Bombs don't build democracies

Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

—George Orwell, Politics and the English Language

We’re at war with Iran. Today, Americans are directly and indirectly using their tax dollars to bomb and kill people over 6000 miles away. Some of those people are wretched men who have held power for generations, using religious fundamentalism as a political tool for control of women, minorities, and even the region. However, there was only one Ayatollah Khomeini. He is dead now, but his movement lives on. 

Now, the killing includes children at schools, patients at hospitals, and everyday citizens (i.e., these aren’t combatants, rather they are victims). 

America has a habit of distancing ourselves from violence. Iran won’t be the first or last — it’s no exception. We turn away, turn off, and turn down. We use language like "collateral damage” or say that the enemy was “hiding behind children.” We obfuscate and distort the reality for our own palatable consumption and propaganda across the world.

You might be inclined to ask: Well, did Iranians want their ruthless theocrat to die? Sure, likely most of them, but you’re focused on the wrong question. Instead, I’d implore you to ask: Will this one dead theocrat be effective in creating a fairer regime in Iran? 

Regardless of Iranians’ and the larger diaspora of Persians’ opinions of the Ayatollah, bombs don’t build democracies. A munition launched from a ship, plane, or neighboring country cannot change hearts and minds on the ground. Top-down will never be as powerful as bottom-up.

We Americans don’t have a good track record of removing dictators, authoritarians, and despots. The truth is right there in front of us: we cannot topple a dictator to create a liberal, functioning democracy. To kidnap or kill a man using our military might remove an individual strongman, but it’s ironically anti-democratic to do so. The people haven't voted for this war — neither in Iran nor America.

Like taking a quick pill rather than doing the long work, we have decided to kill over convince. Again and again and again throughout history. We are not bombing people into change, as that requires diligent, tireless, and effective effort. That work — we’ve seemingly decided — is just too damn hard and frankly doesn’t pay our military industrial complex enough.

Bombs pay the bills today, while handshakes and changed minds take people on the ground working for years. Bombs pay Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman so they can achieve record years. Bombs pay politicians to run campaigns in support of this entire system.

Today, I urge you to call your Representative and Senators and demand we “Stop Unauthorized Military Strikes on Iran.” I implore you to donate to the ACLU and International Red Cross and Red Crescent. And come midterms, please vote to make a change.