On Going to War

February 4, 2012
Riverside CA

These days the news is mostly about the Republican Party and the selection of its candidate for the upcoming presidential election. It seems that Mitt Romney will be the Republican candidate. However, there is a more serious matter brewing in the world these days, which is the relationship between Iran and the rest of the world. Iran is continuing to develop nuclear capabilities and the fear is she is weaponizing her nuclear program. There is talk that Israel will make a military strike against Iran in the next few months before the American election. Israel did a similar thing with Iraq years ago. I am beginning to get the same feeling that this country is building up for a war with Iran. It’s a similar feeling that we had before the Iraqi war.

At that time all we heard about was Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, their anthrax program, their nuclear program, their long range missiles, and so on. The world had put together a fairly comprehensive program of sanctions and restrictions against Iraq. Their leader, Saddam Hussein, now dead, was for all intents and purposes completely hemmed in, yet still we attacked him. And look what happened. This country spent ten years embroiled in Iraq and spent untold billions of dollars rebuilding that country. Thousands of Americans and other coalition members were killed not to mention many more thousands of Iraqis. Just this year we finally left in Iraq and what will be the long-term effects? Will Iraq revert to its old ways? Will Iran, which is the dominant force in that region, eventually overcome Iraq and wipe out all of the good that was done? We simply don’t know. Only time will tell. But the real question is, was it worth it? This country has been near ruined financially. The world has headed into a terrible recession and America has been made much weaker as a result of its adventurism. And the whole thing was based on a miscalculation, and I dare say, a lie. There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Considering the billions of dollars, untold lives lost and the destruction of property, I do not feel it was worth it. Today we are facing a similar situation with Iran. America and Europe and other places in the world have successfully built a strong coalition of containment against Iran, which is continuing to grow. Yet we are hearing that Israel may take military action against Iran soon. Just how much America is behind this, we do not know. Will Israel act on its own or is Israel being used as a proxy by America to attack Iran. We do not know. Seeing the difference between George Bush and Barack Obama. I suspect America does not want a war with Iran. But there are things that go on behind the scenes we cannot see and cannot know. In the past, after Colin Powell made his presentation before the world at the United Nations, I supported military action against Iraq, but it turns out we were fed a list lies or at least colossal miscalculations. Sanctions should have continued. Saddam Hussein was contained and there should not have been a war against Iraq. This time I feel the same way about Iran. The policy should be one of containment and sanctions. This country is always so quick to go to war.

An attack by Israel against Iran will surely create retaliation from Iran against Israel and other interests in the Middle East. This will also create turmoil within this country. I’m sure there are hidden insurgents in this country. America will be forced into a war to protect Israel. I see no good in this. I also think it is inevitable that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons. If Pakistan and North Korea have done it Iran will also do it. Nuclear proliferation is a fact of modern life, and frankly, it will be a miracle if these things are not used at sometime in the future. I’m afraid the cat is already out of the bag and fighting extremely expensive wars to put the cat back into the bag is simply not viable. The best we can do with Iran at this time is containment and deterrents. But I am not sure Israel will allow this. They may indeed attack Iran even unilaterally, knowing that America, in the end, will come to their aid. The situation is extremely volatile and dangerous and while the republican news to select a candidate is minor in comparison, a republican presidency, I feel, would be more aggressive and hawkish and likely pull us into war with Iran. Since Obama’s presidency the Democrats have pulled us out of Iraq and now we are even leaving Afghanistan. This is good. Had the Republicans being in power we would still be in Iraq. A war with Iran would be another big mistake and another terrible lesson for America to learn.

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