By Debra Sweet

I asked 15 people educated in the U.S. to point to Yemen and Syria on a map. Three could.

I don't blame people who don't know about the world, because they've been taught by a system which puts America first.

However, the region throughout and beyond the Middle East — from Afghanistan down to Somalia — is roiling right now. Millions are trying to leave, beset by bombs and starvation, caught between the imperialist countries seeking control and the reactionary fundamentalist Islamists seeking to push them out.

The question for us must be what is the U.S. doing there?

Key things to know:

Yemen
Saudi Arabia deliberately targeted a huge funeral in Sanaa on October 8, killing hundreds with heavy bombing.  According to The Intercept, the U.S. made its first acknowledged direct missile strike on Houthi rebels, asserting its right to protect US vessels filling the Gulf of Aden along Yemen.

More than 10,000 have been killed by the Saudi attacks, with US weapons and ammunition.  See much more detail from RevCom.us in Your Government is Behind Monstrous War Crimes in Yemen.

Aftermath of the Saudi bombing of the funeral hall, Sana'a, October 8. (AP photo)

Syria
The campaigners for "humanitarian" intervention by the U.S. are pressuring Obama to "do something" — citing the horrendous suffering inflicted on the people (especially of Aleppo) by the Asad government with support of Russia. U.S. decisions up to now have been about trying to maintain its domination of the region and making sure Russia, Iran, and Assad don’t gain ground — even if that means half a million people die and the conflict and chaos stokes Islamic jihadists who launch attacks in the U.S. And the U.S. has plenty of blood directly on its hands, for doing thousands of airstrikes on Syria since 2014.

They admit there is no military solution, as the U.S. has no government to "U.S. interests" to install. So hundreds of thousands die, and millions suffer.

Iraq
On Monday, U.S. "advisors" and air support were a major part of the attack to re-take Mosul from ISIS. Obama recently sent 5,000 more troops to Iraq. Victory will do what?  Re-establish control by the completely illegitimate US backed Iraqi government?

The Guardian reports "controllers – known as Joint Terminal Air Controllers, or Jtacs, and drawn from US special operations forces – are the troops on the ground who spot for airstrikes, in an attempt to ensure greater accuracy of aerial bombardment. Their presence indicates that US troops, while not formally in a combat role, are on the frontlines and willing to use substantial airpower on Iraq’s second city."