Hands Full of Blood

Many commentators have blamed Israel and Indicted War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging the United States into a disastrous war in Iran– a case of the tail wagging the dog. There is much truth in this, but it isn’t the whole story. There is no question that the far-right, extremist government of Israel, and in particular Netanyahu, have been beating the drums for a war on Iran for decades. It has been a personal obsession of Netanyahu’s, and former PM Naftali Bennett, and major figures in the military and defense establishment in Israel. For them, Iran represents the largest, most formidable obstacle to regional dominance. Take out Iran, the argument goes, and their network of proxies – Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Shiite militias in Iraq, etc. known as the Axis of Resistance – would collapse. Militarism would win the day – the threat of merciless, devastating violence and destruction, as the world witnessed in Gaza, would make their neighbors think twice about ever confronting Israel. Only one major problem with this strategy: Israel could not go it alone. They needed the United States, not only to provide most of the weapons and shield them diplomatically, as they did in the Gaza genocide. This time, they needed the United States to actually join the fight. Israel’s argument to the Trump administration in the weeks leading up to the war no doubt was, “we need you to finally win the peace for our people.” it is not hard to imagine the decision-makers around Trump, and Trump himself, agreeing.

Remember that the group advising Trump is quite small, and heavily Zionist. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, is a White Christian Nationalist crusader-zealot, who appears to believe this disastrous war with The Islamic Republic of Iran will hasten the Second Coming of Christ. Director of the CIA John Ratliff and Secretary of State/National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, are heavily indebted to AIPAC, who have lavished hundreds of thousands of dollars on their political campaigns throughout their careers. Also part of the inner circle are close friend and real estate investor Steve Witcoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Both are passionate Zionists, fiercely pro-Israel, and personally close to Netanyahu. Recall that Miriam Adelson, the widow and heir to the vast fortune of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, is a close confidant of the president’s and “advises” him on all things Israel. Add to all this Netanyahu once boasting in a 2001 video, “America is a thing you can move very easily…”, and there is every reason to think that Israel, Indicted War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, and AIPAC, did indeed manipulate the Trump administration into finally agreeing to full-scale war with Iran.

But the truth is actually more complex and nuanced. The United States’ own hawks and neocons have been beating the drums for war in Iran for decades. Invading Iraq twice was not enough for the neocons. In the early 2000s, they wanted the US to push on to Iran. America’s own obsession with Iran actually goes back to the early 1950’s, long before Israel was a military power in the region. In 1953, the CIA staged a regime change coup which overthrew the government of Iran’s democratically-elected premier, Mohammad Mossadegh. The issue was Mossadegh’s decision to nationalize Iran’s oil reserves and use them for the people of Iran. American geopolitical interests have long provided plenty of incentive for its actions toward Iran, quite apart from Israel’s interests. Moreover, the military-industrial-congressional complex and the profit motives of the weapons manufacturers are hugely influential. Israeli manipulation and American militarism: It’s a case of the tail wagging the dog, as well as the dog wagging its tail.

This week, from the Pentagon (aptly christened “The Temple of Death” by Catholic peace activist Phillip Berrigan), Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth invoked the name of Christ in a bloodthirsty prayer for the war in Iran. He beseeched God to “pour out your wrath…break the teeth of the ungodly…” He prayed for God to enact “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.” The Roman pontiff Pope Leo, had a most appropriate response to this shameful desecration of Christian tradition. In his Palm Sunday sermon, Pope Leo, invoked the name of “Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying, ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands of full of blood.’ Thank you, Pope Leo!