If It Looks like a Coup...
No to a Second Quarter Century of Forever Wars
It is profoundly embarrassing and shameful the stupidity/dishonesty being exhibited by most of the corporate media and political classes in the US and across the Global North in response to the unfolding situation around the Persian Gulf. The US and Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran, and yet elected leaders from across Europe, the Gulf, and the Anglosphere condemn Iranian aggression; for nine months, we’ve been told that the last preemptive US-Israeli strikes on Iran “destroyed” the Iranian nuclear program, and yet suddenly, we are meant to believe that Iran is mere days away from a nuclear bomb, and in the US, corporate Democrats and Republicans alike scramble to see who can approve of the bloodletting first; Iran engaged in good faith negotiations – that in fact, were meant to continue today (Monday, March 2, 2026) in Vienna – and offered extensive, deep concessions for little in return, but when the US and Israel launch a surprise attack – over the weekend, during Ramadan – and evidently target sites like schools and gymnasia full of young people, it is the Iranians who are disrupting the peace of the region; the Iranian head of state is targeted in what seems to have essentially been a cabinet meeting in his office, and yet the corporate media trumpets the military/intelligence line that the strike that assassinated him – along with many of his family members and a number of other senior Iranian political figures – was some sort of brilliant coup, when the only coup in sight is the “regime change” war currently being waged by the same country that recently kidnapped the head of state of Venezuela; and the US and Israel have long, well-documented histories of terrorizing civilian populations, and yet it is only the states of which these countries disapprove that are ever labeled as “terrorist,” even as the death toll has been far higher in Iran than anywhere in the region, and the Iranians have primarily targeted US and Israeli military and intelligence sites, as they made clear in advance that they would if pressed…
It can be challenging to hold in our minds two seemingly contradictory notions – a disapproval of the Iranian government (which has ruled Iran for nearly 50 years, and is not really a “regime”) on the hand, and a grudging, adult recognition that the world is complex, geopolitical interests are cross-cutting, and there are severe consequences to unprovoked military aggression against large, well-armed nation-states on the other. Most of us find ourselves with limited agency in the face of such seismic world events, but one thing we can control (or at least take ownership of) is our own minds, and so as elected officials and corporate press try to feed you a “you’re 12” version of reality as they threaten to plunge the planet into World War III to distract public attention from the Epstein files and in the name of dying fossil fuel power, I encourage you to seek out credible media (like Drop Site, Democracy Now!, the Chris Hedges Report, or – in the current moment – Al Jazeera); think critically; reflect on past lessons (for example, the lies that took the US to war in Iraq); and decide how you want to make up your mind, and who you want to have been when you look back on this moment. Remember: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, but if you want to have self respect and integrity, you should be against it now.
Over there, they call America "The Great Satan". The people in charge here seem dedicated to proving their point.