We are just over a week into the new year and already President Donald Trump has brought the country teetering on the edge of war.
As we rang in the new year and recovered from the festivities, the president authorized an airstrike that killed top Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani at a Baghdad airport. Now, Iran has retaliated by announcing an end to its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. Chants of "death to America!" rang out on the floor of its parliament.
As we witness the threats and anxiety-filled images on the media, it's now more important than ever to say no to an endless war with Iran.
Now, I don't think Soleimani's death will trigger World War III, but the threat is still extremely real for another impending endless war with Iran. The sad reality is that I have no memory of a time where this country wasn't at war, nor do I have one of a pre-9/11 society. While I watched Cartoon Network in my grandparents' house, our nation's leaders authorized a war in Iraq that not only was based on lies and a hyper-nationalist political culture but has destabilized the Middle East possibly beyond repair. The United States needs to stop being the top murderer and instigator in the Middle East and become the platform of peace it claims to be.
Not only this, but as the richest and most powerful nation on Earth, it needs to take care of its own people first.
The untold truth of war-mongering is that it affects poor people the most. The US uses the military as a means to send its poorest overseas in the channels of harm that don't need to exist. Think about it. When was the last time you've ever seen a member of a wealthy American family enlist in the military or have ever seen the war impact them like a working-class family? The answer is probably no, because recent wars have almost always been motivated by money and not for "human rights."
Another point is that if you claim that you love the troops — and veterans for that matter too — why send them into the spiraling labyrinth of war? These same troops, most likely from the working-class, should not be the pawns of unnecessary wars. And when they come home with valor and honor, they will be met with less-than-healthy resourced, bureaucratically diluted VA.
The bottom line is that no one who isn't rich will benefit from endless wars.
We have a bloated military budget that does not need to be so high, which could go to alleviate some of the impending crises of our time. Blind patriotism, hyper-nationalism, and pure absence of empathy will only lead us to more problems and more lives lost.