Dear Friends,                                                                               bombs, bombs, bombs

The United States of America is now at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Neither side declared war in the normal way, but the United States of America has, without provocation to itself, and without any formal declaration to the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched massive aerial bombing assaults on Iranian territory. These assaults are acts of war. They are de facto declarations of war. The United States of America, by these acts, has declared war on the Islamic Republic of Iran. We, the People of the United States of America, all of us who are American citizens, are now at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran and its people.

Why?

Israel and Iran are engaged in a war that will have no other result than to kill and destroy. Don’t even start on “who is responsible?”, they did it together. Everyone knows that the only result will be Israeli deaths, Iranian deaths, destruction of Iranian cities, destruction of Israeli cities. Misery, pain and death, nothing else. Everyone knows this.

But what about the Iranian nuclear program? If we can only destroy that won’t the world be a safer place? … um … how long have you got? So for the moment let’s just say maybe.

The President of the United States of America has just announced that the Iranian nuclear program has indeed been destroyed in its entirety. Whew! We can all sleep more safely tonight (a Fox person actually used that image).

The perpetrators of a bombing raid cannot assess its success or failure as they fly off into the sunset. We have absolutely no idea, right now. Maybe it did achieve all its aims, maybe it didn’t.

Let’s say it did, let’s say that it entirely destroyed all the existing apparatus of the Iranian nuclear program. Is the Iranian nuclear program dead? Of course it isn’t. As an expert explained this evening, it’s real easy to build new centrifuges if you know how, and the Iranians know how.

Why have a war right now, when so much else is going, about the Iranian nuclear program? One reason, from the point of view of the Israeli government, is that they know that they have the President of the United States of America (POTUS) on a leash and they can lead him anywhere they want without him even knowing, and he’s got a thing about Iran’s nuclear capacity. So, sure, Iran is a nuisance, let’s get him to take it out.

In the meantime, what kind of a war is this? So far, just bombing civilian targets and nuclear facilities. The American attacks of not many hours ago merely continue this. If this is the war, then, obviously, the Iranians are in big trouble. If it’s going to be something else then the most obvious something is actual invasion, which means troops, boots on the ground. Whose boots are they going to be?

I imagine that both the Israeli and the American governments would greatly prefer the former. If they can swing it, then it’s just endless bombardment of Iranian civilians, as in Gaza and Lebanon. If not, well, let’s burn that bridge when we come to it.

The beginning of this war has been just a reprise of modern war and its strategy: bombing of civilians by both sides. If it continues in this way, it is likely to change into bombing of civilians on one side. The Iranian people will bear the brunt of the horrors born of the Anglo-American Combined Bomber Offensive of 1943, and the American Strategic Air Command.

The war between Israel and Iran has no purpose. That the US is now a combatant, siding with Israel, is a catastrophe. This would be true under any circumstances, but, today, it is far worse. We know about the dangers of politicians devoted to realpolitik, militarism, or simply (as the current Prime Minister of Israel) trying to keep themselves out of the slammer. The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America fits in with those, especially the last (insofar as he has any idea of them). But he does stand apart from them (most of them) because he simply does not care about the misery, pain and death of other people, and that means all other people, his family perhaps included. He positively delights in decisions that will cause death …

… so what else is there to expect other than bombs, bomb, bombs

Love and solidarity,

            Bobby