Let me be clear, I totally support the military operations against Iran conducted by the US. Since the takeover of the government by the ayatollahs 50 years ago, this group of fanatics and murderers has traumatized Sunni Arabs, Israel, most of Iran’s neighbors and the US.
But I would like to call your attention to the thousands of people who have lost their homes, families and their lives as the Iran war continues. All the rhetoric about legality of the conflict and the role of Congress is moot. Real people are suffering greatly.
The US must consider the morality of its actions. War means people are being killed by bureaucrats. The US cannot be the police force for the entire world and held to an unattainable standard. We cannot solve every problem that arises around the world. But, wait a minute, maybe we are the go-to protector when a calamity occurs. History certainly proves this to be the case.
I think Iran is a morally corrupt country drawn to extremes by religious radicals. Iran is practicing a misguided form of Islam; it prescribes death to the non-believers. So why, you ask, were so many people in the US marching against the actions of the US in the Middle East? Too often, skeptics say that Trump is a despot and his orders to bomb Iran are sinful, or illegal or inappropriate or antisocial. You should remember the hundreds of Americans killed by Iran’s proxies. And the thousands of Israelis that have been killed during the last 6,000 years. And also, the 30,000 Iranians who recently participated peacefully in protest and were shot dead in the streets.
The US has assumed a great responsibility. It funds its actions with taxes paid by hard working Americans. All the jets, warships and soldiers that are fighting the Israeli war are doing so with our tax money. And, Great Britain, Spain and France would not allow US planes to refuel in their countries on the way to targets in Iran. Europe expects the US to flip the bill for any wars that occur.
US Presidents have taken the responsibility of crushing enemies across the globe. We cannot stand by and watch aggressive nations as they declare war for no good reason.
It should be noted that the US budget for defense is nearly $1 trillion per year per annum. It takes a lot of money to police the world.
But money is not everything. Americans are against sending ground troops into battle. We prefer to drop bombs and launch missiles to kill our enemies. This does not obfuscate the need to consider what we are doing when there is a great collateral damage. This is when bombing kills innocent people while fighting the enemy.
Thou shall not kill, so says the Bible. Our leaders should have a clear rationale for going into war that includes the cost, collateral damage, destruction of infrastructure and damage to cultural institutions. And finally, every new military excursion should have a time limit. It would be sinful to have our soldiers on duty for extended period of time, such as Vietnam and Afghanistan.