Now That War With Iran Looms, Let Former President Dwight Eisenhower Remind Us Why

The United States backed out of the Iranian nuclear deal while Iran remained, meaning that the U.S.—not Iran—is the rogue state operating in violation of international law. We have allied ourselves with a ruler whose own police force recommended he be indicted, and now Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump are beating the drums of war with Iran. Not long after the United States announced our intent to violate international law (American press would never call it a “withdrawal” if Iran pulled out of the deal), a Syrian military base was bombed. As of this writing, no serious source has confirmed, but someone (coughIsraelcough) blew this military base up, and the timing sure is conspicuous.

BREAKING: Explosions heard near Damascus as Israel braces for imminent Iranian attackhttps://t.co/E8kQM5ne56
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) May 8, 2018

This isn’t Netanyahu’s first time pulling this kind of trick on the American populace.

In Sept 2002, then-former PM Benjamin Netanyahu told US Congress that there was “no question whatsoever” that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons. He said: “I guarantee you” that toppling Saddam would have “enormous positive reverberations on the region.” pic.twitter.com/XNNuCzHdUz
— Mick Krever (@mickbk) May 8, 2018
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So why do this? Why perpetually engage in war when we know the devastating human costs and minuscule gains for us back home? Simple: war is profitable, and this was the urgent message of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s final address to the American public. We have created an unelected infrastructure whose modus operandi is to utilize the awesome power of the Department of Defense to its ultimate ends. Take fifteen minutes out of your day to watch this former general warn us of the reality we currently inhabit. With any hope, one day we will fight our way out of this perpetual War on Terror and regain control over our democracy.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.