With the full political, financial and military backing of the Bush administration in the United States and of the Blair government in Britain, Israel is attempting to transform Lebanon into a Western protectorate. The Bush administration is using Israel as a proxy in order to take forward its plans to secure its unchallenged hegemony over the Middle East and Central Asia, the location of the bulk of the world’s oil supplies.

Tel Aviv is seeking to crush all popular resistance to Israeli and American domination, beginning with the devastation being heaped on both the Palestinians and the people of Lebanon. But neither Israel nor its masters in Washington can be satisfied with the defeat of Hezbollah and the building of a Greater Israel through annexations prepared by the destruction of the social, economic and political infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority.

The war against Lebanon is only a stage in what threatens to be a full-scale regional conflict initiated by the US and supported by the other imperialist powers.

The eruption of US militarism that began with the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq cannot stop there. The ultimate target of the present military offensive is the removal of the Syrian Baathist regime and, above all, the launching of war against Iran. The world’s fourth largest producer of crude oil is seen as the sole remaining regional power standing in the way of America’s realization of its geopolitical ambitions.

Britain is seeking to stake its claim to the carve-up of the Middle East by maintaining its alliance with the US. But this time none of the other European powers are prepared to risk being denied a share of the spoils of war and are offering to take part in whatever international military force is sent to Lebanon.

The Socialist Equality Party has convened public meetings in London and Manchester in order to urge the mobilization of the working class against the predatory war drive of Washington, London and Tel Aviv. The featured speaker will be Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the SEP (Britain). We urge all readers of the World Socialist Web Site to make plans to attend.

London
Saturday, August 5, 2:30 p.m.
Friends Meeting Hall
173 Euston Road NW1 2BJ
(nearest tube Euston)

Manchester
Monday, August 7, 7 p.m.
International Society,
Oxford Road,
(opposite University of Manchester Students Union)