e Pentagon and the mega-contractors will do everything in their power to keep the massive bases they have built in Iraq. By pulling the troops back to these bases, Obama could give the appearance of de-escalating the war while continuing to project U.S. imperialism's force throughout the Middle East.
He has also postured aggressively in relation to Iran, does not rule out invading Pakistan, and called Venezuela's democratically-elected President Hugo Chavez a dictator. It is unlikely, to say the least, that he will disband the U.S. 4th fleet, which was reactivated just this year to "patrol" Latin America and the Caribbean. He has also promised to close the prison camp at Guantanamo, and may well do so. The symbolism of such a move would be important for his image, but he would more than likely simply move the prisoners held there elsewhere.
We will know more once he announces his foreign policy cabinet appointments (all unelected positions, by the way), but a look at his election campaign advisors certainly gives us an indication of what's to come. During the campaign he was advised on foreign policy by former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (who funded the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, the precursors to the Taleban); former assistant Secretary of State Susan Rice (mentored by Madeleine Albright); former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig (under whose watch the U.S. bombed Yugoslavia); former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke (under Clinton and G.W. Bush); General Merrill McPeak (a vocal supporter of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor); and Dennis Ross (a supporter of Israel's occupation of the West Bank), among others. They say that you can judge a man by the friends he keeps. That list of "friends" speaks for itself.
A New 'New Deal'?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not elected on a New Deal platform. He was forced to implement these social and public works policies in a last ditch effort to save U.S. capitalism from the danger of socialist revolution. But we should remember that back in the 1930s, the U.S. was a major creditor nation with massive reserves of gold. n addition, the recession had already been going for nearly four years when FDR first came to power. Obama has inherited an entirely different domestic and international situation. The U.S. is now the world's greatest debtor nation and the economic recession is just beginning. Even if Obama is forced at a certain stage to implement similar policies (again, as the result of mass pressure from below and the threat of revolution), it could only be by further increasing deficit spending, which would only lead to even more complications in the future. There is no easy way out for U.S. capitalism and imperialism. Anything they do to try and restore economic stability can only increase social and political instability, and vice versa.
So at root, very little will change, and Obama's room for maneuver will be limited. Having missed out on the boom, American workers will now be asked to "share the pain" in the interest of "national unity." But workers and the poor will share a lot more of the pain than the rich, as the Wall Street bailout already shows. We say: make the rich pay! Why should working people have to pay for the bosses' crisis?
Let's put it clearly: Will Obama repeal Taft-Hartley and other anti-labor legislation? Will he implement a national living wage? Will he abolish the HMOs and provide free, universal health care? Will he cut the military budget and invest much needed billions in education, housing and infrastructure? Will he nationalize the energy, auto and airline industries, all crucial for the functioning of the country, to be run under democratic workers' control? Will he stop the raids and deportations and grant amnesty to immigrant workers and their families? Will he launch a mass program of public works to create millions of union jobs, provide housing for all, modernize and expand public transportation and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure? Don't hold your breath.
Capitalism is in crisis: socialism is the solution!
Obama