Simply put — we cannot afford another protracted “forever war” and President Donald Trump acted recklessly by entering the war between Israel and Iran by bombing Iran’s nuclear sites.
Misplaced priorities
It’s unconscionable that Congress is poised to pass the deeply unpopular One Big Beautiful Bill that could leave 11.8 million people uninsured (5% of insured), $1.1 trillion in health cuts, all designed to save the government money – because apparently our treasury can no longer afford these expenses – yet Trump is risking that the U.S. enter a potentially trillion dollars war.
No evidence to support justification of war
Trump’s missiles strikes and escalation arguably could have been justified if solid evidence showed that Iran had been seeking to build nuclear weapons. But U.S. intelligence has not furnished any such evidence, instead relying on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assessments, which he has been repeating over and over for decades that Iran is at the brink of having nuclear weapons without proof.
The weapons’ scare without solid evidence is reminiscent of so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that Iraq allegedly possessed and subsequently led the U.S. to invade Iraq, had thousands of American soldiers killed, and cost us trillions.
U.S. attack could have a reverse effect on Iran
Did Iran pose an imminent threat to the U.S.? No. Even if Iran suddenly became nuclear weapons ready, that in and of itself, does not qualify Iran to be an imminent threat and deserving of a preemptive strike under international law. In fact, the two preemptive strikes by both Israel and the U.S. acts less as a deterrent in the future and more of an incentive for Iran to elevate its nuclear program beyond energy to weapons grade for security reasons.
Iran can look to two examples: 1) Libya had a nuclear program and gave it up to comply with the west. After giving up their program, Muammar Gaddafi was assassinated and his government overthrown with the help of the U.S. Today, Libya is failed state. 2) On the other hand, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un defied the U.S.’s demands to end their nuclear program. It’s believed they now have succeeded in becoming nuclear-arms ready. It’s doubtful that North Korea would be attacked because of their successful nuclear program and they are advancing in other areas as a nation. Interestingly, there was more fearmongering of North Korea being an imminent threat to the U.S. when it was building up to become nuclear capable than they are today after they’ve accomplished their goal. It’s a seeming paradox, but it makes sense.
There’s greater prosperity in peace than in wars
The American public – largely due to alternative media – is no longer fooled by this need for empire and “forever wars” that the U.S. military industrial complex has been pushing. Americans now know there is greater prosperity without war than to constantly be engaged in it. Take China, for example, who hasn’t been at war since 1979. Since then, they’ve successfully turned their country from a failed state to a superpower today. That was made possible by steering away from wars, among other factors.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has not experienced sustained peace in decades and is approaching a trillion dollars a year to maintain global empire by force and intimidation in every region. It can also be argued that the U.S. conflicts in the Middle East in the early 2000s was a turning point that decelerated American prosperity-building.
Americans are done with “forever wars”
Multiple polls show a majority of Americans did not favor Trump’s bombing of Iran. They do not support a future military escalation against Iran. They do not support constantly fighting Israel’s wars in the Middle East.
Americans are more politically sophisticated and understand the need for global cooperation rather than U.S. military hegemony, which again, is not sustainable as our nation’s domestic needs go ignored and Americans’ standard of living further declines by the year. This is not the 1990s when the U.S. was the sole and unrivaled hegemon. Diplomacy is more important than ever.
Demand that Israel accept long-lasting peace with their neighbors
Instead of allowing Israel to do whatever it pleases in the Middle East as it is now literally engaged in off-and-on again wars with four or five of its neighbors at any given time, the U.S. should stop being subordinate to Israel and demand that they broker long-lasting peace with their neighbors. Netanyahu is hyper hawkish because he knows no matter what he does, the U.S. will continue to protect Israel, provide it weapons, money and diplomatic support.
How is this benefiting average Americans? It doesn’t. Only special interest groups benefit: war profiteers and AIPAC.
Critics of Trump say if the war continues, it’s not because of Iran’s nuclear ambitions – something talked about for decades – but rather it’s to bring about regime change in today’s geopolitical struggle between the collective west and Iran, China and Russia. Iran is the weakest link among the three which is why the west sees it as the most vulnerable to install a pro-western friendly new leader.
If it is true that preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons was the real goal for the U.S. and Israel, it appears that at least for now that goal has been achieved — and the 12-days war will go down in history as a 12-days war, and should not extend to another disastrous “forever war” for the U.S.
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