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Margaret Cruikshank, formerly a women’s studies lecturer at the University of Maine, lives in a retirement community in Scarborough.
President Donald Trump’s thoughtless war on Iran has damaged millions of people, some of whom will cry “Death to America” for generations. This misguided aggression proves to me, once and for all, that America is not “the indispensable nation.” This claim, made by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1998, was defensible in the years following World War II and at the end of the Cold War. The collapse of the USSR left us looking dominant.
In recent decades, lost wars have greatly harmed our image. These struggles to force our will on others, which I believe were unnecessary and ignorance-fueled, made us look weak. If truly indispensable, I think America would have had no need to flex its muscles in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. Studying the fates of the French in Vietnam and the Russians in Afghanistan, our leaders would have said no to high-risk war.
They would have known that military might alone does not necessarily destroy enemy countries. People fighting to save their countries may be much more motivated than invaders, even if the invaders have more fire power. The invaded may also devise canny strategies of survival and resistance that surprise and out fox the invaders. This appears to be happening now in Iran.
Was ever a commander-in-chief less able to understand war or more likely to undermine its chance for success? Trump and his advisers seem to lack the imaginative capacity that allows leaders to cope with the unexpected. Trump quickly found himself boxed in in Iran. Are any good outcomes possible?
Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth have clearly stated that power is all that matters. Are they devotees of Attila the Hun?
Perhaps Chinese president Xi Jinping had this glorification of power in mind when he said recently, “We must not return to the law of the jungle.” Believers in this law might misread the American Revolution. Britain had more soldiers, more weapons and the might of an empire but our side won, with the help of the French.
All the fired Middle East experts at the State Department could have explained to Trump the difference between Venezuela and Iran.
Did renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War improve war readiness? Did blocking Black and female candidates for general improve military competence? Did muzzling the respected military newspaper Stars and Stripes help soldiers better understand the war?
The magnitude of Trump’s unfitness for office can still surprise us because he is not just unpredictable but flails about in ways unique to him. He confuses IQ tests with cognitive tests, not a good sign. His threat to bomb Iran back to the stone age was abominable. It rattled U.S. residents as well as millions overseas and created sympathy for Iran. Chaos has come again.
Most people with moral values or common sense understand that “might makes right” is barbaric. Do Trump and his advisors, who may have seen Persian carpets, know anything about Iran’s ancient civilization? Can they explain why some of its artifacts had to be destroyed? They have dodged responsibility for the accidental killing of 150 school children.
The use of religion as a cover for our aggression in Iran is contemptible. It will mean nothing at a war crimes tribunal. According to just war theory, morality matters, even in war. Will Trump ever be held accountable for his war?