If we can imagine such a world, we can create it.
The global audience is well aware of the U.S.’s extensive record of duplicity and falsehoods, having witnessed its execution of numerous wars and regime change campaigns across more than eight decades. In 2019, former president Jimmy Carter reflected on a call with Donald Trump expressing concern over China’s ascent. Carter was not worried about China—which had not engaged in war since 1979—but about the U.S., which had been embroiled in conflict so persistently that, in its 242 years of existence, it had experienced only 16 years of peace, earning the label “the most warlike nation in the history of the world.”
Despite this troubling legacy, the U.S. continues to arrogantly proclaim its moral ascendancy and to admonish other states to follow the “rules-based international order” that it itself established but often disregards when inconvenient. The arrogance of former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was exemplified after the Versailles peace talks, when he declared “at last the world knows the United States as the savior of the world.” This inflated sense of self-righteousness, commonly referred to as “American exceptionalism”—which posits that the U.S. is uniquely superior to all other nations—has been reiterated by many American officials who feel entitled to employ any tactics necessary to preserve global dominance. As former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright famously stated, shortly after defending deadly U.S. sanctions on Iraqi children, “If we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future.”
With leaders like Wilson, Truman, the Dulles brothers, Johnson, Nixon, Kissinger, Brzezinski, Reagan, George W. Bush, the Clintons—especially Hillary—Albright, and Biden, the U.S. has long earned its unofficial accolade as the champion of hypocrisy. Under Trump’s return to office, both deceit and duplicity have escalated to levels never seen before.
Worsening the situation in West Asia, the U.S. has allied itself with Bibi Netanyahu and his far-right advisers in pursuing a war based largely on fabricated claims concerning Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities—claims extensively refuted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and U.S. intelligence agencies. That nations possessing vast nuclear arsenals—over 5000 warheads in the U.S.’s case and Israel’s unacknowledged stockpile of 90 or more (deemed “undeclared”)—justify attacking Iran based on unproven fears of nuclear weapon development shows hypocrisy and impunity on an unparalleled scale.
According to a CIA report, Iran ceased its nuclear weapons program back in 2003. That same year, Ayatollah Khamenei formally issued a fatwa forbidding Iran from ever developing nuclear arms—a decree still in effect during recent attacks on the country. As part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) crafted painstakingly in 2015 with U.S., Russian, and other involvement, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67%, levels far below the threshold for weapons-grade material, for 15 years. Post-agreement, according to the IAEA, Iran faced the most rigorous inspection regime in history. Yet Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the deal paved the way for aggressive confrontations during his subsequent term.
Last June, the U.S. and Israel launched a 12-day bombing campaign that Trump claimed “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The current barrage against Iran has shifted from primarily nuclear sites, avoiding a potentially catastrophic outcome, toward civilian structures—including a girls’ school, at least 13 hospitals, a sports facility, and multiple other civilian locations.
Israel initially worked tirelessly to derail the JCPOA and encouraged Trump to abandon the agreement during his first term. Netanyahu, who has sought for decades to pull the U.S. into war with Iran, finally succeeded in dragging America into conflict—a move previous presidents had wisely avoided. Since the 1990s, Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that Iran was mere “weeks” from possessing nuclear weapons. Despite reported advances toward renewed negotiations—with Oman’s foreign minister confirming “significant progress” and Iran’s willingness to eliminate highly enriched uranium and roll back sensitive activities—Trump and Netanyahu favored military force over diplomacy. Opting for confrontation over compromise, they triggered an unjustifiable, illegal, and needless war.
Those advocating nuclear disarmament, like ourselves, do not desire to see Iran develop nuclear arms. Yet Iran’s leadership is understandable in viewing nuclear weapons as their sole credible deterrent after enduring two bombing campaigns during promising diplomatic discussions within eight months. With tensions and dangers mounting globally, a diplomatic resolution must be urgently pursued by all involved parties.
This resolution should come without delay. Should the U.S. and Israeli governments realize that aggression justified by false pretenses turns them into universally condemned pariahs, so much the better. Should Iran relinquish its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the international community would welcome it.
In the nuclear era, war is an unacceptable choice. Rededicating ourselves to diplomacy and seeking a peaceful path forward will benefit not only the directly engaged nations but all humanity. As thoughtful leaders have reminded us, humanity created these existential crises and can also opt to coexist peacefully and settle disputes without violence. If we can envision such a future, we have the power to make it real.
Original article: countercurrents.org
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