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Unprovoked, illegal, and confounding
One man has made the decision to attack one of the most dangerous countries in the world. No congressional approval. No appeal to the American people. No explanation. No justification.
That man has commanded American service men and women to fight a war against Iran. And make no mistake, this is war — not a legally declared war, but one chosen by a president who promised to end foreign wars, not start them.
The U.S. military is following the orders of their commander in chief. And it is our patriotic duty to support our troops. It is also patriotic to question those in power. Why are we at war? Why now? What does victory look like? How will we know we have won, if we do? What is the exit strategy? Is there an endgame?
Those and a hundred of other questions come to mind today as we are glued to our computers, phones, and televisions, hoping for any information and praying for those in harm’s way.
The continuing airstrikes on Iran are a massive, multipronged assault in full partnership with Israel. This operation is unlike the tactical, one-day bombing of the country’s nuclear sites last June. After that attack, Trump declared Iran’s nuclear capabilities “obliterated.” Now he is claiming, just seven months later, that the Iranians are again a nuclear threat.
Where is the evidence? Neither Congress nor the American people have been shown any.
The president released an eight minute video on social media in the wee hours of the morning announcing the bombing raid, but little else has come from Mar-a-Lago, where Trump is spending the weekend. An address to the American people was planned, then canceled.
With little information from the Pentagon, The New York Times is relying on the Iranian state news agency for details. Using satellite imagery, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) believes the joint U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign hit 14 cities inside Iran, with multiple sites in the capital, Tehran.
In a Saturday morning interview with the Washington Post, Trump said the principal objective of the attack was “freedom” for the Iranian people. But then it became about regime change when reports emerged that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed.
Unsurprisingly, Iran retaliated with missile strikes against Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, so far.
Trump, not a man known for forward thinking or grasping consequences, has declared war on a country about which he knows little. Nor do we as a people, as a country, know much either.
The most pressing question right now is, do the president and those around him know what they are doing?
With that in mind, it is worth repeating to ourselves that it is our patriotic duty as citizens to support our troops, seamen, and airmen, and their families. But it is also our responsibility to keep asking the tough questions.
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