Statement by Former U.S. Officials Josh Paul and Tariq Habash on U.S. Airstrikes in Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by Former U.S. Officials Josh Paul and Tariq Habash on U.S. Airstrikes in Iran

Why? Why is the United States once again entering a war in the Middle East only a few years after withdrawing from the longest conflict in American history? Why is the United States sacrificing its strategic priorities for a war of choice – a war of someone else’s choice? Why is there once again an immense gulf between the clear will of the American public and the moral bankruptcy of their political establishment? Why is this operation in America’s interest?

The U.S. bombing of Iran is the predictable outcome of a failed Washington playbook that consistently chooses military action over diplomacy. 

This is a war of choice, not necessity, and it is almost certainly an illegal war of aggression, as Britain’s Attorney General has reportedly warned his own Government. Our own intelligence has confirmed that prior to Israel’s strikes, Iran’s nuclear weapons program had been suspended since 2003. Instead, we are once again following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s interests rather than our own.  We have been dragged into this war to serve a foreign political project that fears a successful peace more than a contained enemy, because a permanent state of siege is the core justification for its power.

Regardless of whether the U.S. strikes achieve their immediate objective, the lessons from the past quarter-century of the Long War are hard-learned and quick-forgotten: the ‘fog and friction’ of war leads to unpredictable outcomes, and what commences as a brief involvement can turn out to be a lasting commitment. American involvement in this conflict  puts our service members directly in harm’s way, will further burden the American taxpayer, and creates new and unforeseeable risks to American national security. 

There was always a diplomatic path. We urge Congress and the American people to demand an immediate end to this reckless war.

America needs A New Policy.