An unusually high number of American soldiers oppose the war in Iran on moral grounds. Nonprofits that speak to soldiers such as the Center on Conscience & War reported a 1,000% increase in conscientious objector calls since the US launched its joint war against Iran.
For many service members, the American strike on the Minab school was the “breaking point.” Others said they began to feel uneasy last year when the military began blowing boats out of the ocean without legitimate assurances that the people in them were drug traffickers.
A benevolent government is obligated to carry out PEACE, JUSTICE, and TRUTH. America’s leadership is failing in all three metrics.
The poor condition of the country reflects that failure.
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NO PEACE Since World War II, America has been at war more than any other country. And since the 2000s, it been at war more than it hasn’t. And while a reasonable excuse can be made for the Cold War years, there are no legitimate moral excuses for the foreign meddling we’ve engaged in since the 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the US was the only superpower left, with no legitimate threats to challenge us. Yet we spent decades intervening in the Middle East, harassing and bombing third-world countries, all of it under false pretenses.
US intervention in the Middle East hasn’t made the region more peaceful, stable, prosperous, or even freer. It has destabilized it and planted seeds of intra-generational animosity toward the US. If the point was to stamp out Islamic extremism, America achieved exactly the opposite.
There is a war in the region right now—and it was started by the US at the behest of Israel. The war has killed piles of civilians, soldiers, and it has injured untold numbers of people. It has caused infrastructure damage that will take decades to repair. And there’s no telling how many extremist jihadi groups it will inspire. There’s also no way to know how much hatred it has inspired against Christians and Jesus Christ, since America professes to be a Christian nation.
A peaceful nation is not at war as often as America has been. It does not bomb nations as casually as the US does. It does not stir as much intense hate toward it as America has.
Constant warring has also drained trillions of dollars in American taxpayer money, which has piled on debt for generations to come. That is not just.
NO JUSTICE A government that loads its people up with debt that will eventually trigger some sort of economic crisis is an unjust government.
A government that spends a great deal of its limited energy and resources on foreign entanglements while carrying out domestic policies that make its people poorer, dumber, and sicker is an unjust one.
A government that sends is soldiers off to fight and die for a foreign nation is an unjust one.
So is one that protects pedophiles and satan worshippers.
The lack of transparency and accountability toward the Epstein Files alone proves that this government is not interested in justice. They’re illegally withholding millions of files. Given what we’ve learned from the released documents, the hidden ones are probably so disturbing that it could lead to worldwide unrest.
The Epstein files show that powerful people live outside the law. The “Justice” Department’s refusal to hold anyone else accountable shows that someone else is in charge, people who are not only disinterested in justice, but people who are outright predators.
NO TRUTH And for these people, as for our leadership class, DECEPTION is the rule.
They lie about everything all the time.
They lied about why they sent Americans to die in the Middle East—again.
They lied that the Covid shot was “safe and effective.”
They lied about their stupid 6-foot rule.
They lied that tissue face masks had power to curb the spread of a microbial disease.
They lied about the reason they suppressed nuclear power for decades.
They lied about climate change.
They conceal the truth about the poisonous food on our grocery shelves.
They lie about everything all the time.
And sitting by and doing next to nothing is America’s evangelical leadership class.
Read my magazine articles
Nonprofits Say Opposition to Iran War Is High Among Military Members
What Is the Iran War Really About?
How Israel Fooled Trump Into War With Iran, According to Joe Kent
Trumpism vs. Americanism: Will Massie Prevail in 2026?
Paul Dragu is an award-winning newspaper journalist, a senior writer at The New American magazine, and the collaborative writer of Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty, and Purpose. You can email Paul at [email protected]
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