By GREG SARBER | SEWARDS FOLLY
The US and Israel attacked Iran over the weekend, and the naysayers were quick with criticism, attacking President Trump for this decision. Unfortunately, after 3 days of conflict, the US has taken its first casualties of the war; as of today, 6 servicemen have been killed, and that number will certainly climb as this conflict unfolds. This brings home the reality of the situation and should be a wake-up call for the disgruntled individuals questioning this war. Today is not the time for criticism. Every American needs to support our military men and women who are in harm’s way, and President Trump, who leads them.
Unfortunately, many on the left are not heeding this advice, and they are about who you would expect. They are either partisan Democratic politicians looking to advance their political agenda, members of the left-wing media, or recent arrivals to this country of the Muslim faith who place their religious identity above their citizenship. Critical comments from people on the left are expected. They will attempt to use this war to damage the president and advance their political chances in this November’s elections.
They are quick to criticize this action, but said nothing when Democratic presidents like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton bombed terrorists or conducted sustained campaigns against countries without Congressional approval. Politicians on the left and their supporters are hypocrites because they voted to support the Ukraine conflict, and are probably still wearing their Ukrainian flag lapel pins. To a leftist, war is only bad when they can’t make money from it.
As a party, they are despicable and put political expediency over doing what is right. They seek political advantage at any cost. Their actions are no surprise. However, there have also been vocal criticisms from members of the Republican Party that are a little unexpected.
Two of the more noteworthy critics were Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene. In the past, both have been solid supporters of President Trump and MAGA, but over the weekend, both have issued statements of harsh criticism of this war.
In the past couple of weeks, they expressed concerns about our military buildup and have alleged that the US is doing so because Israel has undue influence over the government. Whatever the truth is about Israel’s political influence, it is irrelevant today. Complaining today about a problem that they ignored for years is like closing the barn door after the cows are gone. It doesn’t accomplish anything productive.
The fact of the matter is that the president has access to information that we do not see, and he has made the decision to halt Iran’s nuclear program and change their leadership. President Trump is operating under the legal authority granted to him by the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows him to engage in conflicts for up to 60 days without approval of Congress. Any statements to the contrary by Democrats and Vichy Republicans in Congress mean nothing. The prosecution of this war will proceed under the legal authority of the president for at least 60 days. Based on today’s comments from President Trump, he estimates that it should last no longer than 4-5 weeks, so any actions taken by Congress in the meantime are moot.
There will be plenty of time for Monday morning quarterbacking when this conflict is over. If the Democrats successfully take back the House in the November elections, I would not be surprised if they use President Trump’s decision to enter this war as an excuse to impeach him for a third time.
However, that is all for the future. For now, members of our military are in harm’s way. Some have been injured, some have died, and there will be additional casualties. From now on, the nay-sayers should withhold their criticisms. There will be plenty of time to second-guess this conflict when it is over. For now, we need to support our troops. May God bless our brave military members, President Trump, and the USA.
Greg Sarber is a lifelong Alaskan. He is a petroleum engineer who spent his career working on Alaska’s North Slope. Now retired, he lives with his family in Homer, Alaska. He writes in his own capacity as a resident of Alaska. This column first ran in Seward’s Folly.
