Once again, the United States is heading into conflict on behalf of Israel. American lives will be lost in service to the Zionist state, as the nation blindly enters another military disaster. This time, as before, U.S. actions serve a foreign power whose agenda does not align with our own, yet whose lobbyists have secured influence over our politicians, including Donald Trump. Moreover, this will represent another breach of the U.N. charter through an attack on a nation that does not pose an immediate threat.
This war is not ours. It stems from Israel’s distorted ambition to establish Greater Israel and exert control over the Middle East. However, Israel relies on our military power, taxpayer funds, and weaponry to pursue this goal—and we have handed them access to our powerful armory.
The planners of a conflict against Iran, which the current administration deems unnecessary to explain to the U.S. public or international bodies, acknowledge the campaign will be prolonged.
Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated on CBS News that the mission extends beyond limiting Iran’s nuclear ambitions to also dismantling their network of terror support.
“Achieving all these objectives will take more time than the strikes on their nuclear facilities last summer,” Cotton remarked. “It’s likely to require weeks—not days—of combined efforts from the United States, Israel, and our Arab allies, who were also targeted today.”
Israel’s proxies within the political arena, together with compliant media figures such as former AIPAC employee Wolf Blitzer and academic supporters, exemplify Israel’s overt and often illicit influence over American politics. Unlike Russia or China, no foreign government wields comparable sway.
Opposition to Iran strikes within the Democratic Party is limited to objections about excluding them from the decision-making process. Many Democrats applauded Trump whenever he threatened Iran or praised Israel during his State of the Union. The Biden administration and Democratic leaders did nothing to revive Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement, focusing instead on upholding violence in Gaza. They celebrated Israel’s decimation of Iranian allies in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Kamala Harris, in her misguided and insensitive presidential bid, vowed to continue funding the genocide, alienating many voters while branding Iran as our gravest enemy.
Perpetual war remains a bipartisan endeavor.
Israel’s blatant manipulation of American politics is detailed in Al-Jazeera’s four-part series “The Lobby,” which Israeli interests prevented from being aired. Illegal copies are available at Electronic Intifada. The film exposes Israel’s lobby leaders caught on hidden camera, revealing how, with support from Israeli intelligence agencies, they discredit and silence critics while using massive financial donations to dominate U.S. elections and governmental systems.
Israel’s control over our political landscape is also discussed in “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.
“Criticizing Israel means you won’t receive funding; AIPAC will vigorously back a challenger to run against you,” Mearsheimer, University of Chicago political science professor, explains in the documentary. “They provide substantial support, making it likely you’ll lose your congressional seat.”
Israel routinely pampers numerous members of Congress and their families with extravagant trips to resorts in Israel, with expenses often exceeding $20,000 per visit. The 2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act sought to limit lobbyists from funding trips over one day. However, AIPAC, which has never been compelled to register as a foreign agent, leveraged its influence to insert an exemption for “educational” trips by charities not employing lobbyists. The charity navigating this loophole is the American Israel Education Foundation, affiliated with AIPAC.
Israel’s investment in this political influence pays off. In 2016, the U.S. Congress approved a $38 billion annual defense aid commitment from 2019-2028 for Israel. Meanwhile, the U.S. wasted $4 to $6 trillion on futile conflicts fueled by Israel and its lobby throughout the Middle East. Congress also approved $21.7 billion in military assistance to support the ongoing genocide.
Only God knows the true cost of this war, which will almost certainly amount to billions of dollars.
We find ourselves in a situation reminiscent of 2003, engaging in a conflict with a grand but unattainable goal: regime change. It failed then, and will fail again.
The same worn-out falsehoods reemerge to justify the fighting. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that Iran is “probably a week away” from having the materials to build a nuclear weapon.
This has been Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel lobby’s refrain for thirty years.
It is difficult to accept, especially after Trump claimed last July that, following U.S. airstrikes, “All three nuclear sites in Iran were completely destroyed and/or OBLITERATED. It would take years to bring them back into service…”
One falsehood replaces another.
Once again, we pledge to bomb a nation in order to liberate it, following Trump’s assertion that all he desires is “freedom for the people” of Iran.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s residence was targeted, and Israeli officials claim he has been killed, although Iran insists he remains alive.
Like Trump, the Israeli prime minister urges Iranians to seize this “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to flood the streets and “complete the task of overthrowing the regime that is making your lives miserable.”
“This is your time to join forces to overthrow the regime, to secure your future,” Netanyahu declared.
The repeated failures of regime-change attempts in the Middle East are ignored. This time, they claim, it will succeed.
Although there is no ground invasion like Bush’s in Iraq in 2003, unleashing war is like opening Pandora’s box: it governs you, not the other way around.
U.S. troops are likely to die as Iran retaliates against American bases. The Iranian navy has announced its intention to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil route transporting 20 percent of the world’s oil. This could cause oil prices to soar dramatically and wreak havoc on the global economy. Oil facilities, U.S. vessels, and military installations in the region are expected to be targeted.
Iran has already launched missile strikes against the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, Al-Salem airbase in Kuwait, Al-Dhafra airbase in the UAE, the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and U.S. bases in Jordan, with explosions also reported in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Countless innocent civilians will perish. On Saturday, Israel bombed a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, southern Iran. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency citing local judiciary sources, the death toll has risen to 85.
Rising casualties and soaring oil prices will fuel the exasperation of Trump and his Israeli backers. These pressures, mirroring those during the prolonged Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will spark a lengthy regional conflict.
Under relentless assault, Iran may eventually fracture, generating millions of refugees and unleashing the chaos we engineered in Libya. Meanwhile, Israel, aiming to weaken its neighbors’ military power, will achieve its objectives.
In the end, we will be left to deal with the consequences.
Original article: scheerpost.com
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