58 Times America Stood For War With Iran

While a feeble and decrepit Joe Biden remained holed up in the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took his opportunity to address the US Congress. In a rare Joint Session appearance, Netanyahu received an unheard-of 58 standing ovations as our Representatives rose to give him just the support he had traveled 6,000 miles to achieve.

You see, Israel is in a bind. Under Netanyahu's leadership, the little country of Israel has squared off against much of the Middle East. Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and has relied on the United States to fight the Houthis in Yemen.

In his speech to Congress, Netanyahu now called for Israel and America to battle Iran. For Netanyahu, the epicenter of all that's wrong with the Middle East is Iran. He bluntly states:

"In the Middle East, Iran is virtually behind all the terrorism, all the turmoil, all the chaos, all the killing. "Netanyahu's speech before a Joint Session of Congress, July 24, 2024.

This is a remarkable assertion when one considers dispassionately the perspective of the events of the last week. But no matter. Congress stood with roaring applause, caught up in the fever of the moment.

Netanyahu went on to tell the Congress that America is Iran's number one enemy and that the reason Iran hates us is because America stands between Iran and its: "maniacal plans to impose radical Islam on the world."

To justify his view of Iran, Netanyahu goes back to a 1979 quote from Ayatollah Khomeini, who incidentally died 35 years ago, who said: "We will export our revolution to the entire world. "Netanyahu op cit.

Using an old quote from a long-dead leader seems little justification to go to War against a country, much less a region. But that's just what the Israeli Prime Minister told our Congress. And they stood in support.

Whatever you or I may think about Netanyahu's speech or the thunderous ovations it brought, it's clear that the leader of Israel felt that America had his back.

On Tuesday, a little-known religious group, the Druze, was thrust into the spotlight when 12 of their children were tragically killed by a stray missile. The attack is now known as the Majdal Shams attack.

The Druze are an autonomous ethnic group that lives in Israel. They were granted independence in 1957 when Israel allowed them to have their spiritual leaders and courts. Despite this independence, Druze young men are required to serve in the Israeli Defense Force.

Where the missile came from is in dispute. Observers claimed that it may have been an "anti-missile" from Israel's "Iron Dome" system that killed the children. While Israel immediately declared that the missile was from Hezbollah. The Israeli War Cabinet vowed revenge.

The very next day, Israel took out one of Hezbollah's senior leaders, Fuad Shukr. Shukr was one of the critical people in designing Hezbollah's formidable missile systems, a system that allegedly relies on technology provided by Iran.

The day after that, Israel struck again, this time killing Ismail Haniyeh, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, and its chief negotiator with Israel. Haniyeh was the most popular politician among the Palestinian people, with a recent poll indicating that he would be elected President of the State of Palestine by a wide margin. It was Haniyeh who was involved in the recent negotiations for the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners.

So, in two days, Israel took out one of the senior leaders of Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon, in clear violation of Lebanon's sovereignty. The next day, they took out the chief negotiator and political leader of the Palestinians in Tehran, Iran, violating that country's sovereignty.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and his War Cabinet have been busy. And it's now clear that those 58 standing ovations from Congress have had the effect he desired. Israel is confident that the United States has its back and that it can now pursue its objective of forging a new alliance, one that Netanyahu calls "The Abraham Alliance." An alliance that Netanyahu will now turn against Iran.

But like the ripples from a stone thrown in a pond, there is a growing realization that Netanyahu's plan may not be in America's best interest. Each day, it becomes more difficult to understand how the United States embroiled in a regional conflict in the Middle East will provide security or prosperity. That nearly 6,000-mile distance from Tel Aviv to Washington presents extreme logistics issues. How can we supply any fighting force against Iran? We sent our formidable Air Craft Carriers, which performed admirably on April 13, 2024, knocking down Iranian missiles and drones. But I'm told they are no longer in the region, and to steam back to the Eastern Mediterranean will take days if not weeks.

Wall Street is beginning to understand the commercial cost of a mid-east conflict. At a minimum, oil costs would skyrocket, while shipping through the vital Suez, Red Sea, and other seaways would cease. Higher oil costs alone would cause inflation to return with a vengeance. The massive decline we saw in all the averages this week was due, at least in part, to concerns over Iran's response to Haniyeh's killing.

The American people are also concerned about what they see coming out of Tel Aviv and Washington. According to a recent Gallup poll, 78% of Americans do NOT want to see a military engagement with Iran.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/265640/americans-war-iran.aspx

This anti-war sentiment is also seen in the streets, where thousands of protesters have been demonstrating against Israeli actions in Gaza. When Netanyahu addressed Congress, an estimated 50,000 were outside to protest, not counting the 101 Congress men and women who elected not to attend.

It's been many years since we've seen such a disconnect between Congress and the people it is supposed to represent. This week, Congress sent a message that America stands behind a policy of War—a war the American people staunchly oppose.

https://valueside.podbean.com/e/58-times-america-stood-for-war-with-iran/