The People Starting This War Won’t Be the Ones Fighting It

These men are playing a game of Risk with regular people's lives.

The situation with Iran continues to escalate. Iran responded to Donald Trump’s strikes against its nuclear facility by launching missiles at American bases in Qatar and Iraq. At the time of writing this, I don’t know the extent of the damage, but the expectation seems to be that these strikes were largely symbolic—for the government of Iran to save face. We’ll see. Regardless, I pray that everyone who has been put in harm's way is safe.

More than anything, I'm sitting here scrolling through Twitter with cable news on in the background, watching the situation play out, and thinking about how all the people creating this mess are not going to be the ones dealing with the real-world consequences of it. Donald Trump is 79 years old. Bibi Netanyahu is 75. The Ayatollah is 86. Lindsey Graham, who is beating the drum for regime change, is 69. These are not men who are going to serve in this conflict, nor be around to see what happens in the long run. They don't have the same skin in the game as the rest of us. These are men playing a game of Risk with regular people's lives.

They care more about how they're perceived politically and maintaining their grasp on power. They care more about how the history books will write about them. They care more about looking tough than acting tough. They care more about enriching themselves through control of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s natural resources. And what they're doing is creating a situation that's deeply destabilizing.

I believe regime change in Iran would require American troops on the ground and would likely spark a regional war in the Middle East. It's the last thing any of us need at a time when the U.S. is already fighting a two-front war—against Russia in Ukraine and against China over global trade and tech dominance. It doesn’t make anyone safer—not Israel, not the United States, not the people who live in the Middle East, and certainly not the people of Iran. Nor does it put “America First.”

This is a terrible, poorly conceived, self-instigated conflict, and Donald Trump has been dragged into this mess and has consciously chosen not to get himself out of it. Maybe from here, we'll get an opportunity to de-escalate. Nobody believes Iran should have nuclear weapons. Barack Obama already solved this problem with the deal he made with Iran before he left office—an agreement and eight years’ worth of strong diplomacy that Trump immediately ripped apart upon taking office.

This is yet another example of a crisis purely created by Donald Trump’s madness. He tore up the Iran deal not because it wasn’t working—his own aides told him it was—but because of his pettiness. He couldn’t find a way to take ownership of it without destroying it. Because all Trump cares about is destruction and enriching himself. Not creating. Not protecting. Not improving anyone’s life other than his own.

And what we have, and what’s playing out at nearly every level of society, is an urgent need for new leadership—for generational change all across the world. To give the rest of us a chance to move past the systems and narratives that are working against the interests of the vast majority of people and securing a peaceful future. They only work for the uber-wealthy and powerful. They work for themselves. Not us.

Because when Lindsey Graham says we should be willing to risk removing the regime in Iran, he knows it won’t be him serving. It won’t be his kids in action. It’ll be your kids. And in ten years, if this crisis continues, it could be my kid. And I don’t want that for him. I don’t want that for anybody’s kid.

I recognize that we live in a world where military action is sometimes necessary to keep people safe. That’s why I’ve supported the people of Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. I believe there are times when American might is needed on the global stage—to protect people and our interests. But this isn’t that. This could be solved in other ways. I know it, because it already was—by Barack Obama.

So I’m sitting here, stewing, infuriated at a situation that I cannot change alone. Sitting here, safe in Chicago, frustrated because a generation of leaders—here and abroad—keeps dragging us in the wrong direction. Destabilizing nations. Provoking foreign adversaries, isolating the United States, and further eroding the possibility of a true diplomatic solution for lasting peace.

As an American, I’ve learned that you don’t win a war when your reasons for entering in the first place are built on blatant lies and self interest. We see how that played out in Iraq. I’ve learned that destabilizing an entire region is detrimental to the safety of Americans—both abroad and at home.

And that’s why my hope, as we move toward a real international changing of the guard—as these leaders retire, or die, or, God willing, get voted the f*ck out of office—is that we can break these patterns. That we can do better. If for nothing else, then for our children—because this generation of leadership is dangerous and needs to go.