The Full Iranian Picture

In your recent piece, “Just War,” you raise moral questions worth examining. But any discussion of justice in war must begin with a full accounting of Iran’s long and violent record — a record that has slaughtered over 40,000 of its people, murdered Americans, Israelis, Arabs, and countless civilians across the region.

How “just” is a regime responsible for killing U.S. service members, including the hundreds of Marines murdered in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing? How “just” is the government linked to the attack on the USS Cole, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, and multiple attempts to assassinate a sitting American president?

Iran arms, funds, and directs Hamas, the group that slaughtered more than 1,200 Israelis — including over 30 Americans and brutally abducted 250 innocent people— on October 7th. It positions Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch constant attacks on Israel. It has spent years pursuing nuclear capabilities while openly declaring its desire to destroy both the United States and Israel. And for fifteen years, rockets rained down on Israeli towns from Gaza with Iran’s support.

If we are going to invoke moral language, then we must ask: where is the Vatican’s condemnation of this decadeslong campaign of terror? Where is the moral clarity when it comes to Iran’s aggression, proxy warfare, and deliberate targeting of civilians?

Any honest conversation about “Just War” must include the full picture — not only the conflicts dominating today’s headlines, but the long trail of violence that brought us here.

Just asking.