not entirely sure if the full text goes into it, but there is also an argument to be made that fighting IS (whilst simultaneously supplying them weapons) is part of a strategy of regional destabilisation that is aimed at maintaining affluent petrostates even as the world they depend on dies. Oil-rich Kirkuk is currently in the hands of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq- a region being defended in part by the now apparently rehabilitated PKK- who are increasingly calling for full autonomy. Israel has publicly announced its in favour of this, while the US has long had plans for the fragmentation of Iraq into distinct ethno-religious states. Why? To secure lasting spheres of influence that could promote long-term oil autonomy from Russia and lead to challenging the regional dominance of Iran. As the petrostate dies, sucking its life blood from the geological strata formed by once living matter, it is prepared to plunge headlong into yet another war in Iraq. If we include that countries history as Mesopotamia, how long is it now that our colonial capitalist governments have occupied its land and terrorised it people? While the fight against IS is be necessary, we shouldn’t forget why it is capital fights any war. Marx’s gothic imaginary of vampiric capitalism has never been more apt.