It is not new that the United States invades, attacks and bombs another country in exchange for installing a government sympathetic to its interests. However, the bombing of a school in Iran attended by at least 172 girls and boys under the age of 12 on February 28 has no name. This is how we started an illegal war in the Middle East, murdering dozens of minors, a situation that in itself is classified as a war crime for attacking civilian targets in a country that has done nothing to the United States.
According to the Israeli Defense Minister, the attack on February 28 was preventive by the US and Israel, because Iran would be preparing an attack against his country very soon and in a few weeks would have a nuclear weapon.
Just as the US government lied to its people in 2003 about the weapons of mass destruction that Iraq was supposed to have in order to invade it, today we are told that Iran is weeks away from building a nuclear weapon and is also about to attack Israel. These lies have been repeated by Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States Congress for decades to involve the United States in a war against Iran.
These assertions contradict the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in charge of supervising that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. They have said on several occasions, including this year, that “there is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.”
On top of everything, more than 50 days into the war that has left thousands of Iranian deaths, dozens of American deaths and 13 of 27 US military bases unusable, President Donald Trump says that there is no war, that it is simply Operation Epic Fury and on the part of the Israeli government, that it is Operation Lion’s Roar.
This is truly offensive and embarrassing for American intelligence, when millions of citizens realize the war and its economic and human consequences on a global level. In addition, the government of President Donald Trump wants to hide the tragedies of its armed forces to prevent a further increase in citizens, including Republicans, who reject the war against Iran.
Trump does not want to ask Congress for permission to formalize the war because deep down he knows that he would surely not obtain it, that is why he minimizes and hides the truth; while the number of Iranian victims is multiplied by the continued military policy of the US and Israel to continue attacking hospitals, universities and housing where the civilian population lives, objectives prohibited by International Humanitarian Law in a conflict.
a little history
In 1953, the United States provoked a coup d’état to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, simply for having nationalized its oil. Between 200 and 300 people died and an authoritarian monarchical regime was established, supported by the US, for 26 years.
In 1979, the Iranian people tire of authoritarianism and provoke the Islamic Revolution to get rid of the monarchy. On that occasion between 2,000 and 3,000 people died. Although some sources in Iran speak of 10,000 victims.
Since 1979, the United States implemented sanctions against Iran so that the people would rise up against their government, but they did not work, so they had to generate and support Iraq’s war against Iran for eight years, which left 400,000 to one million victims on both sides. The strategy didn’t work either.
In 1988, the US shot down an Iranian commercial airliner with 290 civilian passengers on board, including 66 children. The US government said it was a mistake since they thought it was a military plane.
Finally, in 2014 with President Obama, Iran agreed to sign the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to not develop the nuclear bomb in exchange for easing some sanctions. Everything was going well until in 2018, Trump left the agreement because he said it did not benefit the US in any way. Since then, he intensified sanctions against Iran.
Not in our name
It is not fair that this government is using our taxes to help the genocidal government of Israel, which has used all the money and weapons that the United States provides it by murdering, invading and bombing other countries to expand its territory.
It cannot be that our American sons, daughters, brothers or sisters who have sworn allegiance to this country have to go die for the Zionist government of Israel, which is led by Benjamin Netanyahu, an individual accused of fraud in his own country and is persecuted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
As if that were not enough, in the United States the lives of our soldier sons are being risked by a delinquent president, yes, delinquent on 34 counts, including forgery to cover up more crimes. On top of everything, his name appears thousands of times in the Epstein files, a network of sexual abuse and pedophilia.
It is regrettable that the American people are being used by Trump and Netanyahu to bomb a country that has done nothing to the United States, to support the expansion of Israel, and as always, to control crude oil from the Middle East, in exchange for the death of thousands of Iranians, including the 172 girls we murdered to start the illegal war on February 28 against Iran.
Let us remember that this tragedy and death of thousands of Iranians and dozens of American soldiers occurs at a time when the United States, the most powerful country in the world, has sufficient reserves and does not need Iran’s oil.
Juan José Gutiérrez is director of the Coalition for Full Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles.
The opinions expressed reflect the position of the author.
