Hawzhin Azeez:

We live in a world where we often forget that multiple truths can co-exist at the same time. In an era of media conglomerates that regurgitate the same pro war slogans and headlines, and a time where the failures of the Left are stark and vast, the truth is often reduced to a simplistic, manichaean duality of black/white, either/or, US/Iran perspective. Anti-imperialists who have long supported the brutality of the Assad regime in the name of Left-Leaning ideological praxis are rabidly defending another brutal, violent regime- Iran- without any regard for historical facts and realities; without any regard for the reality of the lives of millions of Iranians terrorized, violated and oppressed into silence; without any regard for the daily reality of the oppressed living under a brutal dictatorship who is only second to China in its execution of dissidents, artists, feminists and human rights activists. Yet, anti-US imperialists have turned Sulaimani into a heroic, stoic figure, dripping with charisma and a quite self assurance- a hero who fought valiantly against ISIS and saved the Iranian people- in direct contrast to Trump’s vivid incoherence and recklessness. Since when did anti-imperialism mean being avid supporters of evil dictators rather than the oppressed and the colonized?

Here are some basic truths about the current US-Iran situation:

1) Sulaimani was a butcher and an instrument of Iranian proxy violence terrorizing millions in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, etc. One of his main roles was to supply Hezbollah with a constant supply of missiles and rockets, while also quietly deploying 50,000 Iranian military to Syria in support of the brutal Assad regime. He was instrumental in the ongoing tragedy in Yemen though Iran’s direct support for the Houthis. His role in preventing ISIS from entering Iran can be largely attributed to the Sunni-Shia divide (ISIS is Sunni, Iran an avid Shia regime). His role in fighting ISIS in Syria had more to do with supporting the Assad regime and ending a rival Sunni group that was directly treating its own regional hegemony; rather than Sulaimani being concerned about peace and the safety of the ordinary people. As he engaged in these foreign measures, he was the leader of the notorious Quds forces terrorizing, executing, spying and kidnapping pro-democracy, women’s rights and human rights forces inside Iran.

Hundreds of thousands have died as a result of Sulaimani’s role carrying out Iran’s regional objectives. His involvement in these countries had a direct impact on the democratic aspirations of the Kurds, Syrians, Iranians and other oppressed minorities in the region. 

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