The American ruling class's open war on working people around the world has intensified in recent months. The capitalist class has plunged the world into the most unstable period since the end of World War II. The invasion of Iraq has solved absolutely nothing for the Iraqi people, and has only increased the risk of further terrorist attacks here at home.

Despite the apparently easy military victory of the US imperialist war machine (due to the total collapse of the Saddam regime which in the end, no one was willing to defend), the occupation of Iraq is quickly degenerating into a Vietnam-like quagmire. Far from winning "hearts and minds", the US military is carrying out endless "seek and destroy" missions.

While billions are spent on a war opposed by the vast majority of humanity, 6 million children around the world die each year of easily preventable disease, thirst, and starvation. At home, the capitalist class is carrying out an unprecedented attack on the living conditions of millions of youth, elderly, and working Americans. With health care already in crisis, Bush is cutting Medicare and Social Security while at the same time he hands out billions to the ultra-rich in the form of tax cuts.

The stock markets continue their up and down see-sawing, while the threat of deflation, high unemployment, stagnant demand, a weak dollar, and skittish consumer confidence threaten to burst the housing bubble. Surplus has turned into deficit, international trade into protectionism, and hope into despair.

The US capitalists are deliberately causing a fiscal crisis in order to justify their plans to wipe out all the gains that working people fought for over the decades. As the Financial Times pointed out, "the lunatics are now in charge of the asylum". Overtime pay, the 8-hour work week, health care and retirement benefits -you name it - Bush and his partners in crime want to take it from us. This is a finished recipe for a massive resurgence in the class struggle around the world - including here in the US.

However, we must keep in mind that Bush himself is not the real problem - he is only the representative of the capitalist class as a whole. The corporate-backed Democrats cannot be trusted to act in the interests of working people either. They have sat by and watched while our rights and quality of life have been decimated. Their half-hearted and spineless opposition to the war on Iraq is pure demagogy intended to win disaffected voters fed up with Bush and his policies.

The anti-war movement which exploded onto the world scene even before the war started showed the way forward. But it must have a working class orientation, leadership, tactics, and perspectives. Workers make up the vast majority of humanity - we can trust only ourselves in our struggle to improve our conditions of life. We have left our fate in the hands of others for far too long. The time to act is now! In this special edition of Socialist Appeal [USA] we take a brief look at the upcoming election year, and explain the connections of top US corporations to the most heinous capitalist regime of all time - the Nazis. The ruling class will stop at nothing in its pursuit of power, profits, and spheres on influence. Join the WIL in the struggle for a better world!