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ACCORDING TO LIZ - On Monday, Senator Tim Kaine introduced a War Powers Resolution to block unauthorized U.S. military action against Iran after the president opined that he wanted “a real end, not a cease-fire” in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
But, with Israel conducting more strikes on Tehran and Trump calling for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” and threatening to kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, can the president’s demand for the United States to join Israel’s illegal pre-emptive aggression, initiating all-out war in the Middle East be far behind?
Does the American public need to be dragged into yet another war that will horrendously and negatively impact the economy and our quality of life? Will lead to another spiral of loss – of American soldiers' lives, to the physical and mental health hurts of those who do return? To the "collateral" damage and deaths of innocent civilians in regions in which this new war spreads?
To violence here in retaliation to the president’s grandiose military aspirations? We all saw how well that played out at the Commander-in-Chief’s $45 million birthday debacle. A violence built on the ugly tenor of our times rather than the idealism of the 1960s.
People still remember the costs – in lives and tax dollars – of war ventures under previous presidents that caused the deficit to skyrocket.
And deaths of civilians in the Iraq Attack, which lasted for years and years, not the one strike and they’re out approached promised then and now, and realistically exceeding one million despite a myriad of futile attempts to downplay those numbers.
Continued U.S. intervention in the Middle East still drives migration and starvation, contributing to escalating anger at the United States.
Recent reporting makes clear that American forces are already entangled in this conflict — providing Israel with intelligence and bunker-buster bombs for its genocidal incursions in Gaza, shooting down Iranian missiles, and giving what some Israeli officials are reported to have called a “clear green light” for attacks.
The time for action is now.
We need No Kings protesters to retake the streets in their tens and hundreds, in their thousands.
And in their millions force reality on Trump, force him to abdicate and take his amateurish cronies with him, allowing what remains of government to form an interim administration to carry the country over until new elections can be held.
Although Trump eventually signed on to the G7 statement calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” he departed the conference early to consider lending his good friend Netanyahu a big, beautiful bunker-busting bomb to unilaterally win the war for the genocidal Israeli leader.
Larding Americans with unspeakable costs – both economic and moral.
In his rush to have his thumb on the pulse of power in case Netanyahu called for his help, Trump skipped out on discussion addressing another military hot spot, Russia’s relentless war on Ukraine, essentially tanking broader support for Zelenskyy.
Israel may call its attack on Iran’s nuclear program a reasonable response to an existential threat, justifying its rogue attacks by pointing out Iran’s leaders have said they wish to wipe his country off the map. But that is a situation that has existed for many years.
And the rogue nuclear nation in the Middle East is Israel.
Netanyahu’s timing seemed designed to pre-empt a Trump-negotiated nuclear non-proliferation agreement with Iran, and evade having his power curtailed by increasingly troubled elements within his own government.
And, if booted from office, face time in prison on existing corruption charges internally, and arrest on an International Court warrant for perpetuating crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Razing Iran’s nuclear structures, killing those in charge of them along with top military leaders as well as hundreds of innocents in “collateral damage” – over 200 dead vs. a two dozen in the area of Tel Aviv – and now Netanyahu needs an American bunker-buster and the plane and personnel to deliver it to finish the job.
Can Trump resist riding to the rescue?
Military intervention may get short-term results, but it has almost always had unintended negative consequences.
Over 44 years ago, using American-supplied fighter jets, Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor, concerned about the existence of Iraq’s fledgling enrichment program. The world condemned this violation of another country’s sovereignty, but Israel still considers it a success.
As a result, decades later, George W. Bush used the existence of Saddam Hussein’s other weapons of mass destruction – chemical agents used on his enemies – to justify an invasion that ended up debilitating this country.
Tehran said it wanted an end to the fighting and would negotiate but negotiations don’t offer Netanyahu what he wants – full capitulation and a regime change. Would any regime there make Israel safer?
Or would it be another Weimar Republic festering until it produces an Adolf Hitler and instituting World War Three?
Trump ran for office on a promise of “no more wars.” And significant support for his leadership comes from dedicated isolationists, both within the shaky Republican majorities in Congress and amongst the MAGA mob.
He spent months ostensibly attempting to claw back Israeli military aggression in the Middle East. Now that Netanyahu’s war is underway, reportedly with the president’s foreknowledge, he’s done an about-face, weighing whether to send in American forces.
And with Iran under attack, world oil prices are climbing, giving him more leverage to expedite Big Oil expansion and environmental degradation here at home. Potentially boosting jobs but also adding to the inflation he has promised, but has yet, to curb.
Mutually-assured destruction such as allowed the United States and the Soviet Union to survive the Cold War is, like diplomacy, based on faith: that leaders are rational, that self-preservation will outflank foolhardiness, and that everyone wants a future.
But we have seen the rise of irrational leaders over the past generation, increasingly here at home. We have seen voters again and again act against their own self-interest. We have seen an exponential increase in suicide – among our children and in the military, in suicide bombers, and in death by cop.
America needs no kings, only a rebirth of the humanitarian ethos that initially gave rise to this country.
How do we get there?
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno who now resides in Vermont and is a regular contributor to CityWatch on issues that she is passionate about. She can be reached at [email protected].)
