Trump has gone to war with Iran. Despite ongoing negotiations. Despite pulling out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. With no Constitutional approval from Congress, no public support, and, most concerning, no exit strategy. Gee, whatever is in those Epstein files must be really bad. Trump is parlaying war for his own ends - to stay in power in the face of plummeting approval ratings and rising living costs. He has been at war against his own people here, demonizing trans people and immigrants, arresting (and killing) ICE observers and protesters. Now he is taking his show on the road. His justifications for this attack on Iran are fluid, vague and largely unsubstantiated, but the consequences will be very real. In January, as protesters filled the streets in Iran, Trump encouraged Iranians to “take over their own institutions” and said help was “on its way.” However at the same time, JD Vance was backpedaling, “If the Iranian people want to overthrow the regime, that’s up to the Iranian people.” “What we’re focused on right now is that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.” But now, according to Trump, “our objective is to protect the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” The imminence of the "threats" has not been established, but we’ll just take his word for it. Yes, Ayatollah Khamenei has been killed, but that does not necessarily signal regime change or an easing of threats, imminent or not. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remains in place, and is trained to maintain control in the face of strikes. Whose side do you think they’ll be on? And we don’t have the best track record when it comes to regime change in that region. So even as Trump announced this surprise, unauthorized attack on Iran, he seemed to set the groundwork to lay blame elsewhere should this all go to hell, grandiosely telling the Iranian people, “the hour of your freedom is at hand…it will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations…so let’s see how you respond.” And to the American people, “The lives of our courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war…and it is a noble mission.” Oh well, that’s okay, then.
No, it’s not okay. We cannot support this. This does not make America great. Trump, coveter of the Peace Prize, self described ender of eight wars, creator of the Board of Peace, is a charlatan, ignoring broken promises, betting on war to get himself out of a political bind. His only goal is power and personal gain, with no thought for those who suffer the costs.