Introduction
A friend of mine whom I know from Thailand has just moved to Brazil. So I checked in with him. He’s doing ok there, nice apartment. And then he chatted and asked me, “How are you? In WWIII.”
More and more people are talking like this. And I’ve pointed out the many armed conflicts going on or threatened.
As if they aren’t enough, President Trump and his sidekick/poodle/master Netanyahu –Take your pick of what that relationship is all about—decided to take the plunge in Iran. Again, using negotiations to masquerade the obvious buildup of military assets surrounding Iran, along with various confusing narratives as America’s problem with Iran:
· Complaining about Iran’s suppression of the Mossad/CIA uprising of sleeper cells inside Iran as ‘gross human rights’ violations.---How dare you disrupt our Color Revolution!
· Demanding that Iran give up its entire nuclear enrichment program, which Iran is allowed under the Non Proliferation Treaty
· Demanding Iran stop trying to make a nuclear weapon which it will have shortly, despite its nuclear facility apparently Obliterated last June and official policy not to develop nukes
· Demand a return of democracy to Iran and installation of the son of the Shah as ruler
· Demand a return of democracy, even though Iran has elections and none of its Arab partner vassals—the monarchies inserted by the British post WWI—violating British promises to allow Arab post Ottoman countries to have democracy
· Demanding a return to democracy, even though the CIA/MI6 of the UK overthrew Iran’s democracy in the first place
· The need to stop the ‘terrorist regime’, which objects to Israeli genocide and ruthless expansion on its Greater Israel project
The US just can’t keep its story straight.
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
And the ‘peace’ is the foundation for wealth extraction.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/gore-vidal/perpetual-war-for-perpetual-peace/9781568586533/?lens=bold-type-books
https://www.addictedtowar.com/about-atw
https://books.google.com/books/about/A_People_s_History_of_American_Empire.html?id=yGs_CwAAQBAJ
Apparently, the CIA is proud enough of its record that the book is posted on its own website!
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Following WWII, several empires fell, the British lost India, South Africa, Kenya, etc. and its other colonies but wasn’t quite ready to let go, so it created what it humorously called the British Commonwealth of Nations…..In other words your well belongs to us.
Likewise the French lost Algeria, Vietnam, and African Sahel nations. However, it still tried to maintain control of the Sahel through use of a French created currency. When Gaddafi of Libya tried to create a gold backed currency for Africa, the West contrived to depose him and for good measure shove a knife up his backside. We call this Western Civilization.
Into the vacuum went the USA, in various attempts to recolonize surreptitiously, as described in detail on William Blum’s book. Iran was, after Korea, at the top of the list with its staged coup against Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mossadegh, in a CIA/MI6 joint US/UK orchestrated coup in 1953
Iran Says NO!
Iran has different factions, ranging from far right to some far left.
While this article is certainly Far Left, it makes some interesting pointsl
Despite the hijacking of Iran’s secular 1979 Revolution by religious-nationalists with the help of the major Western powers (who, by supporting Khomeini and the Islamists, sought to build an anti-communist barrier vis-à-vis the neighbouring Soviet Union – no matter what its human cost for the people of Iran), Iranian society never acquiesced to this medievalism and barbarity.
I remember at the time, that secular democratic forces were playing a significant role. But then something happened and the Ayatollahs gained control
I saw one interesting and telling statement by the late leader Khamenei. Referring to how women should be treated, he said that the wife should be treated as a flower, to be tended to carefully. While certainly spouses should be loving and respectful, the implication is that the wife is a possession, not a partner, which may rankle some modern secular Iranians,
Popular pressure apparently is having an effect. Many Iranian women don’t cover their heads despite the religious authorities previous demand that women do so. And young people show affection in public, which must horrify their elders. The Times They Are A’Changin’.
Here is an article that seems to explain elements within Iranian society:
· https://rri.kiambu.go.ke/civic-updates/iran-vs-iran-understanding-internal-conflicts-1764799721
But be that as it may, it seems to me that the overall tendency in Iran is that of sovereignty---Iran cannot allow itself to become a puppet of Israel or the US. It seems that Iranians of all factions understand the first priority.
Sovereignty—The Only Way Forward
Iran has been struggling at least since the 1953 coup. The US/UK simply refuses Iran to work out its own problems. As the article above notes, the same problems of inequality, corruption and repression that exists in many countries, including the West, is the core issue. And only ejection of foreign interference will give Iran the chance it needs.
Likewise, Israeli plans for regional hegemony pose a serious threat, not just to Iran, but to every country in West Asia.
It appears that Iran understands this thoroughly enough to ‘go all in’. The Western imperialists, their ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier Israel’, and the Gulf Monarchies stranglehold on their societies vassalage to the US have been holding West Asia back since the end of WWI.
Will Iran serves to break their hold? That’s the question.
Some of the Costs of War Project’s main findings include:
Recent Findings
In the two years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the U.S. government has spent $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel.
The U.S. has spent an additional $9.65 – $12.07 billion on military operations in Yemen and the wider region since October 7, 2023, for a total of $31.35 – $33.77 billion and counting in U.S. spending on the post-10/7 wars.
As of October 3, 2025, 67,075 people in Gaza have been killed and 169,430 people injured according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. These 236,505 casualties constitute more than 10% of the pre-war population in Gaza.
At least 5.27 million people have fled or been forced to leave their homes (as of early September 2025) in the post-Oct.7, 2023 wars in Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and the West Bank. This total includes an estimated 1.85 million children under 18.
Military spending produces an average of 5 jobs per $1 million. The same investment in other sectors creates more employment - nearly 13 jobs in education, 9 in healthcare, and 7-8 in infrastructure and clean energy.
From 2020 to 2024, private firms received $2.4 trillion in contracts from the Pentagon, approximately 54% of the department’s discretionary spending of $4.4 trillion.
The expanding tools of political influence used by the arms industry include extensive lobbying, millions in campaign donations, the revolving door, funding think tanks, and involvement in government advisory committees.
U.S.-backed Israeli military operations since Oct. 7, 2023 will lead to far higher indirect death than direct death rates.
Over the course of the war in Afghanistan (2001-2021), 24% of U.S. women service members and 1.9% of men experienced sexual assault.
The “Military-Industrial Complex” is enmeshed with Silicon Valley. A growing portion of Pentagon spending goes to large tech firms.
War contributes significantly to climate change: The U.S. Defense Department is one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters.
Official U.S. discourses about security threats from China and Russia are characterized by threat inflation.
Americans are inundated with cultural products that promote militarism – many of them influenced by the Pentagon. From movies to sporting events, the entertainment we consume normalizes war, reducing reflection about U.S. policy choices and their consequences
United States Post-9/11 Wars
The wars have been accompanied by erosions in civil liberties and human rights at home and abroad.
The U.S. government is conducting counterterror activities in 78 countries.
An estimated 3.6-3.8 million people have died indirectly in post-9/11 war zones, bringing the total death toll to at least 4.5-4.7 million and counting.
At least 940,000 people have died due to direct war violence, including civilians, armed forces on all sides, contractors, journalists, and humanitarian workers.
U.S. policymakers scarcely considered alternatives to war in the aftermath of 9/11 or in debating the invasion of Iraq. Many of those alternatives are still available.
The cost of the post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and elsewhere totals about $8 trillion. This does not include future interest costs on borrowing for the wars.
38 million people have been displaced by the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines.
The costs of caring for post-9/11 war vets will reach between $2.2 and $2.5 trillion by 2050 - most of which has not yet been paid.
Post-9/11 war veterans are suffering a mental health crisis. At least four times as many active duty personnel and war veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have died of suicide than in combat.
The ripple effects on the U.S. economy have also been significant, including job loss and interest rate increases.
Conclusion
It’s a step in the right direction for the various political factions in Iran to unite over the issue of national existance and sovereignty. But meanwhile, why does the US public indulge the oligarchs running our own country’s addiction to war, wealth and power?
When will the American people, in the face of this literal murderous addiction, “Just Say NO!”
