Local opinion: Tucson should remember the lessons of Vietnam and Iran

In 1979, as a young professor commuting to my job at MIT, I noticed a bumper sticker on the pickup truck in front of me: “Nuke the Ayatollah!”

As an anti-war combat veteran of Vietnam, I winced.

People in the U.S. should be wary when calls for war return so easily. From Vietnam to Iran, the United States has repeatedly intervened in other countries in attempts to reshape governments we dislike—often with consequences that last for decades.

After returning from Vietnam, I read extensively about “my” war. Ho Chi Minh and most of the Vietnamese resistance were motivated primarily by nationalism. They wanted independence — first from the French, then the Japanese, then the French again, and finally from us.

Ho initially hoped the United States would support Vietnamese independence. Instead, we backed France’s attempt to restore colonial rule. The hills around Da Nang, where my Marine Corps platoon was stationed, were the same ones French troops had occupied years earlier, trying to maintain control.

The story of Iran is not so different.

In 1951, the Iranian people democratically elected Mohammad Mosaddegh as prime minister in a parliamentary system similar to Britain’s. Mosaddegh was not a communist but a nationalist who believed Iran should control its own oil resources rather than leave them in the hands of foreign companies.

When he nationalized Iran’s oil industry, the United States and Britain helped organize the 1953 coup that removed him from power. The Shah who replaced him ruled as an authoritarian monarch for the next quarter century while Western companies regained control of Iranian oil. His regime collapsed in the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Many here in the U.S. dislike the religious government that replaced the Shah. Others object to the conservative Islamic monarchy in Saudi Arabia. But disliking another country’s government does not give us the right to bomb it.

That bumper sticker I saw decades ago helped push me toward a life of activism. In 1982, I left my position at MIT and have worked for peace and justice ever since. Today, I continue that work here in Tucson as we resist Trump's authoritarian takeover.

We should be skeptical when politicians claim military action is motivated by noble goals. Donald Trump argues that confrontation with Iran is necessary to stop nuclear weapons. Yet U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly reported that Iran is not currently building nuclear weapons.

History teaches us to be cautious about war rhetoric. Foreign conflicts can sometimes serve to distract attention from domestic political problems.

Trump is “wagging the dog” as the old movie title put it. He is using a war to distract popular attention from his plummeting popularity, his involvement with his buddy and fellow misogynist Jeffrey Epstein and the failure of his economic policies.

Americans should resist being drawn into another unnecessary war in the Middle East.

Here in Tucson, many residents are choosing another path. On Saturday morning, March 28, for No Kings 3, people will gather peacefully at intersections along Oracle Road — from Wetmore to Oro Valley — to demonstrate their opposition to policies they believe threaten democracy at home and increase the risk of war abroad.

After Vietnam, many Americans promised: Never again.

It would be wise to remember that promise today.