Unfortunately, President [Donald] Trump listened to the neocons and [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu instead of his MAGA base and other voices of caution as he launched a surprise attack on Iran over the weekend. For the second time in nine months, the U.S. administration used negotiations with Iran as a cover to launch a pre-planned attack.
Last week’s talks produced “progress” according to all sides, with technical teams set to meet this week to work out the details. President Trump, however, suddenly announced that he was not happy with the talks because the Iranian side refused to say “the magic words” that they would not pursue nuclear weapons.
But Iran has been insisting for decades that they have no interest in producing a nuclear weapon and our own intelligence has confirmed that they are not doing so.
Shortly after President Trump’s announcement, the U.S. and Israel launched their attack, killing Iran’s religious leader along with some 40 other political and military leaders in a “decapitation” strike.
It was supposed to be like the Venezuela operation. Quick and painless for the U.S. Kill the leadership and the long-suffering people would take to the streets and reclaim their country. It may make a good plot for a Hollywood movie, but in real life these regime change operations have never worked. Millions did take to the streets in Iran, but it was to mourn the slain Ayatollah and to reaffirm support for their government.
Just like we “rallied around the flag” after the attacks on 9/11.
Quickly, Iranian retaliation for the attacks began to take their toll on U.S. assets and Israel. U.S. soldiers have been killed and U.S. fighter jets have been shot down. U.S. bases in the region are either damaged or destroyed. Likewise, U.S. embassies and consulates have come under attack, including by Iraqis likely still furious over the US destruction of their country twenty years ago.
And, with the Pentagon warning that the operation may go weeks instead of days, we are quickly running out of missiles.
Billions of dollars have already been spent on this unprovoked attack, and when the smoke clears—if it does—we may see hundreds of billions or maybe much more having been wasted on yet another Middle East war. Just what President Trump promised he would not do.
The neocon “cakewalk” crowd, including [Senator] Lindsey Graham [(R-SC)] and others, have been proven wrong again. Tragically, more American servicemembers may die while the neocons blame someone else for the fiasco they helped launch.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the U.S./Israeli attack that “this combination of forces enables us to do what I have longed to do for 40 years…”
But the purpose of the U.S. military is not to fulfill the decades-old wishes of foreign leaders. There is a good reason we have a Constitution that says only Congress can declare war.
Launching a military strike during negotiations will have lasting negative effects for the United States. Who would ever trust U.S. diplomacy again if talks are used as a distraction for pre-planned attacks?
The administration is doing its best to spin this unfolding disaster as all going according to plan, but what is the plan? No one knows. Do they know?
Here’s a plan: End this today. Return the destroyed U.S. bases to the countries where they are located. And just come home. That is what a real “America first” movement looks like.
This article was originally featured at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and is republished with permission.
