America is in disarray.
After the President posted on Truth Social, that American strikes on Iran led to the death of the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran responded with a salvo of missiles directed at U.S. and Israeli targets alike.
While the war rages on with no end in sight, the president has not ruled out the use of “boots on the ground.” Or in other words, American troops being sent into Iran which will most likely result in a long drawn out war and a military occupation of Iran. Which if Iraq and Afghanistan are any indicator it will not end well, for anyone involved this entire conflict is unnecessary our fault and historically a really bad idea.
Many are wondering why we are in this war in the first place. Well, the history between Iran and America dates back to 1953. Although allies at the time, according to PBS, it was in that year that the democratically elected prime minister was overthrown by the CIA and British intelligence forces. Before 1951 Great Britain had full control over the entire Iranian oil sector, until the Iranian parliament nationalized their country’s massive oil industry.
The U.S. proceeded to replace the now imprisoned prime minister with an authoritarian dictator. While he did push progressive ideologies, such as women’s suffrage, economic reform and nature restoration. He maintained his power by exploiting his secret police (SAVAK). As a result there was mass imprisonment. The torturing and killing of journalists, intellectuals and his political rivals. The entire thing was a bad idea that led to the destabilization of what was a democratic nation. The very same type of nation America highlights so fondly when it’s their ally but condemns when their interests don’t align.
The Shah’s (King in Persian), focus on western culture and American interests while ignoring those of his own people, ultimately led to a revolt in 1978. Lasting a little more than a year, the revolution included nationwide strikes and mass demonstrations. The Iranian Revolution transformed Iran into a theocracy. Officially marking the end of U.S. partnership, when in 1979 Iranian students overran the U.S. embassy taking 66 American Hostages. The situation was a stain on the image of America and was one of our most famous intelligence failures. A terrible idea enacted terribly, an utter and complete disaster.
A rescue attempt by Carter failed as negotiations stalled, resulting in eight American deaths in a sand storm. Many journalists claim that Regan’s election campaign had the Iranian government stall the release of the hostages until after the election by offering to sell them weapons, however these allegations have never been proven in a court of law.
That being said the hostages were released the day Regan was sworn in and during his tenure he sold Iran weapons, diverting the proceeds to fund Contra rebels. That deal later known as the Iran-Contra affair was illegal in violation of the U.S. weapons embargo and the Boland amendments. According to PBS, the entire affair was a major scandal as Regan officials destroyed documents, all while lying to congress and the American public. Which in it of itself could be considered at least obstruction of justice and at most a blatant act of treason by the President of the United States and his administration.
Iranian-American relations only got worse as time went on, starting with an American ship being hit by a landmine while on a mission to defend Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. America’s response was Operation Praying Mantis leading to the destruction of Iranian missile boats, a frigate and two oil platforms. During that time led to a horrific tragedy, America blew up an Airbus A300 “mistaking” it for an F-14 tomcat, instantly killing all 290 people, 66 of those being children.
The U.S. issued a statement of “deep-regret” but did not issue a formal apology or claim legal liability. And the lack of accountability makes me sick. They paid 131 million dollars to “settle” the case in the international Court of Justice. However the condition for the payments was that they refused to take responsibility or any accountability for the mass killing. Each family of the 290 people got only 300,000 per working family member and only 150,000 for those who didn’t work including the children who were killed.
However despite all the conflict between Iran and America, relations improved under Obama with the JCPOA. A nuclear deal where America lifted sanctions and provided economic relief in exchange for Iran limiting their nuclear program requiring Iran to reduce its uranium stockpile by 98%. Capping enrichment at 3.67% and requiring them to submit to inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). All this while according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Poliferation, as well as The House of Commons Library, Israel, America’s ally, has nuclear weapons and has never once submitted to inspections and unlike Iran has a nuclear arsenal, despite never confirming it.
That all ended when Trump took office, in his first term he heavily sanctioned Iran, and according to PBS, ended the Nuclear deal under false pretence. In 2020 according to the New York Times as he announced to the American public assassinated one of their top generals. While Biden tried to restore relations with an attempted revival of the deal it fell through, the effort ultimately failed and when Trump took office again he bombed Iran with Israel in the 12-day war.
All that is the pressure that exploded on Feb. 28, when America and Israel launched a series of bombings and air strikes at the country. The President said his ultimate goal is regime change, which Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who has studied air power for three decades, said on CBS, that it is nearly impossible to achieve with airstrikes alone.
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Department of War the airstrikes were necessary to prevent future strikes on America and prevent a “dangerous” nation from getting nuclear weapons. However Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. Director intelligence in her testimony to congress countered the claim and stated that Iran is nowhere near building a nuclear weapon and has not restarted that program since 2003. All this while Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming Iran is weeks away from a nuke since 1993.
No one wants another Afghanistan and if our history of involvement with Iran has taught us anything, regime change only makes us more of an enemy and the power vacuum we leave could create more dangerous threats. This war has been a long time coming, warning signs appearing at every turn. We must call on our politicians to end this pointless war and advocate for peace.
