The United States has once again been dragged into a catastrophic war in the Middle East. The US military is attacking Iran now not because our nation faces an imminent threat but because the Israeli government wants to confront Tehran and has finally found a willing partner in Washington.
This war is unnecessary, unjustified, unconstitutional, violates international law, and is completely against the will of the American public.
Under the Constitution, Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war. Therefore, President Donald Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes and pursue regime change in another country without congressional authorization is illegal. It echoes the darkest chapters of American foreign policy since 9/11, when fear and deception were used to push our nation into devastating wars, the price we are still paying today.
At the global level, attacking a sovereign nation — or, as wanted war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls it, launching a “preemptive strike” — without an imminent threat violates the United Nations Charter and basic principles of international law. The ongoing bombing campaign during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a time of heightened spirituality and reflection, has already tarnished our national conscience.
On the first day of the war, a US airstrike in the city of Minab killed around 165 schoolgirls. America’s weapons have once again made us complicit in the killing of children abroad.
And for what?
It is about “security” we are told. It’s about stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions, we’re told. But we’ve heard this before. For more than 30 years, Netanyahu has insisted that Iran is “weeks away” from a nuclear bomb. Those weeks stretched into decades. Fear has been recycled into policy.
Let’s be honest about something else: Iran, with all its objectionable and often harmful regional ambitions, is not an imminent military threat to the United States. The American public understands this. Poll after poll shows Americans are tired of endless wars in the Middle East. Our communities want investments in health care, education, infrastructure and job creation – not another trillion dollar conflict that sends our soldiers into harm’s way and destabilizes another region.
So why is an American president who preached “America First” governing while embracing “Israel First”? Why are American troops, American tax dollars, and American credibility positioned to serve the long-term ambitions of a foreign government?
This is not a healthy alliance. It’s a toxic dynamic in which the United States provides money, weapons, diplomatic cover, and unconditional political support, while making us less safe in wars.
This war, we are told, is about human rights. About women’s rights. But bombs don’t set people free. Airstrikes do not advance democracy. Killing schoolgirls is not a “feminist” foreign policy.
If human rights were truly a concern, our government would not apply them selectively based on geopolitical expediency. Our own ally, Israel, has engaged in a genocide that has killed and wounded more than 200,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians. Not funding the mass killing of children is a good start to our humanitarian concern.
And Americans are right to ask these questions. At a time when transparency and accountability are being demanded at home, especially regarding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, why are we being pushed into another foreign war? The American people deserve honesty, not confusion.
This war will not bring stability. It inflames the region, harms civilians, endangers US troops and creates a wider conflict with global implications. It puts American lives and American security at risk for purposes that do not serve the American public.
Congress had an opportunity to uphold its constitutional responsibility and stop the unauthorized military escalation but failed to pass the War Powers Resolution sponsored by Representatives Thomas Massey and Roe Khanna. The vote reflects the strong influence of the Israeli lobbying group AIPAC and its money, and the unwillingness of some lawmakers to face powerful lobbying interests and unchecked executive power.
Congress, especially those members who claim to oppose endless wars, must continue to pursue every means available to restore its authority and prevent further escalation; The stakes are too high for elected officials to remain silent.
The American people do not want this war. It’s time our government served them and not the agenda of a foreign leader desperate to cling to power and escape accountability.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
(tags to translate)Opinions
