The monotony of war
Trump’s preemptive strikes in Iran are straight out of the U.S.’s neoconservative playbook. While the rehearsed justification for war is tired, our resistance doesn’t have to be.
I told a rally I was emceeing that I became a Mennonite pastor because I found Anabaptism through my resistance to the Iraq War. In 2003, 22 years ago, I protested the Iraq War as serving the interests of the U.S., and not the Iraqi people. As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, especially to Kurds, I did not want to conflate their liberation with U.S. militarism. Back then, Dick Cheney, the leading architect of the war, declared that we would, “in fact, be greeted as liberators.” Paul Wolfowitz offered the same retort to his critics. But war does not lead to true liberation, even though U.S. war propaganda insists on that point.
More than that, the Bush administration lied to us about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and after destroying Iraq, we found out there was no evidence. Reports since then have suggested not only that the administration was ignorant, but that they were intentionally and knowingly lying to justify the invasion of Iraq. And now that same playbook is being opened again, but this time it’s to justify a war with Iran.
The U.S. is entering a war started by Israel to forcibly engage in a regime change that would protect its own interests in the Middle East. This isn’t a controversial point. While the neoconservative members of the Republican Party are the driving force behind this ideology, it’s largely a bipartisan one. In fact, in 1986, Joe Biden made it very clear when he said, “[Supporting Israel] is the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.”
The U.S. supports Israel as its proxy in the Middle East. So when Israel started striking Iran, the U.S.’s support of it was unsurprising and seemingly unconditional. Trump took it to another level, even one beyond what Obama and Biden did, by acquiescing to both Bibi Netanyahu and the neoconservatives in Congress. Following their lead, he used technology the U.S. only had to try to destroy underground Iranian nuclear facilities. We supplied Israel with what it didn’t have on its own. Trump got duped and manipulated—even his declaration of a ceasefire is like a child yelling that they are in charge, when everyone knows they aren’t. And none of this is for the sake for the Iranian people—even Bibi’s strikes are largely about preserving his own power in Israel.
The U.S. has now entered Israel’s war against Iran. And it is a curious one, because if Trump’s goal was merely to end the Iranian regime’s nuclear program, the most sensible thing to do would be to merely re-enter the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that prevented Iran from making nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from brutal sanctions. To his credit, Obama didn’t want to repeat the Iraq War. It’s a concern that Trump campaigned on having, but very clearly doesn’t have. Trump pulled out of the deal because it didn’t result in regime change, nor did it keep the Iranian regime from cultivating regional support. And then Trump proceeded to bomb Iran, supporting Israel’s war for regime change, one that is ultimately purposed for the very specific political interests of Netanyahu.
As problematic as Biden’s and Obama’s foreign policies were, at least they didn’t submit themselves to Bibi’s wishes and enter into an unpredictable war. And now, how the war escalates is totally unknowable, and it’s even worse with the super impressionable and weak-willed Donald Trump at the forefront of it.
Let me make it clear, the Iranian regime and the Iranian people cannot be conflated. Iran is a very diverse country that certainly cannot be summarized by a repressive authoritarian regime. The regime is repressive and does not reflect the will of Iranians. The best and truest course of action would be for the Iranian people to choose their destiny in a pluralistic, democratic society. That vision won’t be brought about by a war in the region, but pay attention to how Bibi and Trump spin it that way.
While I pray and hope for liberation for the Iranian people, I am convicted of the fact that a war, and a war led by Trump no less, will not result in that. Even if there is a regime change in Iran (and that’s a big if), it will almost certainly not reflect the will of the Iranian people, but rather, the will of Trump and U.S. interests.
War is a dangerous and immoral prospect, especially when it comes to forcibly changing regimes. The U.S. has tried and failed to do this so many times (Iraq and Afghanistan are the latest examples), I’m astonished that more of us aren’t awake to its strategy. And so I stand firmly on the side of peace. I stand against the aggression of Israel and the United States, and I also stand against the repression caused by the Iranian regime. We can hold all of that at once and we don’t have to shortchange our creativity by supporting a war.
In the United States, in Israel, and in Iran, another world is possible not through the force of military might, but through the will of the people. I wish the U.S. would support resistance to authoritarianism, but obviously, the U.S. itself is moving toward becoming an authoritarian state, so I won’t hold my breath. The work we must do is stand firmly on the side of the oppressed, work toward a people’s revolution across the globe, and insist on the end to U.S. militarism and occupation.
The warhawks lack creativity. They are manufacturing a war based on flimsy evidence of weapons proliferation. Trump’s spineless and is doing what previous administrations did not do. He’s bowing to Bibi and the neoconservative agenda. But as tired as this all is, the antiwar movement doesn’t have to be. We can stand up and fight back. Keep organizing. Keep listening to and learning from Iranian people. Work for freedom and liberty for all. A new generation of peace lovers and makers is gestating and about to be birthed.