We’re Living in an Ethics-Free Country
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1967
Another American War of Choice in the Middle East, this time against our long-standing bogey, Iran. Like most people, I woke up Saturday morning to learn that Trump and “Whiskey & Jesus” Hegseth had unleashed the dogs of war. Since then I’ve been reading reports, opinion pieces and analysis, with the same sense of anger and dread I felt in 2003 when George W. Bush, Uncle Dick Cheney, Donnie Rumsfeld and the Neocons launched the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I marched in the streets in opposition to that colossal cluster-fuck, to no avail, as Bush simply gave the world his trademark faux cowboy sneer and went full speed ahead.
It was clear to me after watching the American buildup in the region that Trump would attack Iran. When such a military force is amassed it will be used, even if, as many outlets have reported, peace talks with the Iranians showed some hint of possibility. Now it appears the US was never serious about the peace process, only predisposed to accepting Bibi Netanyahu’s exhortations that now was the time to strike a death blow against the Iranian regime. For decades now Netanyahu has done everything in his power to goad the US into attacking Iran. Israel’s bloodthirsty leader finally got his wish. Bombs away for peace, democracy and stability — and of course, for the benefit of Netanyahu’s Greater Israel pipe dream.
Thoughts buzz around my brain like bees buzzing around a hive. Loud, incessant, and frenzied. How many civilians will die before this ends? Thousands or tens of thousands? If the brutal, oppressive and murderous theocratic regime falls, what will replace it? How far will this illegal bombing campaign set back Iranian civil society — women, students, and unions — in their brave efforts to nonviolently transform their country?
The US has had a jones about Iran since the 1979 revolution and the takeover of the American embassy. We’ve long meddled in Iran’s internal affairs and since Trump’s first term, when the jealous man-child tore up the JCPOA the Obama administration had so carefully negotiated with help from our European allies, and imposed crippling economic sanctions as a form of collective punishment. The Iranian people have been trapped between an oppressive regime and the combined efforts of Israel and the US to topple that regime for so long that an entire generation knows nothing different. It’s similar to Americans born after 9/11 who assume it’s normal for our country to be continuously at war somewhere in the world, and for our war budgets to increase every year on a bipartisan basis and with little debate. Perversity normalized.
Dr. King was right 60 years ago about our spiritual death. America has always used its military might to impose its will, at home and abroad, but after 9/11 the belief that we could reorder the world for our benefit by Tomahawk cruise missile (about $1.3 million each) has become our religion. We sent soldiers to Vietnam and warriors to Iraq and now we call them war fighters, language keeping pace with our moral and ethical decline. Our demented president will not lose any sleep over Americans killed in action any more than Vladimir Putin does as he sends thousands to their deaths in Ukraine. Trump didn’t bother to brief Congress or obtain the approval of the Legislative branch as required by law, nor did he involve the UN Security Council. Mad Kings don’t feel any need to seek external approval.
We’re now living in an ethics-free country, where rich white men can rape underage girls without penalty, amass more wealth and power than some countries, and start wars without penalty. The Constitution is merely a ragged piece of parchment; the War Powers Act barely a suggestion; the law something that only applies to lesser mortals. Courage in our elected officials is as rare as justice in our courts; the consent of the governed but a cruel joke.
Yes, my disgust is bottomless, my reservoir of hope almost empty. Spiritual death, indeed.
