In 1980, Vince Vance & the Valiants wrote the hit song “Bomb Iran”, mainly influenced by the Iran Hostage Crisis; an event that saw 66 American Diplomats held against their will, with 52 of them being held for around a year and a half. Today, “Bomb Iran” is the most accurate description of our foreign policy with the Middle Eastern Nation. 

Why did we attack Iran?

If you’re listening to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, we had no choice but to attack Iran. According to the Secretary, the United States had privileged knowledge of upcoming Israeli Strikes that were scheduled to occur against Iran, and fearing Iranian retaliation, America had no choice but to attack Iran as well to make sure its ability to strike back against us was lessened. In a nutshell, Secretary Rubio said we were dragged into this new War by an Israeli decision, and we attacked mainly out of self-preservation. Israel makes a concerning number of our foreign policy decisions in the region. 

This actually makes sense because back in June, we “totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capability, according to the Trump Administration. Projections released then said it would kick their programs back at least 11 years from being close to making another Nuclear Weapon. The citations being made today that Iran was about to have nuclear capability again are either “BS” or the claims that we eliminated that threat back in June were. 

But, no one should have been surprised, shocked, or caught off guard by the United States killing most major heads of the Iranian State, including their Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Ever since 1979, when Iran’s former Government was overthrown by religious radicals, the official foreign policy of Iran has been that the United States is literally Satan, whom they must eventually destroy. As a Nation in that 50+ years, they have been the Number 1 State Sponsor of Terror worldwide, donating money and weaponry to religious radicals who use violence and worse to inflict suffering on their perceived enemies. Additionally, in the last 50 years, it has been an unending goal of Iran to develop Nuclear Weapons, which not only places its immediate neighbors at risk, but the entire world. Every time they got closer, the United States and other countries have negotiated, paid off, or bombed away the threat of Nuclear Proliferation; however, Iranian Nuclear Ambitions under its secular leadership never ceased. All of that being said, the reality is that *if* Iran could have destroyed the United States at any point in the last 50 years, they would have without a second thought.

The perfect storm for regime change finally brewed this year. Let’s break it down into 3 categories that precipitated our military action, in addition to the aforementioned Israel angle.

Factor 1: “Look East” has been a descriptor of much of Iran’s foreign policy. As a Nation, Iran sells 90% of its oil to China and, for many years, sold many Shahed Drones to Russia. Russia has been a shield for Iran from external threats for years, at least a shield against the United States and NATO, acting on Iran’s behalf whenever threats began to emerge. Then, a few years ago, Russia got involved in its land war with Ukraine, severely draining its military capabilities. While Russia has already disavowed American and Israeli aggression against Iran, it is not in a position to do anything about it. Simultaneously, the Gaza Conflict allowed the United States to deploy an increasingly large naval and military presence to the region without provoking foreign powers too much. “Look East” has changed into “Look Nowhere”.

Factor 2: “Regime Change” has been the declared goal of this recent War. We don’t just want the current religious leaders of Iran taken out; they would be replaced by the same type of men. We want an entirely new Iranian Government, and one that is more friendly to United States interests. There is no better time to act than when, in recent months, the Government of Iran has been committing genocide of its own people, killing at least 35,000 protestors, shutting down internet capabilities, and committing mass executions of those arrested or associated with the protesters. Iran has been at a boiling point, and many people are willing to operate against their own Government. If you’re connected to any Iranians living in America today, you’ve likely seen them celebrating the recent attacks on Iran, especially when discussing regime change.

Factor 3: “Resources”. After our abduction and arrest of Nicolas Maduro, in a bit of a stunning admission, our Executive Branch declared that Oil was a goal and a benefit of Regime Change in the South American Country. Iran, via the Strait of Hormuz, controls nearly 20% of the world’s oil supply and has some of the world’s deepest oil reserves. All untouchable by the US for the past half-century. When the United States is ultimately successful in overthrowing Iran’s Government, the new one installed will be one that will not only sell us oil but also do so at a discount, while choking down its exports to China and allowing us to maintain a military presence in the Strait of Hormuz. 

In a nutshell, there was probably no better chance than now to attack a Country that has been our declared adversary for years, despite diplomats trying to make that not the case. Iran found itself alone, without its powerful friends, was genociding its own innocent people, and using its influence to exert control over global markets while continuing to be the number 1 State Sponsor of Terror. The opportunity to eliminate evil from the world, hellbent on American destruction, might not have presented itself again, and had we debated the strike in Congress for months, our adversaries may have moved against us to make it less feasible. The unpleasant reality is- if we really want regime change to be long-lasting and effective, while also trying to eliminate civilian casualties, we are going to be dragged into a long-lasting ground war with boots on the ground. 

There are no good answers to problems like we’ve had for decades with Iran, but today we’ve arrived at the crossroads, where there is no good solution to back out. Growing up, most kids are told they’d better not throw the first punch. I was always told that if you’re definitely going to fight, you might as well hit them first and hit them hard. We’ve done that, knocking them off their feet to gain the initiative; there’s no backing out now.

The elimination of an evil regime, strengthening of our international presence, weakening our geopolitical foes, and the liberation of the Iranian People is the only thing that makes sense moving forward. Still, we’re going to be holding our noses doing it, and we have realistic concerns about our own pocketbooks’ ability to afford another long-term conflict. Previously, we enjoyed the full support from NATO in our Middle Eastern Conflicts, we should expect none of that support this time with our recent Empire Building attitudes in the Artic.

One thing is certain, preventing civilian casualties should be our top priority; if we keep blowing up schools full of children, the support of the Iranian People will be short-lived. Building a better Iran means making sure there a children left to inherit it.