DSA Lawrence statement against US and Israel’s military campaign in Iran

March 8th, 2026

“Billions of dollars are being used to fund this war project instead of universal health care, affordable housing infrastructure, or universal childcare.”

DSA Lawrence

Saturday Feb. 28th, the United States, with the help from Israel, continued its imperial campaign to engage in a joint unprovoked attack on Iran. While Iran's theocracy must be condemned for its oppression against women, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, and political opponents, DSA of Lawrence condemns the US for only intensifying the suffering of Iranians through instigating warfare and upholding sanctions – actions that will only lead to the demise of marginalized communities. Working-class liberation can only come from national sovereignty. 

As the Zapatistas assert, the conditions of the Iranian people "are the accumulated result of decades of political oppression, economic exploitation, patriarchal violence, systematic repression, and the denial of rights." Imperialist intervention has historically undermined democratic movements rather than supporting them. The suffering of Iranians has historic roots in a familiar story of a CIA-led coup in 1953 that removed Iran’s democratically elected government and installed the Shah, whose regime ruled through repression while opening the country’s resources to Western imperialism. Since then, U.S. policy toward Iran has repeatedly escalated conflict, from sanctions and proxy confrontations to open warfare.

At the same time, the state and city governments provide significant tax incentives and abatements to aviation and defense companies. Companies like Spirit AeroSystems manufactured equipment like the E-11A BACN, which helped coordinate the bombing campaign, received millions in tax breaks from the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County

Kansas taxpayers and the working class pay for the war twice, first through the federal and state subsidies, but second through the rising cost of living as global trade is disrupted. With Iran shutting down the Straight of Hormuz and causing oil and gas refiners to halt across the region, the price of gas at the pump has already increased. Here in Lawrence, we have seen a 15% increase this weekend, with gas going up to 2.99$ from its previous 2.59$. But as the war continues, this market volatility will only get worse for working people in Kansas, while people like Spirit AeroSystems CEO Pat Shanahan remain insulated from the impact.

Kansas plays a direct role in the infrastructure that made this bombing campaign possible. Kansas receives $3.9 billion in Defense spending that goes towards personnel and training grounds. Our state is one of three “selected to work with U.S. Department of Defense to standardize student military enlistment data”  so schools can increase recruitment efforts of recent graduates. In higher education, the University of Kansas is eroding social science departments and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices while creating a new Office of National Defense Initiatives, stating that "national security research and education are not just important, but vital to our academic mission."

While the US education system becomes nationalist military training, it destroys education abroad -- pointing at the failures of Iran's government (that the US facilitated) while committing to the erosion of its own civil rights. In Iran, 153 people were killed after the bombing of a school, children included. Billions of dollars are being used to fund this war project instead of universal health care, affordable housing infrastructure, or universal childcare. What remains true in Iran and in the United States of America is that we have robust networks of working class solidarity, built by the people for the people, to fight for the lives of our neighbors. Lawrence DSA believes that united, we can build a popular socialist alternative to our contemporary liberal, authoritarian regime.

What can you do now?