War Is an Enormous Threat to the Rising Movement Against Climate Change
US wars have historically been used to beat back and repress exactly the kind of Left movements that we need to tackle the climate crisis. We can’t just focus on fighting climate change or US imperialism — we have to stop both.
A giant black cloud of burning oil rises behind a US soldier as his unit supervises efforts to extinguish a section of the ruptured Iraqi oil pipeline that has been burning for several days August 18, 2003 in the northern town of Ash Sharqat, Iraq. Scott Nelson / Getty
The 2020s opened with dual crises.
In Australia, unprecedented bushfires tore across a total area the size of Virginia, killing at least twenty-nine people and an estimated 1 billion animals, and destroying 2,000 homes. The news was flooded with images of thousands of people taking refuge on Australia’s southeastern coastline, the sun blocked by thick smoke, children wearing surgical masks, in a crisis whose severity is unambiguously tied to climate change.
On January 3, the Trump administration brought the United States to the brink of war when it assassinated Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force and a ranking official of Iran. Iran responded by bombing a US base in Iraq, and the world watched in horror to see what President Trump would do next. Though Trump has backed away from direct warfare for the moment, he vowed on January 8 to escalate already devastating sanctions on Iran.
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