The United States has joined Israel in its war on Iran, increasing the chances for a wider regional war, one that could become a forever-war quagmire as the Iraq War did, wrote Dan La Botz for International Viewpoint, adding “President Donald Trump sent B-2 bombers to drop bunker-buster bombs on nuclear facilities in Fordo and Natanz while a submarine launched Tomahawk missiles at another facility in Istfahan”.
La Botz mentioned that Democrats condemned Trump for violating the Constitution which says that only Congress can declare war, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez suggested that he should be impeached for that, though it is not clear how many Democrats actually oppose the bombing or joining the war.
While the United States has been deeply implicated in Israel’s war on Iran for some time, Trump has been a staunch ally of Benjamin Netanyahu in his recent wars on Palestine and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria.
La Botz believes that Trump approved Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic, and may have given it the green light before it occurred. The United States provides Israel with about $3.5 billion dollars in military aid each year, hundreds of billion since the country’s founding, money used to buy U.S.-made planes, bombs, missiles, tanks, and guns.
Trump campaigned for president and built his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, promising that he would end U.S. involvement in foreign wars. He suggested he would use the threat of America’s military might to maintain order around the globe. He put himself forward as a peacemaker, arguing he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Gaza in short order. He called upon Iran to negotiate with Israel to reach a peaceful settlement. Trump’s decision to join the war could deeply divide his followers and cost him political support.
Trump has warned Iran that if it responds by attacking U.S. troops in the Middle East, it will face even more devastating strikes. The United States has 40,000 troops in 19 bases in the region, most in eight permanent bases in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
It is not clear what will happen in Iran now. Just as when the United States launched its war on Iraq in 2003—one of the “forever wars,” lasting until 2011—the war in Iran could become an inextricable quagmire.
Iran is a theocratic state ruled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, head of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and of the state religion. His Islamic regime has killed thousands and imprisoned tens of thousands who participated in several anti-government protests since 1999. Now weakened by war, the regime could collapse, possibly leading to a civil war between the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian people who want change.
La Botz concluded “In the United States, there have already been anti-war protests in a number of cities from San Jose, California, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to New York City. Following the U.S. bombing on June 21, groups such as 50501, an organizer of anti-Trump demonstrations, called for nationwide protests on Sunday June 22, but that was short notice and temperatures at 100 F and thunderstorms inhibited protests. But anti-war demonstrations are sure to come. We on the left will be in them.