America's Endless Wars: From Baghdad to Tehran, A Nation That Never Learns

As B-2 bombers return triumphantly to Missouri after a weekend strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, many Americans are left wondering: have we learned nothing from Iraq?

For Layden Tallwhiteman, the echoes are deafening. One of his earliest memories was watching the U.S. bomb Baghdad in 2003, a war later revealed to be based on fabricated claims of weapons of mass destruction. Now, in 2025, the same justifications and rhetoric return—”eliminate the threat,” “protect our freedom,” “defend our allies.” It’s the same war machine, with a different target.

President Trump’s decision to launch the attack—without Congressional approval—feels less like a strategic maneuver and more like a dangerous gamble. While officials insist they wish to avoid full-scale war, history tells us otherwise. The U.S. always says it doesn’t want war—until it’s neck-deep in one.

The irony is brutal. Decades of failed diplomacy, followed by violent escalation. We claim to want peace, but drop bombs to achieve it. We say we’re preventing nuclear proliferation while refusing to engage in real negotiations. And once again, it’s the civilians and soldiers—not the politicians—who will suffer the consequences.

Meanwhile, voices of concern are drowned out or ignored. Anti-war protesters in New York were met with Trump supporters waving Israeli flags and blaring airhorns. Any dissent is painted as unpatriotic. But the questions remain: Who benefits from this war? Is it really about security, or about power projection, defense contracts, and political distraction?

People like Dana Cort, who lived through 9/11, fear retaliation. Marketing professionals like Kent Bellamy resent Trump’s bypassing of Congress and worry about escalating regional tensions. Even some Trump voters, like Robert Vallet, express doubt about America’s ability to control what comes next. And they’re right to worry. Proxy wars don’t end with one round of bombings—they spiral into quagmires.

The emotional manipulation is relentless. We’re told that “Iran is evil,” that “freedom isn’t free,” and that “our troops protect our way of life.” But freedom shouldn’t mean endless war. It shouldn’t mean sacrificing young lives for vague geopolitical interests.

America has become addicted to militarism. Bomb first, justify later. The attack on Iran is not an isolated event—it’s the continuation of a decades-long pattern of American imperial overreach. Whether it’s Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, or now Iran, the result is the same: instability abroad, trauma at home, and a global reputation stained by hypocrisy.

In truth, the U.S. doesn’t bring peace—it exports war. And unless we break this cycle, history will remember us not as liberators, but as aggressors cloaked in self-righteous lies.