Did I ever think I would be saying something like “Give peace a chance?” No, I once supported every American foreign war and was gravely disappointed and infuriated when Prime Minister Jean Chretien refused to join the war in Iraq with President George W. Bush.
But we all grow and learn and fomenting endless wars because the folks at Boeing and Raytheon will make huge profits from the exercise is not a sufficiently good reason to send soldiers, sailors and airmen into battle to die.
President Donald Trump should not be contemplating joining Israel in its war with Iran. He should be planning a peace conference. He is not formally obliged to get into this one.
Donald Trump is clearly conflicted right now about how to respond to the Israel-Iran conflict. He is expected to join the fight yet he was elected as the presidential candidate of peace and he must be waking up in the morning and wondering how he found himself in this agonizing situation.
Alliance systems can maintain the peace or provide the mechanism necessary to escalate a conflict into a world war. That is precisely what happened in 1914 when an archduke was assassinated and the dominoes began to fall over the next four weeks and an incident in Sarajevo became the First World War.
As soon as a member of one alliance system locked horns with the member of another, war became almost inevitable. In those days it was the Triple Entente of France, Russia and Britain versus the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy. Austro-Hungary threatened Serbia, who was not a member of either club, but Austria reached out to Germany and that action prompted Russia to intervene and soon Russia and Germany and then all of Europe began to mobilize for war.
In this way, a war became inevitable as countries just allowed the alliance system to dictate their actions. This is exactly what could be happening in the Middle East right now and what continues to be a danger in Ukraine.
But although it’s NATO increasingly intervening in the Russia-Ukraine war, in the Middle East there are no formal alliance systems – just understandings. Those understandings include the reliability of the United States continuing to fund and arm Israel and the likelihood that it will actually join Israel in its fight against Iran. It is also understood that Russia cannot stand by and allow Iran to be annihilated by the ad hoc alliance of Israel and the US. It will probably intervene. I had a history teacher in high school who used to say that the Third World War would probably begin like the First World War and that Israel would be the motivating source of conflict for the global superpowers, just as Serbia was the state that started the fire in Europe in that summer of 1914.
The US and Israel do not belong to any formal military alliance but they are so intertwined economically, militarily, politically and culturally that Israel can virtually count on American assistance whenever it is required. It is the depth of that assistance that is crucial to the future of the world right now.
If the US does get into a shooting war alongside Israel, they might just get the whipping of their lives because America is not accustomed to fighting anything but the kind of skirmishes that resembled the colonial wars of the past.
Donald Trump is clearly conflicted right now about how to respond to the Israel-Iran conflict. He is expected to join the fight yet he was elected as the presidential candidate of peace and he must be waking up in the morning and wondering how he found himself in this agonizing situation. Is it really incumbent upon him to strike Iran because Israel wants him to do so? Can he stop the march to Armageddon?
What is frightening about this confrontation is that everyone involved in it seems to think they have no other choice but to escalate; that peace is not an option. It’s like we're watching it happen before our eyes; it's like we know where this is going and we know where this will ultimately end in a catastrophic war but nobody wants to stop it. The neocons, led by the warmongering Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, are just so anxious to start bombing Iran and they think they have the right – the obligation – to destroy the country, obliterate the government and install a government of their choosing. There’s even talk of bringing in the son of the late Iranian shah and restoring the monarchy.
That won't go over very well because, as you may know, in 1953 the United States engineered a coup to install the shah because he could be relied upon to adhere to US policy and protect US oil interests. It was the Cold War and virtually any shadowy foreign policy maneuver, including coups and assassinations, was accepted as alternatives to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
The shah remained in power until the Islamic revolution of 1979. His legacy was an odd mixture of liberalization and terror but ultimately, the Iranian people didn’t want him. We can argue that they should have wanted him, that clerical rule is far worse than enduring the reign of a sybaritic dictator but it is not our right to impose that conviction on another nation.
Trump needs to focus again on his domestic agenda, get those illegals, deported, eradicate DEI and extricate himself and America from this doomsday scenario.
Iran resented how America had installed the shah, kept him in power and then provided him medical assistance after he was deposed. So you can just imagine how the Iranians would feel about the US or Israel sending back another shah. Can you say 10, 20 years of civil war and chaos in the country that could be worse than what we have right now?
If the US does get into a shooting war alongside Israel, they might just get the whipping of their lives because America is not accustomed to fighting anything but the kind of skirmishes that resemble the colonial wars of the past. They are used to fighting ragtag armies that are not equipped with modern weaponry or with powerful allies. The first Gulf War of 1991 might have been the last time the US faced a challenging military formation but America’s armed forces were much more formidable in those days.
The United States military is not the military it was over three decades ago and it's not just the woke culture that has completely tainted the US military because it's still very very strong but it's been the complete lack of experience fighting real military forces, especially if Iran manages to bring Russia into the conflict.
As in any war, the mainstream media in the West is enthusiastic about the fight and is demonizing the enemy. Iran is being accused of trying to assassinate Trump, of “sponsoring” terrorism, of wanting to kill every Israeli and American on the face of the planet. The media wants a war because it’s good for ratings and reporters love to stand around while the bombs are falling because they think this is all a grand game or a fireworks show. It never is. Millions of people died in America’s foreign wars over the last few decades and our men and women came home in body bags or permanently crippled.
Obviously Iran should not have nuclear weapons and their government is hostile to Israel and the West. But Israel has little to be proud of over its behavior in Gaza for the last 18 months. We need to stop and consider where this is going before someone actually does use a nuclear device — even a low-yield, tactical one — and the war spins out of control.
And just why does Trump think he can make war on Iran without Congressional approval? American presidents have ignored that an imperative since Dec. 8, 1941 when President Franklin Roosevelt went to Congress to secure a declaration of war against Japan after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. By the way, the Japanese would have also incorrectly described that day of infamy as a preemptive strike and an act of self-defense, just as a belligerent in the current conflict likes to say.
But since the Second World War, US presidents have acted unilaterally against threats, real and imagined, and have relied on ad hoc measures like the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 which allowed President Lyndon Johnson to wage the Vietnam War without ever having to admit that the US was at war.
I have supported Israel for my entire adult life and acknowledge the tremendous achievements of the Jewish state. But Israel is being led by a madman named Benjamin Netanyahu who knows his time is up when this war is over and I fear that he might be afflicted by a Masada complex and doesn’t care if he brings his nation down with him. War with Iran might escalate into a horrible regional conflict and potentially a global one. At the very least it will probably destroy Israel or leave it completely isolated.
Donald Trump was elected in a large part because he appealed not to pacifists but people who believe there was no point and continuing to send American treasure and American men and women to die in foreign lands and leave those countries worse off than before the war started. The US has has never had a successful regime change in the post-Cold War world and has spent trillions of dollars that could have been spent on much better projects instead of enriching the Military Industrial Complex. The armaments manufacturers might be jubilant over another foreign war but the US is sinking deeper into debt and clearly cannot afford another massive war or afford to remain deluded that nobody really can control the world like the Americans.
And just why does Trump think he can make war on Iran without Congressional approval. An American president has ignored that an imperative since Dec. 8, 1941 when President Franklin Roosevelt went to Congress to secure a declaration of war against Japan
This hubris was one shared by the British Empire but at least it was able to contain its foreign wars and, of course, the risk of nuclear confrontation was never present. But Britain ultimately understood that there were limits to its power and global reach and that it couldn’t control everything, all the time.
America still thinks it can do that and it's going to learn a very nasty lesson in this war with Iran unless Trump can still be true to the people who elected him and be a president of peace. But it's going to mean offending Israel and that is something Trump doesn't seem prepared to do. So was it all a big sham, Trump’s talk of peace and stopping the foreign wars or has he just realized that he really doesn’t control the process?
He needs to think hard about his next move because it could make or break his presidency. Trump needs to focus again on his domestic agenda, get those illegals deported, eradicate DEI and extricate himself and America from this doomsday scenario. There is still time and I still believe that Trump is enough of a leader to do the right thing.
But I’m quickly losing faith.
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The UKRAINE has been a 'money laundering' hub for the oligarchs FOR DECADES! Carney's siphoning off EVERY TAXPAYER in this country as enforced by his 'handlers' to indebt us indefinitely and then enforce Digital ID's to put everyone on the CBDC worldwide financial enslavement CONTROL GRID! This is SICKENING and those who think this is 'conspiracy' talk need to have a REALITY CHECK!
Hundreds of words suggesting your aversion to war.
In my view war is wrong.
In the meantime , I 100% support President Trumps strategy so that the Iranian terrorists know that “ all options are on the table “
Be patient. Get a grip. Just because you made a stupid mistake advocating for war previously , doesn’t mean this time you should climb up on a white horse.
Back in the real world Canada needs to deal with ridiculous immigration 4.5 million overstayed student visas and incredible sums of money spent by Carney.
The UKRAINE has been a 'money laundering' hub for the oligarchs FOR DECADES! Carney's siphoning off EVERY TAXPAYER in this country as enforced by his 'handlers' to indebt us indefinitely and then enforce Digital ID's to put everyone on the CBDC worldwide financial enslavement CONTROL GRID! This is SICKENING and those who think this is 'conspiracy' talk need to have a REALITY CHECK!
Hundreds of words suggesting your aversion to war.
In my view war is wrong.
In the meantime , I 100% support President Trumps strategy so that the Iranian terrorists know that “ all options are on the table “
Be patient. Get a grip. Just because you made a stupid mistake advocating for war previously , doesn’t mean this time you should climb up on a white horse.
Back in the real world Canada needs to deal with ridiculous immigration 4.5 million overstayed student visas and incredible sums of money spent by Carney.
I suggest you address these Canadian issues