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Somewhere in this country right now, ex Ambassador to the UN and National Security Advisor John Bolton is probably in raptures watching coverage of our involvement in the Iran conflict, really pondering dusting off a foam finger from his heyday. Think briefly of him as the city of New York, this is his Knicks in the Finals moment.
This is as objective a statement you can get in the current political landscape, the man loves foreign conflict like few others. It doesn’t matter if you’re left or right wing, I think we can agree on this matter at the very least. Hell, the President did a few years ago tweeting, “He added nothing to National Security except, ‘Gee, let’s go to war.’ Also, illegally released much Classified Information. A real dope!”. This is a pretty funny quip admittedly, but it also represents a dialogue to be had.
Many Americans, regardless of political affiliation whether they be Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc.. don’t appreciate the concept of our tax dollars and bodies going to unnecessary foreign wars. Despite ideological differences, we agree that conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan brought about chaos, pain, and trauma for everyone involved, outside of those profiteering. These wars didn’t help our people, they tore families apart, hurting Americans tremendously while those in power kept insisting they’d end soon.
Growing up I’d visit my friend’s house on 23rd street and 1st avenue, right across from a VA Hospital where outside there would be up to sometimes two dozen or so homeless veterans on the block. In eighth grade history class we watched a documentary on Iraq while our teacher, a woman from a military family, desperately tried to hold back tears. These sights were always poignant, you didn’t need to ask questions to understand we were witnessing the failure and ramifications of costly lengthy wars in real time. These matters were fucked up no matter what way you saw them.
Say you’re sitting at the dreaded political round-table discussion among acquaintances with radically opposite views as yours. You share absolutely nothing in common with these people or so it seems, their perception of issues are fundamentally different from yours, and talking about it is exhausting. At this crucial period in our country though, at the brink of another likely unstabilizing war, it’s time to reach a principled compromise with one another. We understand the consequences of interventions like the one being pushed all too well, in a moment like this it’s important to put aside ideological differences. Not because we’re left or right wing, but because we still have a national common sense.
The overwhelming opposition might very well shift, the current administration is absolutely going to manufacture support, and some of those who proclaimed their belief in “America First” might suddenly echo the rhetoric of Bush-era neocons. It’s just the way our country has worked for awhile now. It’s happened all before, and in this case it’s almost deja vu. The same Iraq playbook is being drawn up, Presidents swearing up and down about WMDs and all. Talk of “no nukes” today, regime change and regional destabilization tomorrow.
Perhaps the only difference outside of the country, is how rushed the production appears. Not even 90 days ago, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated in remarks to the Senate Intel. Committee, “The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003”. This strikes a stark contrast to the alarmism expressed over the past week, with President Trump now claiming an imminent threat. Despite Gabbard’s later claims to CNN’s Sarah Ferris that the administration is “on the same page“, coordination of a narrative seems haphazard and half-baked. Our officials stay mull on talk of regime change, but Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel, the leaders of this conflict who lobby for our involvement, insist upon it. Say what you may about them, but it sure is easy to gauge the intended trajectory of a conflict when there’s someone explaining it flat out.
If this is the desired outcome though, we as Americans should ask questions regardless of political leanings. Why must we help the Israelis do this when they don’t seem concerned with our national interests? Netanyahu has spoken of Iran being dangerously close to nuclear capability for 30+ years at this point, why was a moment where he faced a no-confidence vote in the Israeli parliament, the one where nuclear capability became undisputed? These questions are valid, no matter what anyone says about criticising Israel. It’s our constitutional right to criticise our government, that applies to theirs too regardless of what they might dispute it with. Iran is the 18th largest country on earth with more than 90 million inhabitants, Americans have seen, and understand the ramifications of a lengthy destabilizing war in such a vast area. It’s not illegal to question the viability of such a dangerous conflict, and you should.
Our nation has gone down this path before with Saddam and Iraq, it ended in calamity and the demoralized collective psyche a lot of us grew up in the wake of. We were too young to realize we were living through the end of American exceptionalism, but the feeling crept in as we aged. People like us could once dream of living better lives than our parents, now it feels like a slow trudge. On to another battle our nation goes, suffering domestically more than ever with no end in sight. Perhaps we’re just a late stage empire going through motions at this point, doomed to cyclically repeat the same blunders, while those in power bask in opulence and hold the utmost contempt for their citizens.
Those who questioned and opposed Iraq have been long vindicated and those who supported still have that blemish. It’s important to be on the right side of history for matters like these because regardless of ideology, a failed war is a national embarrassment that helps no one besides the profiteers. At this crossroads therefore, on the brink of another potentially catastrophic war, it is important for us to transcend individual politics, question the viability of another regime change campaign, and oppose United States involvement in Iran. National unity comes few and far between these days, and it’s time that happens for a worthy cause. We don’t oppose this war because of our politics, we oppose it because we’re Americans.
