W.J. Astore
Further escalation in the Middle East
In 2002-03, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, there was great optimism within the U.S. government that Baghdad was only the first stop on the worldwide victory tour of “the finest fighting force” in human history. The saying back then was: “Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran.” Baghdad, of course, didn’t turn out quite as well as Bush/Cheney expected. The “real men” never did quite make it to Tehran.
With the deaths of three U.S. troops reported yesterday in Jordan near the Syrian border, those “real men” may start dreaming again of going to Tehran. The Biden administration has been quick to blame “radicals” backed by Iran for those deaths. Iran is also being blamed for its support of Houthis in their attacks on shipping as a protest against Israel’s ongoing war of annihilation against Gaza.
How long before the “real men” in Biden’s administration decide that strikes against Iran are justified as reprisals for U.S. troop casualties in Jordan? How long before wars in the Middle East escalate and perhaps spiral out of control?
Only the “real men” of Washington, I suppose, have the answers here. One of those self-styled “real men,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, had this to say via a manly tweet: “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.” His “hard man” service in the U.S. Air Force was as a lawyer.
Update (1/29/24): It remains unclear (at least to me) whether the attack occurred in Jordan or Syria. Here’s an excerpt from Reuters:
Sunday’s attack on a remote outpost known as Tower 22 near Jordan’s northeastern border with Syria, the strikes had not killed U.S. troops nor wounded so many. That allowed Biden the political space to mete out U.S. retaliation, inflicting costs on Iran-backed forces without risking a direct war with Tehran.
Biden said the United States would respond, without giving any more details.
Republicans accused Biden of letting American forces become sitting ducks, waiting for the day when a drone or missile would evade base defenses. They say that day came on Sunday, when a single one-way attack drone struck near base barracks early in the morning.
In response, they say Biden must strike Iran.
“He left our troops as sitting ducks,” said Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton. “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East.”
The Republican who leads the U.S. military oversight committee in the House of Representatives, Representative Mike Rogers, also called for action against Tehran.
“It’s long past time for President Biden to finally hold the terrorist Iranian regime and their extremist proxies accountable for the attacks they’ve carried out,” Rogers said.
Former President Donald Trump, who hopes to face off against Biden in this year’s presidential election, portrayed the attack as a “consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender.”
Note the usual partisan criticism of whichever party is in power in Washington about its alleged “weakness” and “surrender” policies. Few in Congress question the need for U.S. troops operating in Syria in an apparently open-ended commitment.
The death of these troops should not be used as a cause for more war. If anything, they should lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from an area and country where they shouldn’t be based.
Bracing Views 
Hopefully they will react the Draft again because the enlistment rate is down . Since The Left is lost somewhere in podcasting . I believe the only thing to stop the Endless War Machine is a draft . The only time I ever saw there was a pushback on War Machine when there was a draft in the 60’s. The fear of death is bigger motivator than moralistic words from The Podcast and Substack Left.
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Given that the draft was used in the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, the draft itself wasn’t extremely successful in stopping war. And yes, I understand that some actions are necessary at stopping truly evil people. However, the War Machine is too monetarily successful and popular with the people who benefit from war to stop it, and a renewed draft will just make it easier to carry on endless war because those people want to get richer.
And those people don’t fear death because they, and pretty likely their own family members, don’t have to worry about donning the uniform, picking up a weapon, and going out to get their heads blown off. They manage to avoid it for any number of reasons that others don’t have, especially money. That was quite evident during Vietnam. I don’t believe the War Machine is at all worried about pushback. On way or another, they will have their war.
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IMHO, Real men want to take care of their families, something many in the military are not able to do because of the amount they are paid.
Real men want to see our veterans here at home taken care of properly; with the military budget the US has, there is no reason veterans of any war should not have full medical care: physical, dental, vision, mental health. The PACT Act was a good start but doesn’t include diseases and conditions that many studies have already linked to Agent Orange and burn pits until they fall prey to cancer. Seriously, we all know why this happens. If it is admitted that the other studied/resulting diseases/conditions are due to the aforementioned causes and still not supported, who the hell is going to set themselves up for any situation where they know they’re probably on their own afterward. Especially since it is very evident that “Uncle Sam” is willing to send them to battle and then turn a blind eye much of the time after.
Real men want to support those weaker than themselves, including asylum seekers leaving countries that are also turning a blind eye to the travesties of crime, torture, and death on their own land.
Real men want to see war not used as the end game all the time. Real men don’t want to support almost 800 military bases around the world and then use attacks as a reason to try and get the US involved in a quasi war in numerous countries that are part of a powder keg with a 1″ fuse.
We (collective use) are setting ourselves up for disaster. And if we are attacking in other countries that are part of that powder keg, and we evidently we are–as is blatantly obvious judging by the latest news stories, when did we declare war? I knew I should watch the news more often, because I missed that declaration.
And a last thought, since it has also been stated that we are being careful with the munitions so we don’t take out innocent persons, how did those “smart bombs” get so smart that we can do pinpoint targeting now?
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