It will never cease to amaze me how blatantly hypocritical, irresponsible, and dangerous this administration is, with so little intervention. The latest perilous move by our current commander-in-chief is his military action against Iran following the assassination of their military leader, Qassem Soleimani.   

To begin, it’s important to note that the military move instructed by Trump directly contradicts one of his campaign promises to return troops to America and minimize foreign military intervention. Instead, he’s now deploying more troops to the dangerous frontline that Trump himself controversially avoided when he was summoned to a similar position. 

Not only are they risking the lives of more American troops, the government already does a piss poor job of taking care of the many disabled, unemployed and impoverished troops from past unnecessary foreign military intervention and wars. He’s doing so out of unclear, yet clear reasons.

I use this phrase, “unclear, yet clear” to demonstrate that although the administration will only give ambiguous answers to pressing questions on the potentially war- causing move, critical thinkers who pay attention to history can clearly see some of the dark motivations behind it.

A look at history will show that this is a classic act of imperialism. Imperialism is a complex topic with a simple formula: a power and money‒driven country or organization invests their resources in expanding their military to become a large enough powerhouse to take over smaller nations and deplete them of their resources for economic gain. It’s essentially international bullying. Trump is fulfilling this role right now in front of our eyes, and rational logic alone can show that.

Threatening to destroy cultural sites that are sacred to Iranians to prove a point that the U.S. military is stronger than theirs? Imperialism. Placing economic sanctions, crippling their economy, and starving their citizens, most of whom have done nothing but mind their business? Imperialism. Killing Iranian leaders in a top–down approach to de-stabilizing their ability to defend themselves against meddling Western societies? Yep, you guessed it, imperialism. 

There would be less room for speculation if the government would give us clear reasons as to why they assassinated Soleimani. Unfortunately, they won’t. We keep being told that he posed an “imminent threat,” yet Trump has been buddied up with Vladimir Putin, a man with a violent history whose country, supported by evidence from the Mueller investigation, meddled in the 2016 presidential election. Putin poses an imminent threat to our country, yet he is alive and well, and can comfortably sit in the same conference room as Trump. 

Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office reported that $718 billion has been requested for military spending. Who exactly will foot the bill for these threats of war? It certainly won’t be rich people since they now contribute practically nothing. Forget about the middle−class since it’s quickly disappearing. Poor people can’t afford to support a war effort because they can barely support themselves.  

In comparison, the president has requested $64 billion for the Department of Education, a 10% decrease from last year.                          Conservatives have pushed back on numerous proposed investments to benefit the country in terms of education, healthcare, infrastructure and other pertinent sectors to our country’s functionality. The arguments have primarily been that the government couldn’t afford it. Yet, a war triggered by unnecessary action and inciting rhetoric may end up on the table if tensions rise further. Where does the stupidity and hypocrisy end?

Sending military troops to police other countries does not help American citizens. It does not make us safer. It does not improve our lives. It doesn’t make the water in Flint, Mich. cleaner, or public schools more effective, or solve the student debt crisis, or address our healthcare crisis, or save low−income minority communities from gentrification or anything else that desperately needs the attention of our government. All it does is result in an unnecessary loss of life and de−stabilizes other countries and ours from using money we supposedly don’t have. 

I respect all religions, but enough of the #PrayforThis or #PrayforThat. Prayer has not and does not stop political leaders from making terrible decisions. Holding them accountable does. Until Trump is held accountable for his dangerous rhetoric and erratic decision−making, our country is headed down a negative path that may take generations to undo.