Jonathan P. Baird

In my adult lifetime, I have lived through a number of major wars. Vietnam was the first big one. The major U.S.escalation was from 1965-1973. Then there was Afghanistan (2001-2021) and Iraq (2003-2011). There was also the first Persian Gulf war (1990-1991) and the various smaller interventions like Panama (1989), Somalia (1992-1995) and the Balkans (1995-1999).

In most of these military engagements our government tried to sell the American people on its mission. What is unique about the Iran War is the absence of any effort by the government before the war to persuade Americans of the rationale for fighting. I think this might be the first time that has happened.

President Trump campaigned on no more forever wars and yet here we are. War is usually about achieving an objective. It is not usually about killing people in another country because some of your people get killed. The Iran War is unique in having no clear purpose. This is undoubtedly the stupidest war of my lifetime.

The Trump regime is depending on the American people having no memory.. In June 2025 Trump repeatedly stated that his military “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. Obliteration was his favorite word. Trump aggressively criticized anyone who did not recognize the obliteration and when news media questioned the results he called the questioning “fake news”. For Trump the job was decisively done.

So what are we to make of the confusing hodge hodge of reasons the Trump regime trots out now to justify this war? If Iran’s nuclear capability was obliterated in June 2025 how can that be a reason now but it is what his regime falls back on.

Trump is depending on historical amnesia. He has also mentioned regime change, destroying military infrastructure and opening the Strait of Hormuz for oil traffic as possible reasons. He is obviously concerned about the political consequences of high gas prices sinking Republican fortunes.

The decision to start the war could seem like it was an impulse. Trump woke up one morning and based on his success in Venezuela decided he knew best regardless of what advisors told him. It has also been floated that he was swayed by the old war hawk Benjamin Netanyahu who has wanted this war for 40 years.

I would suggest an entirely different way of looking at the Iran War. The Iran War cannot be seen outside the broader goals of American imperialism. Since Trump came into office in his second term, there has been a sharp escalation of expansionist goals. These include a new version of the Monroe Doctrine over the Western hemisphere, the threatened annexation of Greenland, the military abduction of Venezuala’s President Nicholas Maduro with the U.S. exercising de facto control over Venezuala’s governance and oil industry and the tightened noose around Cuba.

At the same time we have the Department of Defense being renamed the Department of War. That is hardly an accident. Standing next to Trump in the Oval Office, God of War Pete Hegseth said:

“We’re going to go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct”.

Hegseth and MAGA see American military might sapped by wokeness. Hegseth said he inherited a “Woke Department” with “toxic ideological garbage”. He went on:

“No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusions, no more debris.”

Hegseth has been on the warpath against beards and fat soldiers. He has moved on to High-T: he wants to screen male service members aged 30 and above for testosterone deficiencies. This is the pursuit of a supposedly evaporated masculinity.

Since his unexpected rise to power from FOX and Friends Weekend co-host, Hegseth has presided over the multiple boat strikes in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific killing 221 people. Targeting civilian suspect boats outside an active armed conflict constitutes extrajudicial executions. All of Hegseth’s testosterone and machismo don’t make these murders less of a crime.

Hegseth also began the military campaign in Iran with an airstrike in February that hit a primary school killing over 120 children and 26 teachers, If he had a conscience, he would never be able to sleep again. Trump and Hegseth should be in the dock at The Hague for that war crime alone. Everyday of the Trump regime explaining its war policies is a contradiction of the day before.

The Iran war is part of a resurgent imperialism.It is like a revamped 19th century gunboat diplomacy where threats of military force coerce weaker nations into submission. Problem is, it is not working with Iran and we now have another forever war. I expect Trump advisors are telling him to declare victory and leave Iran. One can only pray he doesn’t deepen the quagmire and send troops into battle.

Listening to the Trump regime talk about the war reminds me of the old term from Vietnam – credibility gap. They lowered the recorded U.S. military deaths from 18 to 14. Military officials said the four recent deaths were removed because they happened after Trump had declared a ceasefire in April. I mean, really.

As a veteran of the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War, I think it is time for a new anti-war movement. The senselessness of the Iran War could not be more apparent.