It will take some time, perhaps years, until we know what role our government played in Israel’s decision to attack Iran on June 12.

 

Did Israel simply give us a heads-up about its plans, then go ahead without our encouragement? Did we “green light” its operation in advance? Did we encourage Israel? Did we believe Israel’s claim that Iran was inching closer to putting a nuclear warhead on a missile and launching it toward Israel, even though our own intelligence told us otherwise? 

 

It strains belief to think the U.S. didn’t endorse Israel’s attack beforehand.  Enterprising reporters are already chasing that aspect of the story, I bet, and historians will weigh in later with exhaustively detailed accounts of who said what, to whom and when. 

 

Already, some elements of the story seem clear to me. Right after Israel attacked, the Trump administration said to Iran, “We didn’t help Israel. Really. So don’t retaliate against U.S. military bases in the region.”  Next, Trump turned on a dime and demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” hinting that we might join Israel’s assault. He flip-flopped in a mere five days.

 

I think Trump had made up his mind before Israel launched its first missile at Iran. When his top intelligence official told him in March that Iran was not building nuclear weapons, he brushed it aside: “I don’t care what (Tulsi Gabbard) said, I believe Israel,” he said. (It pains me to refer to Gabbard as the administration’s “top intelligence official. It’s oxymoronic; but that’s the job Trump gave her.) 

 

So as I write today — seven days after Israel’s attack began — our country’s leadership seems poised to put its big, fat thumb on the scale to aid and abet Israel in destroying Iran as a military power and changing its leadership. Trump wants us to accept the judgment of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that all-out war was the only choice Israel had and that we’re obligated to back him up because Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East — as if Trump cares about democracy.

 

Once again we come down on the side of war. Once again we come down in favor of profits for arms dealers and oil and gas companies. Is that a coincidence? I don’t think so. And as much as I’d like to blame Trump entirely, that wouldn’t be fair. This is largely the doing of Republican hawks who never met a war they didn’t like. Chief among that group, is the senior senator from S.C., the simpering Lindsey Graham, cheerleader for any war anywhere.

 

When this war broke out, Graham’s reaction reportedly was, “Game on, pray for Israel.” (It actually sounded more like “Game on, pray for Isrull.”) After his enthusiastic endorsement of Netanyahu’s plans, Graham became more bellicose. Go to YouTube and search for “Lindsey Graham Israel Iran.” You’ll see videos of Graham praising Trump’s bravery (speaking of oxymorons!)  and resolve and advocating regime change in Iran. As always, he’s all in for war. Game on!

 

Graham’s warmongering is based entirely on questionable assumptions. He bought hook, line and sinker Israel’s rationale for attacking Iran — that Iran was finishing work on a nuclear weapon and planning to use it. Graham also believes that massive military force is the only way to prevent such a cataclysm. 

 

It’s not surprising that Graham is lined up with Trump on bringing Iran to its knees. Graham’s history as a sycophant is well-documented. I did so in a post back in November 2019:  South Carolina, Please Secede. Here’s the link:

 

https://thequixoticdeacon.com/current-events/south-carolina-please-secede/

 

Early on as a senator, Graham had been a moderate Republican. He even worked with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton on immigration reform and was an acolyte of  “maverick” Republican Sen. John McCain, who occasionally bucked GOP orthodoxy. But when Trump hijacked the Republican Party, Graham experienced an epiphany on the golf course at Mar a Lago. He recognized that his own political power flowed from maintaining his bromance with Trump. Suddenly, he was all-in for Trump — the same Trump who had called McCain a loser for being shot down, taken prisoner and tortured by the North Vietnamese. Graham, who in 2015 called Trump “a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot” today exudes adoration for a man who wears orange makeup, uses spray tan and has a bouffant hairdo. One would think that a “warrior” like Graham would find a more manly man to idolize. 

 

These are halcyon days for Lindsey. His best pal is kicking migrants’ butts. There’s a war on and macho men are in charge. He can go on Fox News and cheerlead until he’s hoarse. And this is, after all, what he is best at doing — egging on powerful men who drop bombs to solve complicated problems. After all, it’s good for business. And God knows Lindsey loves capitalism. 

 

I’ve heard that Lindsey might face opposition next year when he runs to keep his Senate seat. Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician from Charleston, has announced her candidacy. She is smart, telegenic and is building a following. Do we dare dream that Trump’s most loyal lap dog will get a thrashing? Could S.C. redeem itself for having sent people like Graham, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, and Joe Wilson to Congress? It would be sweet indeed to see any of them fall. But defeating Lindsey would be the sweetest victory of all. We can dream, can’t we?

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