I Don’t Care What You Think, You Do Not Want a War With Iran

I lived through Iraq and Afghanistan. I watched how they started. I watched how they expanded. I watched how they went on for no real reason, with no real justification, while enriching the richest Americans at the expense of young American lives and innocent Afghan and Iraqi lives as well. So, before you cheer the idea of war with Iran, think back to Afghanistan.

After 9/11, George W. Bush declared beyond a shadow of a doubt that he did not care what nation Osama bin Laden was in, that our military was coming for him. And to whatever nation harbored him, there were two choices: Turn him over or face the wrath of the American military.

Bush gave Mullah Omar a 48-hour deadline. On hour 40, we invaded Afghanistan, beginning a completely useless twenty-year war. Mullah Omar later publicly stated he was prepared to turn bin Laden over under certain conditions. Whether you believe him or not, Bush never gave him the full opportunity. But when bin Laden escaped into Pakistan, while 200,000 American troops occupied Afghanistan, why did we not stay true to our word and go into Pakistan?

What did the mission become for twenty years while we knew, and we all knew, bin Laden was in Pakistan? What, exactly, were we doing? And why does it seem that the only tangible return on that war was the expanded net worth of our nations’ already wealthiest?
Now let’s throw in Iraq, a war predicated on lies. Lies the media willingly told you. Lies that exposed their true stripes long before the Trump era and this so-called age of misinformation. Lies that some of us knew were lies because we were living it.

We left Iraq worse than we found it. We made our enemies more dangerous, more determined, and more capable than the ones we removed. American lives were lost needlessly. Iraqi lives were shattered. And again, the primary beneficiaries were the wealthiest among us.

Now let’s compare that to Iran, a population roughly the size of Iraq and Afghanistan combined, a military stronger than Ukraine’s, and borders surrounding either our greatest adversaries or the remnants of failed nations we left behind. What happens when the Taliban decides to fly one of the Blackhawks we gifted them, loaded with explosives, into a mass casualty site for American troops? What happens if rockets continue flying across borders at our forces? How safe does a country like Georgia feel right now, pressed between Russian and Iranian influence? Does Putin decide he needs Georgian airspace for defense?

Those are just the questions on the horizon but consider what has already taken place. It seems almost certain that any major escalation means a battle over the Strait of Hormuz. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar would suddenly have justification to participate. That alone is a geopolitical knot that should make anyone pause. So, what does it take to pull Saudi Arabia in, or Egypt or Turkey? Where does Pakistan land when India and Israel are strengthening ties? How does China respond to major trade disruption? Or how does Russia respond as its influence in the Middle East erodes, first in Syria and now potentially in Iran?

And here are some truly uncomfortable questions: Would we even be this willing to do something this bold if Russia had not already been depleted in Ukraine? Did we strategically allow Ukraine to become a proxy battlefield so we could make a move somewhere else later? Why were certain members of Congress so adamant about funding the Ukrainian conflict without limits?

I am asking questions because we should be asking questions. We should be demanding clear objectives, clear threats, an clear end states. What is the mission? What is victory? What is the exit? Because unless there is credible intelligence that this somehow leads to a stable, cooperative transition inside Iran, then this is not a limited action, it’s a gateway to another endless war.

It will destroy a nation. It will cost American lives. It will leave the region unstable. And if history is any guide, it will once again enrich the wealthiest Americans while ordinary families pay the price. I’m not cool with that.