Throughout the last eighty years, the United States has had its nose in almost every continent in the world, interfering with elections, staging military coups, or in some cases, sending in American armed forces to sovereign nations to “protect American interests.” In most of these cases of American intervention, the situations ended up escalating and creating a much bigger problem for everyone. Last Friday, we saw the start of one more instance of American armed forces intervening in a region in which they did not belong.

Last Friday afternoon at the Pentagon’s press briefing, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and General Joseph Dunford announced that the United States will send troops to the Middle East. This announcement came after the President of the United States threatened Iran on Twitter following an attack on two Saudi Arabian oil facilities. After this attack, Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, but the president went on to claim that Iran was responsible for this incident. He said this with no concrete evidence and just a claim by Mohammad Bin Salman, a murderer of a journalist and an all-around bad human being that’s also the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The president then stated that the United States military was “locked and loaded” and are “waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of the attack.” How could we forget Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, where it clearly states that the authority to declare war is held in the hands of the King of Saudi Arabia?

It is completely ridiculous that the United States is sending support for a country that has a vast history of violating basic human rights. No American lives were lost. In fact, no lives were lost at all in the attack. There is no proof that Iran attacked the oil facilities so the United States has absolutely no reason to interfere. Trump is using the American armed forces as a private army, fighting for the highest bidder. He is using them to fight at the behest of Middle Eastern leaders, who are violators of human rights. We can’t afford healthcare or affordable education, but we always seem to have enough money to stay in a state of permanent war. 

There is more proof of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia than there is proof of Iran being responsible for this recent attack. I find it hilarious that one of the excuses that the Pentagon is using for sending troops and military weapons and equipment into the area is that, according to the Secretary of Defense, “despite repeated calls from President Trump to begin diplomatic talks, Iranian aggression continues to increase.” If only there were a deal in place with Iran to deter them from developing nuclear weaponry, and open them up for international investment which could help stabilize the region. Only an imbecile would destroy that deal and escalate tensions with Iran. Good thing we don’t have a president like that, right?