Jack of Harts

Iran has been at war with us since their religious revolution in 1980. They started by taking our diplomats prisoner in Tehran. They went on to kill American Marines who were trying to stabilize Lebanon against the revolution Iranian-sponsored terrorists started. They’ve killed hundreds, maybe thousands of Americans in the decades since depending on which estimates you look at. They’ve influenced, bought off, or overthrown nations to make them friendly to their cause. And we’ve responded by influencing, buying off, or overthrowing nations to make them friendly to our cause.

Israel has weathered decades of assaults and terrorist attacks from Irianian proxies, and then there was the 10-7 attack that slaughtered a thousand Israelis in one day. They’ve smashed most of Iran’s pet terrorists flat since then, and even shot down direct Iranian attacks on their homeland.

Through all of this, we’ve tried to avoid open warfare with Iran. Americans are sick and tired of the proxy wars. We don’t want to fight them anymore. It’s one of the reasons American voters have voted for Trump three elections in a row now. To end the forever wars. To stop fighting in flee-bitten hellholes. To stop sending our young men and women into harm’s way on foreign soil.

Then Israel finally struck back at Iran with a full-scale campaign of destruction aimed at Iranian military and nuclear targets. The Iranians responded by shooting missiles at Israeli cities. And now we upped the ante by rearranging the landscape above their nuclear facilities with our biggest bunker-busting bombs. It was awesome to see.

But I don’t want to see it. I don’t want war with Iran. I don’t want Iran touched by the kind of destruction their proxies have seen. Or us. But the drums of war and regime change are pounding away, and I don’t know if we can stop it.