May 12, 2026
During the tenuous ceasefire still holding May 12 in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, analysts from the imperialist-based media and from anti-imperialist sources have been asking the question: Which side is winning?
Both have been reaching a similar response: The U.S. and Israel are losing. Or, to be precise, the alliance between the imperialist superpower and its local pit bull has lost at least the first round of the war these two aggressive states launched Feb. 28.
The airplane logos denote U.S. air bases in the Persian Gulf region. This extension of U.S. air power meant also putting U.S. equipment and troops within easy reach of Iranian drones and rockets.
The New York Times ran this headline for an April 30 editorial: “The U.S. Military Was Losing Its Edge. After Iran, Everyone Knows It.” The article’s conclusion was that the Pentagon was considered the high-tech, high-cost ultimate destruction machine, but that Iran’s “asymmetrical warfare” has exposed its weaknesses.
While the Islamic Republic of Iran couldn’t stop the U.S. and Israel from hitting industrial, educational, health care and other civilian targets (all war crimes), Iran could hit back against the U.S. Gulf client states and do it with much less expensive weapons. It could also control the Strait of Hormuz, obstructing the world economy. It could hit U.S. bases and equipment.
The Times was not the only imperialist observer to notice and express this opinion. The Washington Post (“Trump is losing the war in Iran,” March 30), retired military officials, military analysts, elected leaders of NATO members in Europe who refuse to join the U.S. war, and unelected monarchs of U.S. client emirates in the Persian Gulf who deny Washington use of their airspace to attack Iran have all rebuffed the U.S. leaders.
Regarding which side’s narrative is closest to reality, The Times ran an article titled “Iranian Propaganda vs. U.S. Talking Points: How We Determined the Real Damage to U.S. Military Bases.” Six reporters/analysts looked at conflicting reports from the Iranian military and from the Pentagon regarding hundreds of targets hit at the dozens of U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf by Iranian drone and missile responses to U.S./Israeli aggression.
The Pentagon report minimized U.S. losses. The Iranian report focused on the damage to U.S. interests. The article concluded that the Pentagon had hidden and/or failed to report most of the damage, which occurred on every base.
On the other hand, the Iranian reports were much closer to what The Times’ analysts found. Every U.S. base in the area was hit. Extremely expensive radar equipment was destroyed along with some planes. The Iranians’ only error (per The Times) was their report that Iranian rockets hit a barracks instead of a warehouse on one base.
Much of the U.S. and other imperialist-based criticisms have focused on the MAGA administration’s underestimation of Iran’s potential and its leadership’s willingness to fight. They considered the damage to the U.S. reputation and ability to wage war to be a negative event and mostly blamed the MAGA grouping, especially the president.
Imperialism’s loss is a gain for workers and oppressed
The International Action Center congratulates the Iranian people and its government for the courage, planning and determination and solidarity needed to resist the imperialist attempt to crush them. The IAC considers this setback for U.S. imperialism a positive development for the future of humanity.
The IAC also considers the U.S. setback a gain for the working class within the United States. It especially presents an obstacle to any U.S. ruling class plan to expand the war to an attack against People’s China and Russia.
To the IAC, not only is the racist, inept, belligerent and corrupt MAGA tendency responsible for the aggression, but also the establishment Republicans and the bulk of the Democratic Party leadership. These groups, representing the U.S. billionaire ruling class, share the strategic goals (if not the tactics) of the MAGA group.
The IAC does want to include one warning and appeal: U.S. imperialism is no less dangerous and vengeful, especially towards civilians in Palestine, Lebanon and Iran, for losing this important first round. More important than believing the U.S. is losing is to continue to mobilize the 70% of the population who now only passively oppose the war and build an effective and active movement to prevent new aggression and new wars, using any means that can work.
It is time to be back in the streets opposing this war!
