The Middle East is at War. And America is the Bad Guy.

My country is on the wrong side of history.

Iranian ballistic missiles over Israel.

In the late months of 2023, as it became clear Israel was not limiting its response to October 7^th but going on the offensive, the Biden Administration made its top priority avoiding an all-out war in the Middle East. Not only did Joe Biden not want another dreaded Middle Eastern conflict in an election year, but he sought to be the President who moved beyond America’s historical failings and entered a new phase of foreign policy — a “pivot to Asia,”¹ building alliances with Asian nations to combat China’s growing regional hegemony. In a national address weeks after October 7^th, Biden re-emphasized this strategy of Middle Eastern stability. 

“The United States and our partners across the region are working to build a better future for the Middle East, one where the Middle East is more stable, better connected to its neighbors, [has] more predictable markets, more employment, less rage, less grievances, less war. It would benefit the people of the Middle East, and it would benefit us.” — President Joe Biden, October 20th, 2023²

By every available metric, Joe Biden has failed. After the events of the last two weeks, we can confidently declare the Middle East is in a regional war, and America is an active participant.

“Escalating to Deescalate”

For nearly a week, Israel bombed southern Lebanon. Using aerial ordinance and terroristic booby traps, they killed over 1,100 Lebanese, Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah, and at least one American. In disgusting but expected fashion, the State Department downplayed the murder of this American, clarifying he was a “permanent resident,” not a citizen.

Following the bombardments, Israel invaded Lebanon, the fifth time it has done so. Invoking its modus operandi, Israel insists it is “defending itself” from Hezbollah, a profoundly ironic claim considering Hezbollah was created in the 1980s to defend the Lebanese people from Israel’s then-occupation. In response, Iran launched 200 missiles at Israel. There appear to be no casualties. Netanyahu has pledged “Iran will pay,” and I fear he might take the shot hardline Zionists have spent decades calling for — a full-out bombing of Tehran, possibly with the use of Israel’s not-so-secret nuclear arsenal.

Israeli soldiers film Iranian missiles striking their base.

To many Americans, Middle Eastern conflicts such as this one are falsely reduced to religious animosity, as represented by the Tweet below from Stephen King. (With all due respect to the literary GOAT, foreign policy analysis is not his forte.) With this distorted worldview, the Saudi Arabia vs. Iran cold war is positioned as “Sunnis vs. Shia,” while Israel’s colonization of Palestine is framed as “Jews vs. Muslims.” This perspective is easy for Americans to swallow, given prominent anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia, but it serves a more consequential purpose than stoking bigotry. When Middle Eastern wars are boiled down to “backward Muslims unable to let go of a millennia-old grudge,” it lets American leaders off the hook for the role they played in creating, escalating, and enabling the violence. Similarly, it fosters automatic condemnation of America’s Islamist enemies, who, at least in this case, are on the righteous side of the conflict. 

Please stick to fiction.

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Are We the Baddies?

America’s fault for the current Middle Eastern war can be attributed to our leaders’ suicidal devotion to Israel. For the last year, Israel has conducted a genocide in Gaza and escalated violence in the West Bank for two reasons:

1. To further Zionism’s imperialist goal of conquering its neighbors, and

2. To provoke a response from nearby Islamic actors —Iran, the Houthis, and Hezbollah — who are allied with the Palestinian resistance.

If Israel achieves goal #2 and drew its adversaries into an all-out war, it would create the chaotic conditions Israel needs for further conquest (goal #1). In a best-case scenario for Tel Aviv, a war would draw in the United States, giving Israel the firepower it needs to defeat its perennial enemies. Unfortunately, we have already stepped down that path.

While many Americans are naturally disinclined to support theocracies, especially Islamist ones with long-standing histories of human rights violations, the facts don’t lie. Iran, Hezbollah, and the numerous other armed groups combatting Israel are on the virtuous side of the conflict, while the United States has raised its guns in defense of genocide, imperialism, and apartheid.

Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, nations are obliged to take “immediate action” to prevent acts of genocide. While South Africa’s case accusing Israel of such crimes awaits a verdict from the International Court of Justice, there’s no need to delay. In fact, it may be illegal to do so. In Bosnia v. Serbia,³ the ICJ ruled states have an obligation to act as soon as they learn of “a serious risk that genocide will be committed.” The ICJ recently stated that “such threshold has been reached in Gaza, triggering States’ duty under international law to take measures to prevent acts of genocide.”⁴ So far, it is only Islamist groups that have answered this call.

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Netanyahu, Biden, and the Zionist reactionaries who flood my comments can say whatever they want about Iran or any of its proxies. I’m sure they’ll point out Islamist governments are hostile to women’s rights and LGBTQ+ individuals. They’re correct, but the point is moot. International law is clear. The military strikes from Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and any other group fighting Israel are legal, moral, and imperative. If Iran or Hezbollah’s missiles force even one IDF soldier to turn his gun away from Palestine, they will have fulfilled their obligation under international law: An obligation the United States has decided to ignore.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, casts the only abstention vote on a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.

As a secularist, I have no love for any theocratic project. As a socialist, I’m naturally inclined to despise governments. Combine my two beliefs, and you can see why theocratic, capitalist states are the target of my untethered ire. Regardless of if they are Jewish, Islamic, or Christian, I view religious governance as a burden; a testament to humanity’s unwavering stubbornness and fear of progress. The Islamists in Tehran deserve the same scorn as the Christian fascists in Washington. They seek to use the state’s monopoly on violence to impose their religious beliefs onto others. Whether it bows before a cross or a moon, a religious state is equally evil. However, my despisal of theocracy does not blind me to reality. While the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other ostensibly secular Western nations enable Israel’s genocide of Palestine and its invasion of Lebanon, it is the Islamist groups (as well as South Africa) that are abiding by international law. Their counterattacks, both legal and judicial, on Israel’s transgressions are a manifestation of states’ duty to prevent genocide, a duty the United States pledged but will never fairly enforce. I can count on one hand the amount of good things the Islamic Republic of Iran has done. But undeniably, combatting genocide through military force is one of them, which I’ll strongly endorse with a thumbs up.

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1. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/06/1043329242/long-promised-and-often-delayed-the-pivot-to-asia-takes-shape-under-biden

2. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/20/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-unites-states-response-to-hamass-terrorist-attacks-against-israel-and-russias-ongoing-brutal-war-against-ukraine/

3. https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/91/091-20070226-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf

4. https://www.icj.org/resource/gaza-occupied-palestinian-territory-states-have-a-duty-to-prevent-genocide/