.S. imperialism has been mostly confined to fighting small-time terrorists (ISIS in Syria, Al Qaeda in Yemen).
The U.S. decline has their allies second-guessing U.S. power. This has created an opening for capitalists like Iran and Russia who oppose the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia, have decided to take matters into their own hands, creating more murder and mayhem.
Syria: Iran and Russia Advance Israel Readies for War
With U.S. influence weakening in the Middle East, both presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have done little to oppose Syria’s Russia-backed President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, Iran and Russia have moved in, concentrating on propping up Assad’s regime. Russia has deployed significant air power while Iran has recruited 80,000 fighters from across the region.
Assad’s Syrian army only numbers about 20,000, and many desert or go on strike if ordered to deploy outside their own neighborhoods, where they serve as guards.
 When news reports talk about a Syrian advance on rebel positions, the advance is led by Lebanese Hezbollah and units recruited, trained and paid for by Iran.
Despite Trump’s rhetoric and sanctions against Iran, he has not taken on Iran in Syria and pushed to withdraw all 2,000 troops in Syria (NYT, 4/4).  “In his haste to withdraw from Syria, Trump stands alone.
The Pentagon, the State Department and CIA are all deeply concerned about the potential ramifications if the U.S. leaves behind a power vacuum in Syria, as are Israel, Arab leaders, and other nations in the U.S.-led coalition that has fought ISIS in Iraq and Syria since 2014” (Military Times, 4/4).
If U.S. backs off, Israeli and Saudi bosses fear that Russia-backed Iran will become the dominant power across Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Yemen: Saudi Tail Wags U.S. Dog
In Yemen as in Syria, U.S. bosses are not calling the shots as a war unfolds. In 2015, the Saudis and United Arab Emirates invaded after Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital of Sana’a. The latest outrage has been their assault on the main port of Hodeidah. “The U.A.E…wants the port out of Houthi hands as soon as possible, saying it generates up to $40 million a month for the Houthis” (WSJ, 7/8).
It’s important to note that though the UAE is one of the smallest countries in this region, it is one with a growing imperialist appetite. “With an active-duty military of just 63,000, the U.A.E. has rapidly expanded its footprint across the Arabian Peninsula and eastern Africa.
It has a string of bases in Somalia and Eritrea and along the Yemen coast” (WSJ, 7/8)The principal weapon in Syria has been mass starvation created by attacking shipping routes so as to deprive millions of Yemenis of food and clean water.
This murderous campaign has been financed and equipped by the U.S. war machine.The UN estimates this attack will lead to 250,000 deaths from the resulting food shortages.
To stop this slaughter of profit-hungry rulers, we must oppose all capitalist and turn their imperialist wars into class wars against all bosses.
 We must rebuild the international communist movement, overthrow all the war makers, and organize a society run by the working class.