The U.S. saturation bombing of Iran is creating an international crisis that is complex and hard to understand. No one wants to see Iran develop a nuclear bomb, use it against Israel, and trigger a worldwide nuclear conflagration. No one, except a small minority of Iranians, thinks that the deaths of Iran’s leaders who have slaughtered thousands of their own people is a bad thing. For the past 47 years, Iran has been a pariah on the world stage, calling the United States the Great Satan and financing terrorist groups in the Middle East and beyond. So, what is the problem with the continuing bombardment of Iran?
Early in the week, the Secretary of State said that Israel was about to attack Iran. This would cause Iran to retaliate against the U.S. military bases in the region. Preemptively, the U.S., therefore, decided to begin bombing Iran. This was the stated rationale for the bombardment that began two days earlier. If the U.S. had objected to Israel’s plan, presumably this close ally would not have gone through with its bellicose intention. This rationale raises more questions than it provides answers.
Later in the week, U.S. officials stated that the purpose of the bombing was to prevent Iran from constructing a nuclear bomb. Since the strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June was said to have obliterated its ability to create a bomb, a bit more confusion was added to the picture. When the top echelon of Iran’s leaders was targeted and killed, the concept of regime change added another reason for the bombing. The destruction of Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and its navy were also added to the reasons why this bombing was initiated. By week’s end, seventeen justifications for the war were added to the big three.
Iran has been an international outlaw for many years. Its 90 million people have lived under an oppressive regime that had no respect for human life. It was a bad actor both internationally and domestically. Its deceased leaders will not be missed. The open question now is how its new leader will lead the country forward and in what direction when all the bombings stop.
When there is a clear and present threat, a grave imminent danger, to American lives and interests, there is no question that our government can and should act in response. Going to war, however, should be a last resort when all other options have been exhausted. The just cause for war should always be self-defense. Aggressive behavior like the invasion of Ukraine is always to be condemned. When war does become a last resort, a right intention and a probability of success are essential. Defining the intention for going to war and having a metric for success, are outstanding questions that add to the current consternation of many over what is taking place in Iran.
In the 21st century, after a century of wars, there is no question that diplomacy needs to be exhausted before a single shot should ever be fired. Real diplomacy is a true art and not a science. Real diplomats spend years understanding all the complexities that need to be addressed to avoid conflict. When diplomacy seems to be failing in the short term, it may be that economic pressures are not sufficient to bring adversaries to agreement. The failure of diplomacy may also be attributable to the inexperience of the diplomats. In this day and age, it is hard to accept the premise that the international community, acting together against one outlaw, cannot prevent it from being a menace to other nations without going to war.
The world is in crisis because of what is taking place in the Middle East and in Ukraine. We are faced with a crisis of complexity, a crisis of competence, and a crisis of character. What we most need in the U.S. is a consensus that what is taking place is not making the world a safer place. Several things can be true at the same time. It is true that the deaths of evil people in Iran is a good thing. It is also true that a dubious, preemptive war without clear objectives, without a metric for success, and without prior planning is a very bad thing.
World peace should never be viewed as a partisan issue. It is to everyone’s advantage that this bombing campaign come to an end, yesterday, and that real diplomacy with real diplomats sort out the issues that need to shape the international community in the 21st century.
Msgr. Garrity is a Senior Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and former pastor of St. Mary’s Parish and High School in Lynn.