On the War

Monday--16 March 2026

On Going to War, Revisited

Questions

I have lots of questions but no sure answers—and that’s not getting better.

Why have we gone to war against Iran? How long will it last—and how will it end? Why hasn’t Congress insisted on getting the Trump Administration to ask for Congressional approval of this war? Why aren’t the American people demanding explanations and justifications?

Why War Against Iran?

Regime Change

The regime of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of theocratic Iran certainly was anti-American, anti-freedom, murderous, indecent—according to my values, American values—and it sure needed (needs) changing. But if the war is intended to change all that, how? Does the Trump administration seriously think that we/it/Trump can get Iran to come up with a government that we’ll approve if we just bomb the shit out of the nation? What’s the expected sequence that might lead to that? Have the responses so far been encouraging? If not, what steps are being planned to get this done?

Nuclear Weapons

Does the US have the unlimited right to bomb any nation with nuclear weapons? Any nation with the possibility of developing them? Are there any limits on the power of the US or of any other nation regarding another nation having nukes?

And by the way, when Trump declared in June last year that Iran’s nuclear capability had been “obliterated,” what did that mean? Here’s the link to the White House statement on the subject—

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/06/irans-nuclear-facilities-have-been-obliterated-and-suggestions-otherwise-are-fake-news/

Deflect from Epstein Scandal

Some on the left and right who distrust Trump have suggested—apparently seriously—that Trump ordered the war on Iran to deflect from his legal and political problems related to the Jeffrey Epstein files. I have no specific reason, supported with actual evidence, to think that’s true. But is it plausible, at least in part?

Revenge for 47 Years of Hating America and Killing Americans?

Since the days of President Jimmy Carter, Iran’s leaders (but clearly not all other Iranians) have loudly preached that America is the equivalent of Satan, deserving hatred and death. And there have been at least some quite deadly attacks on American military troops and installations. Probably including the Beirut bombing of 1983 (see link below). Is that sufficient grounds for going to war with Iran? Why now? Why didn’t Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and their successors lead us into war on Iran? Why now?

Will bombing, including killing thousands of civilians—including, apparently, dozens of schoolgirls—make American troops safer? Isn’t it in fact more likely to have created even more bloodthirsty terrorists?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombings

Following Putin’s Orders

Another conspiracy theory, favored by some on the left, is that the war was started out of compliance (wittingly or unwittingly) to please Vladimir Putin. Is this plausible? Putin’s Russia does seem to be benefitting from the war, and there are plausible reports that Russian intelligence has alerted Iranian forces to the location of American troops and assets. I cannot rule this out as a cause of the war, but it does not seem likely to me.

Following Netanyahu’s Orders

If Trump wasn’t just following orders from Putin, how about from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu? Possible—and Netanyahu does have much to gain from this—and any—war. But I’m skeptical.

Why Not War on Russia?

While I am skeptical that Putin or Netanyahu might be behind Trump’s starting this war, I do think it’s reasonable to ask why on Iran and not on Russia. Both regimes are or were led by murderous, vicious tyrants. The Iranian theocrats have murdered thousands of their own people. The Russian military has killed thousands of Ukrainians and kidnapped an unknown (but large) number of Ukrainian children. Russia is assuredly a nuclear threat.

Russia has no respect for international law, or national borders or integrity.

The Iranian government of the last 47 years has been horrific and a real threat to peace, order, and decency in the world—but so has Russia—more so, in fact.

We haven’t gone to war against Russia because of fears of wider war, out of respect for world peace and national integrity, to be sure. But why haven’t similar things stopped us from attacking Iran?

How Long Will War Last—and How Will it End?

Questions related to this war’s course and expectations of its end are manifold. But all of them betray an apparent lack of day-after planning. All the questions and deep uncertainty suggest that America—or at least Trump—has not learned or heeded major lessons from Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other wars we’ve fought, at huge costs in blood and treasure (ours and hundreds of thousands of others’).

No Congressional Vote to Approve/Disapprove Yet

I wrote two weeks ago that the US Constitution and the very idea of a democratic republic means Congress must be consulted and kept informed in ongoing ways. Part of what I wrote then was—

Was the war that we—the US and Israel—started this past weekend justified, appropriate, and reasonable? I doubt it, but I honestly don’t know with any reasonable degree of certainty. And I’m only one citizen who may not need, as an individual, to know with precision.

I am certainly not grieving over the death of Ali Khamenei (1939-2026), who was by all credible accounts a bloody murderer and absurdly oppressive religious and state dictator—a misogynist of the first order. Evil. The people of Iran deserve much more decent and reasonable leadership.

And I suspect that regime change in Iran is as much a desirable thing as it would be in Russia or China—or the US or Israel, possibly.

I do think Israel has a right to defend herself and that the Iranian regime was (is?) a genuine threat to Israel and, often via others like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, a grave threat to peace and life throughout the Middle East.

There is little doubt, in other words, that there are real, deadly, and pressing problems in the Middle East.

But is this war at this time the answer for those problems? I don’t know.

But I’m represented in the US Congress by two US Senators and one Representative, and they certainly do need to know. All three happen to be Democrats, but the representatives of the citizenry need to know regardless of what political party, if any, they belong to.

Blood and treasure—and national prestige, safety, and order and power in the world—are at stake. . . .

That is still true and still seems to be being ignored by the Trump administration.

Politics, Explanations, and Justifications

The American people, through our elected representatives, should demand some answers.

Way too much is at stake to let Trump stumble on in this deadly way.

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From others—

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/opinion/iran-israel-united-states-bombing.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TlA.-7jY.yqiE_mxJoL01&smid=url-share

March 13, 2026

You know who’s fighting a war for regime change? Iran, and they’re winning. It’s Trump’s regime that’s threatened.

Telling review of Field’s book (image above)—

https://quillette.com/2026/03/13/hearts-of-darkness-furious-minds-the-making-of-the-maga-new-right-laura-k-field-review/

https://meidasnews.com/news/trump-offers-donors-access-to-national-security-briefings?

Sunday thought: Who’s Winning from Trump’s War? Follow the Money

TRUMP’S STRANGE HOLD OVER REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS

The War Widens and Worsens

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