In the Rubble of US Imperialism: the PKK, YPG and the Islamic State

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The mainstream news has been filled with stories about the horrors being committed by the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, and how the United States (US) ruling class and their state supposedly want to stop this for humanitarian reasons. What has not been widely covered in the corporate and state controlled media, however, is why the IS came to exist; the real reasons for the US state’s new round of intervention in the Middle East; and how the US state wants to isolate and likely destroy the only two forces that have been effective in fighting against the IS: the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG). 

How the Islamic State arose

The IS’s rise from an obscure group to a force within the Middle East can be traced back to the US military’s invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. During the invasion the US military killed 1.4 million people and as an occupying force it brutalised the population. This naturally fuelled anti-US sentiments throughout the country. 

Read more: In the Rubble of US Imperialism: the PKK, YPG and the Islamic State

Is it just Jacob Zuma

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Various columnists and opposition politicians, whether from the Democratic Alliance or the Economic Freedom Fighters, have repeatedly called for Zuma’s head. They want him out and it is often insinuated that if he was gone things would be so much better. The latest round in this saga has been the recent vote of no confidence that was tabled by the opposition in Parliament. 

Certainly Zuma’s Presidency has been defined by nonstop scandal. There have been clear instances of him using his position for personal gain. News headlines have also repeatedly highlighted how members of his family, along with his allies, have benefitted from state tenders, or have been drawn into partnerships with certain capitalists, such as the Guptas. 

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South Africa and the DRC: Has Rhodes passed on the baton?

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In the heat of the struggle for statues like that of Rhodes – the arch-symbol of British imperialism – to be pulled down, and in the midst of the horror of the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, few people seemed to notice an announcement by Jacob Zuma that South African troops will remain at war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for another year.

Of course, Zuma made this announcement on behalf the South African ruling class – comprised today of white capitalists and a black elite mainly centred around the state, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and ‘traditional’ royal families. In this there was a real irony that while Rhodes’s likeness was falling from his perch at the University of Cape Town, and immigrants from other parts of Africa and Asia were being attacked because of sentiments stoked up by a rehabilitated relic of apartheid (the Zulu king, Zwelithini), the South African ruling class felt brash enough to say they will be continuing their own imperialist war in the DRC. 

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Eskom’s class agenda

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There never seems to be a dull moment when it comes to Eskom.

There has been load-shedding; huge managerial salaries; and scandals around tenders and coal-supply costs. There has also been Eskom’s claim that it faces a funding short-fall and that it needs massive tariff increases.

Then there have been sections of the ruling class again clamouring for its full privatisation. The ANC too says it is thinking of selling equity in Eskom to state-owned and private pension funds.

While all this had been happening, selling electricity has remained very profitable: Eskom in the last year recorded a R 7 billion profit. Yet in this context too, the working class – and the black section in particular – has been facing cut-offs, pre-paid metres, and tariffs up to 400% higher than those paid by some corporations. 

Read more: Eskom’s class agenda