A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #358 - Editorial - The Great Reversal (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

As we go to press, the fate of the world may well be being decided in 
Iran. "Preventive" strikes launched on February 28 by the State of 
Israel, supported by the United States of America, have just decapitated 
the Islamic Republic in its three dimensions: religious, military, and 
police. They have also killed at least 85 people by destroying a school 
in the south of the country. But these "collateral victims" matter 
little to the leaders of a world where "the ends justify the means."

The pretext invoked by the aggressors is either support for the Iranian 
people, victims of the regime's bloody repression, or the impossibility 
of reaching an agreement on the nuclear program, or the risk posed to 
the region by the ballistic missiles that China has generously supplied 
to its Iranian ally since the Twelve Days War. It is probably this last 
element that was decisive in the bombing of Iran, insofar as it is the 
only state still capable of limiting Israeli military hegemony over the 
entire region.

Whatever the motive, this attack once again demonstrates the triumph of 
brute force over diplomacy and international law. Even though we have 
always believed that this largely formal "international law" hardly 
hinders the right of the strongest in reality (see the UN resolutions on 
Palestine), the Pentagon's designation of its current operation as "Epic 
Fury" speaks volumes about the erosion of meaning and reason, 
particularly through the manipulation of emotions and resentments.

Are the Iranian reprisals against Israel, but also against most 
neighboring countries, a harbinger of the conflict spreading throughout 
the Middle East, or the final throes of a dying regime? Let us refrain 
from prophecies, but let us note in passing that the Israeli-American 
assault was launched after Pakistan (a nuclear power) engaged in open 
warfare with Afghanistan; after the handing over of the Kurds of Rojava 
to the appetites of the new Syrian regime*; With the tacit agreement of 
Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who wants to make Saudi Arabia the new leader 
of the Arab world... Aside from formal condemnations, China and Russia 
(members of the UN Security Council and allies of Iran) remain 
remarkably silent at this time. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz 
gives Putin hope for a relaxation of sanctions against Russian oil in 
the event of a crisis... As for China, historically non-interventionist, 
it is observing the American onslaught while waiting for the opportune 
moment to "preemptively" seize Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Therefore, and in light of what has happened in Iraq, Libya, and Syria, 
we can expect the continuation of the theocratic regime in Tehran rather 
than the liberation of the Iranian people, as well as the spread of an 
armed conflict that could become permanent in a Middle East already 
devastated by the economic appetites and geostrategic interests of 
various powers.

This new war caps two months in 2026 that remarkably illustrate the 
spread of capitalist barbarity. The abduction and imprisonment of Maduro 
in Venezuela by US forces, and the unleashing of ICE, the US immigration 
police, with its executions of dissidents in the streets of Minneapolis, 
have been added to many other horrific events already underway: a 
crackdown in Iran that has claimed at least 30,000 victims; four years 
of war in Ukraine that could have claimed up to 2 million victims**; 
Five years of war in Burma waged amid general indifference; forgotten or 
suppressed conflicts in Sudan, Congo, Yemen, and between Ethiopia and 
Eritrea; the lightning raids of jihadist groups in the Sahel, as well as 
those of gangs in Haiti, Mexico, and Colombia; the crushing of the 
municipalist revolution in Rojava; the repression of sexual minorities 
in Senegal... and of course, we must add to this grim, endless list 
other consequences of the globalized economic exploitation system - such 
as the 600 migrants who have already drowned in the Mediterranean, and 
the 3 million victims of work-related accidents or illnesses worldwide 
by 2025.

The information found in the press, for anyone even remotely interested 
in world affairs, tends to distract us from politics. It is, in fact, so 
dire that it encourages us to focus on our own self-interest and leave 
the collective future of the world and humanity to the "competent 
specialists." It also encourages us to be content with the situation in 
France, in light of global chaos: what luck to be in this "sweet France" 
when war rages everywhere, when Trumpian neo-fascism is engulfing 
America, and when Zionism is committing genocide against the 
Palestinians! Forgotten, then, are the police impunity in Sainte-Soline, 
the death of El Hacen Diarra, and other victims of the French police? 
The weather events that highlight the climate disruption inflicted on 
the planet by the capitalist economy?...

The constant onslaught of global woes served up by the media ultimately 
obscures what we could have real control over. The constant 
catastrophizing that accompanies us prevents us from taking matters into 
our own hands and making history, which is, after all, the very essence 
of humanity. This is partly because the abundance of words contributes 
to a loss of meaning, reason, and truth... through the exacerbation of 
emotions.

The culmination of this in recent days was certainly the minute of 
silence observed by the National Assembly to honor a far-right activist 
who died in a brawl. This accidental death, which happened to a young 
person, has stirred up an emotion that has been exploited in the context 
of the municipal elections, with a backdrop of condemnation of political 
violence and the conflation of the extremes... except for this "extreme 
center" which, precisely, oversees the spread of this pervasive infamy. 
It hopes, in doing so, to divert attention from its own responsibilities 
in order to reap the electoral benefits - because the municipal and 
presidential elections are currently paralyzing any large-scale social 
mobilization.

So, what can we do in such a mess? More than ever, we must fight and 
resist. But how? With the means at our disposal-like this journal, which 
allows us to share information that can help us understand the world and 
rediscover meaning and control over our lives, so that, in the words of 
Rosa Luxemburg, we can finally "begin to live humanly"!

OCL Saint-Nazaire
March 1, 2026

* Read p. 34.

** (according to Radio France on January 29, 2026)

*** See the OCL press release of February 23, 2026 on the website

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4653
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en