Israel carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, military targets, and the capital Tehran early on Friday, killing nuclear scientists and senior military officers. Iran retaliated soon thereafter, launching a series of missile strikes. 639 casualties have been reported in Iran and 24 in Israel.
Israel has asked the US to join the strikes, requesting our “bunker buster” bomb, a bomb strong enough to eliminate Iranian facilities. Trump said he “I may do it, I may not do it,” but The Wall Street Journal (Center bias) reported he has privately approved plans for a strike while withholding the final order to see if Iran abandons its nuclear facilities. The conflict emerges at the end of unsuccessful nuclear talks between Iran and the US.
Voices are divided on whether or not the US should involve itself. Some opposed believe the best solution to this conflict is diplomacy, and that rushing into war would be short-sighted, with others taking a more humanitarian approach. Those in favor of US intervention argue involvement is both necessary and justified in ensuring that Iran is not able to use nuclear weapons.
Former Senior Defense Advisor Dan Caldwell argued in the Free Press (Lean Right bias), “While I believe that it is not in America’s interest for Iran to get a nuclear bomb, it is also fundamentally not in our interest for us to become embroiled in yet another major conflict in the Middle East that could cost us thousands more lives, trillions more dollars, and distract us from more urgent priorities at home and abroad. We are lucky to have strong partners in the region that we can work through to check and contain Iran and allow us to pivot many of our forces out of the region.”
Max Boot (Left) wrote in the Washington Post (Lean Left), “At the moment, it is in America’s interest, as well as Israel’s, to make sure that whenever the war ends, it will be as hard as possible for Iran to reconstitute its nuclear program… Dispatching the world’s most advanced bombers with the world’s heaviest conventional bombs, and thereby embroiling the United States in a new war, is a risky but potentially justifiable move.”
Phillip Klein (Lean Right) stated in the National Review Opinion (Right), “If Iran for decades has provided direction and support for proxies killing Americans, why should the U.S. hesitate to support Israel? If, by providing diplomatic cover and weapons and helping to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles threatening not only Israelis but also Americans and U.S. assets within Israel, it allows Israel to inflict pain on Iran — just as Iran has inflicted pain on the U.S. and frustrated our foreign policy — why is that something Americans should oppose?”
An essay published in The Nation (Left) read, “In these harrowing days of calculated overwhelm, our job is to resist consent manufacturing and calls to craven acquiescence. To think critically about language, hold media coverage accountable. To protest. To ask our families, our colleagues, our Republican neighbors to oppose further US involvement… There is still time to move us away from a future that insists upon annihilating humanity to accommodate the annihilation of humans.”
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