As a veteran who frequently rails against what I call “useless, endless wars,” I feel a duty to explain my seemingly contradictory position of supporting Israel’s recent kinetic actions in Iran.

First, by “useless, endless wars,” I am specifically referring to the expenditure of American blood and/or treasure in a war that ultimately does not serve the national security interests of the USA.

Examples:

So, how are Israel’s actions in blowing up Iran’s nuclear and command/control capabilities any different?

I’ll explain:

1. There are no American boots on the ground in Iran, nor are there likely to be. America’s only direct involvement in the conflict is to assist the Israelis with purely defensive, land– and sea-based missile/drone defense units and ships, in or near Israel.

2. America has been engaged in low-intensity military conflict with the Iranian regime continuously since 1979. Many Americans are too young to recall the Iran Hostage Crisis, but the wounds there run deep, and the conflict it engendered has never fully abated.

3. Iran has killed many American troops, and by that I mean many American troops. I vividly remember sitting in Iraq as the media assured us that Iran was not supplying Iraqi insurgents, while I was staring at cases of RPGs and 82mm mortar rounds we had just captured from Iraqi insurgents, all with Iranian Army markings on the wooden cases.

4. Iran literally has a national holiday called “Death to America Day.”

5. Iran has been working feverishly for years to produce nuclear weapons and has been absolutely unwilling to enter into any international agreement that would fully prevent it from gaining such capability. Specifically, they have been unwilling to accept an inspection regime that would fully prevent them from achieving nuclear capability.

6. Iran’s leadership has specifically and repeatedly pledged to use nuclear weapons on Israel. A nuclear war between Iran and Israel is in no one’s interest. Moreover, given Iran’s desire for “Death to America,” it is not unreasonable to assume that our nation would also be the target of an eventual nuclear attack, killing many millions of American citizens.

7. There is no “realpolitik” here. The Iranian mullahs cannot be reasoned with from a position of rational self-interest, as could even the Soviet Union in its heyday. Instead, the Iranian government is solely motivated by a vision of Shia Islam forcibly dominating the world. Moreover, they believe that the “Twelfth Imam” will someday come to usher in the end times. An apocalyptic religious death cult is not a group you want possessing nuclear weapons, plain and simple.

8. Israel’s attacks have been limited to military and nuclear targets. Unlike the unguided missiles randomly launched at civilians in Israel by Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, Israel is not launching terror attacks against the civilian population in Iran.

9. There is a non-zero chance that Israel’s actions will result in an internal overthrow of the mullahs by peace-loving Persians, ending the threat this nation has represented to world peace since 1979, and helping Iran rejoin the family of nations.

In summary, Israel is putting its own blood and treasure on the line in a military effort that clearly and unequivocally serves the USA’s national interests.

Iran’s government (not its people) is a crazed long-term foe that is centered on apocalyptic religious zealotry and seeks capabilities that could literally end civilization.

Israel is doing the USA, the world, and civilized peoples everywhere a huge favor by eliminating that risk, and it is bearing the cost almost exclusively by itself. Israel is putting its civilian population at risk as a worldwide public service, truly. (Don’t believe me? Witness the Tel Aviv civilian apartment complex, wrecked a few days ago by unguided Iranian ballistic missiles.)

I salute Israel’s actions, and I do so as a patriotic American veteran who hates war. Eradicating Iran’s nuclear capability and military command and control infrastructure is for the benefit of Israel, of course. But it is also to the great benefit of the USA and all of humanity. It’s not a “useless, endless war.”

If you are someone who despises Israel for whatever reason, I urge you to consider this conflict objectively and realize what a great service Israel is doing for the USA.

Thank you, Israel.

Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a retired U.S. Army colonel and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, who is now a practicing corporate law attorney. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at @CynicalPublius.