By Carina Cole ’22 News Reporter
In the aftermath of the Soleimani killing, it is important for US foreign policy to be prudent. A war with Iran lacks prudence and must be avoided.
The US can’t afford another armed conflict in the Middle East. Flint, Michigan still lacks clean water. 530,000 Americans go bankrupt every year due to medical debts. American infrastructure is antiquated. In consequence, the US should spend money improving the lives of Americans not bombing foreign countries. The US has spent trillions on its 19 year war in Afghanistan and 17 year war in Iraq. It frankly does not have the money to spend on a war in Iran, particularly when American citizens are being neglected.
Nevertheless, the monetary costs are frankly secondary to the cause of this potential war being innately unjust. Thomas Aquinas argues in Summa Theologica that a just war must be carried out for just reasons, excluding national gain and prosperity, and including the exercise of justice. War with Iran is not an exercise of justice but a belligerent action. Soleimani’s killing was an act of aggression. The attack on a US military base was a response to that assassination, not a belligerent action by Iran.
I caution against simply dismissing Soleimani’s assassination as a necessary evil. What the public knows about Soleimani’s assassination is that Mike Pence and Mark Esper claim that he was planning an attack, and other intelligence officers refute this claim. The facts of this case are not clear-cut, particularly when Trump, his cabinet, members of Congress with security clearances, and security officers are saying contradictory things. The situation is reminiscent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a war the US waged because Saddam Hussein “unambiguously” aided the 9/11 bombers and had nuclear weapons, only for invading US troops to find no evidence of either premise after ruining Iraq and bringing the deaths of thousands. Close to 5000 American soldiers and 150,000 Iraqi civilians died during the Iraq War: the US should avoid the same situation in Iran, especially when the facts of this costly and morally unsound war are unclear to begin with.
Qassem Soleimani’s death has sent shockwaves through both Iran and the global community. President Trump was appropriate to respond to continued aggression from Iran, but the potential repercussions of this attack cannot be ignored.
The US does not want war with Iran. It is not a question of our ability to win this war, as I am confident that should a war begin we are more than capable of winning decisively, but rather a question of what purpose a war serves. Iran is not relevant enough in the global community to warrant an expensive and potentially deadly war. We have explicitly stated that we are not interested in regime change in Iran, and, as such, there doesn’t seem to be much benefit in this potential war. Both American and Iranian lives would be lost. Towns and villages would be bombed and raided. Sons, fathers, mothers and daughters would never again see their families. War is not the answer.
That being said, the strike against Qassem Soleimani was a calculated risk. An American was killed due to Iranian aggression, and, in return, they received a warning and a reminder. America does not play softball. We are not interested in a back and forth of pokes and slaps. If we enter into a war, we will not pull punches. I’m of the opinion that Iran knows this, and as a result they are not truly interested in engaging us. So let them bluster, let them rage and threaten, because at the end of the day, that’s all it is.