After the American assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Iran launched a strike of ground to ground missiles on an American military base in Iraq. It reminded me of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars I grew up with as a child. I found the similarities to be traumatic and incredibly upsetting. Let’s initiate another war that we’ll never finish and skip out on all diplomacy.

I was 12 years old when 9/11 left a flashbulb memory when the towers fell. The towers continued to fall in my mind and on television, and even today. My parents told me that my great uncle, Milton, worked near the World Trade Center, but had stayed home that day. I remember watching for days trying to fathom who could have possibly done that to us. I remember a student yelling when I was in the 6th grade during passing period, “Someone blew up the twin towers!'“ Not knowing what the Twin Towers were, I was intrigued, but looking at my teachers’ faces staring back in horror, I was petrified with anxiety. From their own faces, 15 years older than I, we both witnessed grief and horror. 3,000 were killed that day and thousands were wounded.

Shortly after, the war on Afghanistan begun in 2001. Then, there was the Iraq war in 2003. Before that, there was US involvement in Chile and Argentina, installing puppet dictators. Then, we tried to kill Castro some 60 times for ousting CIA-approved right-wing Batista.. And then, let’s not forget about the Venezuelan influence to install another puppet dictator. What am I missing here? There’s many more examples to draw from and I hope you comment below. The War Hawks did their best to achieve what they came to do: Gain a stronger standing in the Middle East, Central America, and South America, and conquer oil and other resources held by the indigenous governments.

I remember when the alumni from my high school began to die. They had joined the military and had suffered fighting in the invasion of Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Like the veterans I’d worked with that survived, they had their spines broken, bullet holes ruptured their bodies, and explosions claimed their limbs in an ungodly light. This was all benefit for Dick Cheney and the military industrial complex. Cheney had other motives and I sincerely doubt his skewed patriotism to his country and recognize his servitude to the oligarchs that elected him.

As my friends die, who’ve I’ve never met, I’ll continue to speak out against war. War is criminal and barbaric in the 21st century. There’s rarely a needed confrontation and the only war in the United States continues to benefit the ruling class. When will the citizens of the U.S.A. recognize that the military industrial complex isn’t in their best interests!? A libertarian friend and I discussed this with scrutiny and despite different political ideologies, we came to the same conclusion. It was crystal clear. The billionaires and government leaders of the United States will continue to provoke and declare new enemies indiscriminately for personal gain.

Say a prayer for the lives lost and the lives of those that will continue to die. Let us not hate the servant or the veteran, but the ultra rich who’ve caused this new war. If you’re listening, do us a favor and put a bullet in Trump’s head and end this madness. Preferably for the masses, Protest, and vote him out!

Photo from: https://eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com/tag/military-industrial-complex/