The next four years under George W. Bush
On January 20, George W. Bush will be embarking on a new four-year term as president of US imperialism. His clique has been straining to portray his victory in the November elections as a demonstration of the American people's support for his regime's conservatism, militarism and unilateralism. Bush considers his victory political capital to continue his overall policy of military intervention and aggression and the unjust war on Iraq in particular.
Bush's narrow margin (3%) over his principal electoral opponent, however, indicates his failure to secure decisive support for his administration's policies. Garnering 51% of the votes to John Kerry's 48%, Bush was unable to deceive over 55 million Americans despite the relentless "anti-terrorist" hysteria he whipped up and his control over the government's machinery, funds and other resources in the last four years.
On the one hand, the Bush regime is more stubborn than ever in pursuing the US occupation of Iraq and pressuring and attacking other countries it regards as threats. Leading the list of these countries are Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea.
It is also determined to punish all those that opposed the US war on Iraq, including the heads of certain United Nations (UN) agencies who questioned the war's legitimacy. The US has already initiated moves to oust UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed el-Baradei.
On the other hand, the Bush government could not pursue these measures without reaping criticism and opposition from both the American people and the people of the affected countries.
First of all, there is no stopping the growing number of American soldiers killed and wounded in the fighting in Iraq. Among other issues surrounding the war on Iraq, it is mounting American casualties that will expand and strengthen the anti-war movement in the US. For a greater number of Americans, the colossal sums Bush pours into the war is unacceptable in the face of the onerous social security and tax reforms pursued by his regime.
Secondly, the growing number of Iraqis killed and their intensified suffering in the hands of foreign occupation forces can only lead to the escalation of the Iraqi people's armed resistance as well as that of many other groups in the Middle East sympathetic to them. This likewise fuels the expansion and strengthening of the international united front against the war in Iraq and the US' militarist policies in general. The US now faces growing isolation from the international community.
Thirdly, the US' unilateral actions further stoke the anger of the other imperialist powers that it has run roughshod over. The tensions between the US and Britain on the one hand and Germany, Russia and China on the other that surfaced at the start of the war will likely intensify in the face of the Bush regime's obstinacy.
In the end, the Bush regime will be forced to choose between two options: to go after the much-coveted spoils from its wars of aggression and military interventions or face the extensive damage wrought by growing opposition to the war both in the US and the rest of the world.
Should Bush still refuse to yield at that time of reckoning, his much-vaunted "capital" will be of no benefit to his regime, and he will be all the more isolated from the American people and the rest of the world's peoples.
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