Iran U.S. conflict hypocritical, dangerous

Kris Long, Opinion Editor

There are many suggested motivations for the United States to go to war with Iran.

Supporters of the conflict claim that Iran has been attempting to gain control over countries in the Middle East and they are also concerned that Iran could be building up nuclear weapons. Most likely, the reason they are pursuing a war with Iran is they’re politically motivated to start a conflict to look tougher in foreign policy. Regardless of motive, war with Iran would be hypocritical and costly.

The cause for the unstable state of current Iran and the bad relationship between Iran and the U.S. can be traced back to the CIA’s overthrow of Iran’s secular, democratically elected leader,  Muhammed Mossadeq, in 1953. From there tensions rose until the U.S. entered the Iran Deal in 2015, making it impossible for Iran to develop nuclear weapons while also making the U.N. lift all Iranian sanctions. 

Then, in May of 2018, the U.S. pulled out of the Iran Deal based on shaky evidence provided by the Israelites, and the situation has taken a turn for the worse in the past two months. The U.S. sent naval ships to the Gulf of Oman, then blamed Iran for attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. On June 21, the Iranians shot down a U.S. military drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claims the drone was in their territory and the U.S. claims it was over international waters. The U.S. retaliated with a cyberattack the following Sunday.

A major concern is Iran’s influence in other Middle Eastern countries, namely Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Iran’s interference in Middle Eastern governments has brought devastating effects, especially in the Yemeni Civil War. All of this would seem inexcusable to the U.S’s ideologies and cause for conflict, until you look at the U.S.’s track record in the Middle East and all over the world.

The American government has interfered with political processes in many areas of the Middle East, Central America and East Asia to pursue American ideals. Examples include Vietnam and Guatemala, where the U.S.attempted to stop the spread of communism. No, Iranian influence on other regional countries is not ideal, but the U.S. needs to hold themselves to that ideal before they can hold others to it. 

Another reason for war comes from the Iranians stockpiling uranium, presumably to make nuclear weapons. Since the U.S. pulled out of the Iran Deal, they are not violating any treaty the U.S. is following. However, the president is convinced that Iran should not have access to nuclear weapons.

Yet again, Trump has created his own problem. He didn’t want to support a treaty former president Barack Obama supported and because of that he pulled out of the deal. Therefore, Trump’s politics could lead the U.S. into war. Instead of provoking the conflict, Trump needs to negotiate to re-enter the deal.

Before the U.S. can rush into a conflict with Iran it needs to do three things: hold itself to its ideals before holding others to them, seriously consider the effects of another war in the Middle East and be open to negotiation. For this to happen Trump needs to stop playing politics for 2020 by using conflict to attempt to unite his supporters and show strength. And most of all, the U.S. needs to stop its policy of being “the righteous protectors of democracy,” and using violence to protect that message. For once, the U.S. needs to just take a deep breath, walk away and apologize.