The immediate choice for U.S. rulers is to back down or launch a unilateral attack on Iraq that will surely isolate them even more than they are already and unite a broader coalition against them. Eventually, the U.S. will have to launch another major ground war, because the relationship of forces leaves them no other choice. As we have pointed out many times in these pages, the law of maximum profits requires a chokehold over energy sources. The world may be awash in oil, but right now the key source of oil is the Middle East. U.S. rulers know this.
China has a great potential both as a consuming market and a place to refine oil.
The Times expert columnist, Thomas Friedman, has finally figured what Challenge has been writing for two years. So U.S. imperialism is taking it on the chin from all sides. However, we would make a serious mistake to think that its weakness and isolation will prevent it from launching a significant military probe against Iraq now and Desert Storm II in the near future. Workers must correctly evaluate the meaning of U.S. imperialism's strategic weakness. Despite this weakness, the bosses can still cause a tremendous amount of mayhem and they will do so.