War, Peace, and Empire

After 40 years of trying, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the pro-Israel U.S. neoconservatives allied with him, finally succeeded in dragging an American president into a disastrous war with Iran. Netanyahu admitted it’s a dream come true, and over 90% of Israelis agree with him. The United States military, the most formidable military force ever assembled, is coordinating with Israel’s military, and providing crucial support. We are fully involved, and completely liable, but Israel is the driving force behind this war. And if anyone doubted it, notice how Israel’s staunchest U.S. defenders are pulling out all the stops to enforce compliance with Israel’s war. Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, declares that anyone who criticizes Israel for driving this war will be considered “antisemitic.” Like Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter books, Israel is the name that “must not be mentioned.” Conservative pundits such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have received death threats and threats of prosecution for daring to openly criticize Israel, and to question whether supporting Israel is actually in the national interest of the United States. Charlie Kirk, another prominent conservative voice who forthrightly challenged the MAGA love affair with Israel, was assassinated. Apparently, Israel can drag the United States into a war of aggression against Iran. We’re just not supposed to talk about it.

Of course, ALL wars are disastrous. There are no winners in any war, only devastating losses. War inevitably creates a whole new round of grievances and fresh reasons to hate. War sows the seeds for the next war, and the cycle continues. Chris Hedges, the former war correspondent for the New York Times who has seen war up close all over the world, has argued that war is “the greatest evil.” He should know. If the goal is to bring out the very worst in human nature, nothing works like war. As Father Dan Berrigan, the Catholic peace activist, said, “When we raise our swords, we lose our bearings.” War hardens hearts and makes traumatized people burn for revenge. War is futile, It is a misery multiplier. It is not the answer. As a walkway banner over I-40 reminded us this week, “We can’t bomb our way to peace.”

But Israeli and American warmakers aren’t pursuing peace. They’re after power and dominance, the goals of empire. Since Israel’s founding as a state in 1948, the United States has been steadily building Israel into a powerful regional hegemon. The current American-Israeli war on Iran is about destroying “The Axis of Resistance” – Iran and its proxies, Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and militias in Iraq and Syria – so that there will be little resistance to Israel’s hegemonic power in the Middle East. Hamas has been severely degraded. Lebanon and Hezbollah have been bombed over 10,000 times by Israel during the so-called “ceasefire”. Iran still has thousands of missiles that can continue to do great damage, and shutting down the Strait of Hormuz is causing financial chaos. But it is undeniable that the American and Israeli withering bombing campaign has significantly damaged Iran’s ability to project military power in the region over the long term. It looks like Iran is on its way to becoming another failed state in the Middle East, which it seems would suit the aims of American-Israeli empire. So, the question is: since international law has proven powerless to stop Israel’s genocidal atrocities, or so far hold war criminals accountable for the horrific things they have done, and since military counter-force has proven ineffective in stopping Israel, what can prevent Israel from destroying neighboring countries at will and conquering as much land as possible? What keeps us from hurtling toward a tragic world where such things have become “the new normal?”