By John J. Duncan Jr.
On March 23, CBS News published a national poll saying that two-thirds of the American people felt the Iran War was a war of choice rather than one of necessity. The war has grown even less popular since then.
I have been to many public events and have talked to very many people over the last month or so and have been amazed at the strong feelings about this war. The opinions have ranged from a belief that we never should have gotten into it at all to those who express a very strong desire for us to get out immediately.
Almost no one is positive about this war, and hardly any who have talked to me about this are on the far left. Most are conservative or moderate in their political beliefs.
Almost every article about the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas had the same storyline: Support for President Trump on almost everything except the Iran War.
I believe that President Trump and his advisers know how unpopular this war is and that if it continues for much longer, Republicans will have big losses in the midterm elections. This is why the president had to speak to the nation on April 1, but early polls say he didn’t change many minds. The Reuters headline the next morning said: “Hopes dim for quick end to Iran war after Trump speech, oil prices surge anew.”
Jeffrey Sachs has the honor of being named the top professor at Columbia University in New York City. He is one of the most respected economists and foreign policy experts in the U.S. and has been called on for advice by many countries all over the world.
He said on Judge Napolitano’s podcast, Judging Freedom, on March 30 that the Iran War has “brought the world to the brink of the greatest economic disaster in modern history.”
He and many others have pointed out that so much damage has been done to the oil and gas infrastructure in the Middle East that it will take a long time to recover, even if the war is settled very soon.
Often as much as one-third of the world’s fertilizer comes through the Strait of Hormuz, and diesel fuel has gone up more than automobile gas. These prices affect farmers and truckers most of all, and this means that food prices and everything that is delivered by trucks will be going up even more.
About 43 percent of U.S. electricity comes from natural gas. AI says this war will have “a significant impact on natural gas prices, with reports indicating a severe disruption to global supply and a sharp immediate rise in costs.” This means a jump in utility bills.
I believe President Trump was pressured into this war by the $100 million Miriam Adelson supposedly gave to his campaign along with many, many millions donated to him and almost every member of Congress by other billionaires who want us to continue our one-sided foreign policy in the Middle East.
This policy was first put forth and advocated by so-called neo-conservatives who were liberal or left about everything but our foreign policy in that part of the world. They have involved us in wars and had us dropping bombs in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya and now Iran.
The conservative columnist George Will once wrote that neocons were “ magnificently misnamed” and that they were really “the most radical people in this city.” (Meaning Washington, D.C.)
Conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. first supported the war in Iraq and then, just two years later, regretted it. He told George Will there was “nothing conservative” about it, and there is nothing conservative about this war, either.
James Webb was a Marine hero in Vietnam, and his wife was an Army nurse there. He later became President Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy. He opposed the wars in both Iraq and Iran. His son, Jimmy Webb, left Penn State early to enlist in the Marines many years ago because his family on both sides had fought in every U.S. war.
The son Webb said on the Tucker Carlson Show that he loves this country and that he was the most proud of his service in the Marines. But he said the Iran War was an “offensive war of choice” and that “we have gone to war for another country to further their interests.” He added that there is “no honor” in turning our military into “a mercenary force for another country.”
We are over $39 trillion in debt, already spending mega billions on this war, and Secretary Hegseth says he will need $200 billion more on top of our trillion-plus defense budget. We are spending money we do not have and will have to inflate our way out.
Instead of following this neocon policy of war all the time, we should listen to Ronald Reagan. He said we should not go to war unless it was vital to our national interests, had clearly defined and realistic objectives, and had the support of the American people.
Then he added: “Even after all these other tests are met, our troops should be committed to combat abroad only as a LAST RESORT when no other choice is available.”
Sen. Robert Taft was referred to as “Mr. Republican” in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He said: “No foreign policy can be justified except a policy devoted without reservation or diversion to the protection of the liberty of the American people, with war only as the LAST RESORT and only to preserve that liberty.” (Emphasis added)
