I'm not buying it.
Trump says to the Iranian people "take your government!" as if mass-protests weren't just put down, resulting in the deaths of thousands of protesters.
The Iranian people are unarmed. To my understanding they're fairly splintered as well. They're not in a position to rise up and take their government. We've killed the top leaders. Now what? Do we expect them to surrender? To be grateful after we've killed their children and friends and neighbors? Will this establish a more pro-America sentiment? Should they rise up and take their government by force with their bare hands, shouting the praises of their "liberators" in the US? And what of the crowds gathering en masse and shouting "death to America" after the killing of the Supreme Leader? Should the opposition simply will the regime's supporters to death?
Our stated mission is to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and to essentially ensure they abandon their capacity for self defense. But it's becoming increasingly clear that the only thing that stops the US from attacking countries we find ourselves in conflict with, is whether or not they have nuclear weapons. Does this not reinforce that notion?
We were in the midst of negotiations with Oman mediating. Oman said that there was space for an agreement if both sides were willing to make reasonable compromises. But we don't do compromise, it seems. Instead, we make a habit of radicalizing brown people against the US and then using those radicalized populations as an excuse to demonize their entire nations and justify further attacks as well as racial discrimination on our own shores.
War always seems counterintuitive to me. I'm told it's a necessary evil—that it's unavoidable. And yet, it seems that every time a new one pops up it appears entirely avoidable.
This is not a defense of Iran or its oppressive regime. But we aren't at war with Iran because of its oppressive regime. There are plenty of those around the world that we get along with, just fine. I honestly don't understand why, exactly, we're at war. Maybe it's because little brother Israel tagged us in on their fight again. Maybe it's for oil. Maybe it's simply to demonstrate our military might. I don't know. But one thing I do know: there is nothing righteous about the slaughter of children. I can't fathom what good will come out of it.
What good is Congress, by the way?