OPINION: War and peace

Just when you think things can’t get any crazier, an impulsive president, backed by an incompetent cabinet, kicks a Middle Eastern hornet’s nest.

Our hearts are with the service members and their families who have already given the last full measure of devotion to this country. Their sacrifice is personal, permanent, and deserves far more serious consideration than it receives in Washington. Our military families deserve better than a president who endangers American lives without a clear objective.  

The Iranian people deserved better than Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s tyrannical leadership. People everywhere deserve peace and safety.

It’s OK to be mad, sad, confused, or even a little happy. The Ayatollah was a horrible sponsor of state-sanctioned terror. 

However, the idea that American lives should be sacrificed for regime change around the globe is the height of hubris. Two things can exist at once. We can be driven to take action against horrible leaders, but also prioritize American lives and interests at home. 

Is there injustice in the world that needs confronting? Of course there is. But any time that American politicians ask American soldiers to sacrifice their lives, it needs to be in the interest of keeping the American people safe.

Any action that puts life at risk needs to have clear, well-articulated objectives. 

We’ve seen repeatedly that when Middle Eastern regime change becomes the objective, it rarely ends well. And Americans pay the ultimate price.

“Sadly, there will likely be more (deaths) before it ends. That’s the way it is.”

Those were the words Trump shared days after six U.S. service members died — and more than 100 Iranian children and teachers died when a girls’ school was hit in the first wave of U.S. airstrikes. Trump ran as a “pro-peace,” “pro-life,” America First candidate, yet under his watch, the U.S. has carried out more strikes on foreign soil than in President Joe Biden's entire four-year term.

In America, families are struggling just to keep up with rent, groceries, and health care. We are stretched thin. Piling the collateral damage of foreign wars on top of domestic crises doesn’t make us stronger.

We cannot keep adding American lives to the staggering price tag Americans are already paying for Trump’s reckless leadership. The most shameful thing a politician can do is wager the life of someone else’s child in a war of choice.

My generation has seen this play out before. We watched as thousands of Americans were sent into harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan, their continuing sacrifice sustained by shifting justifications and endless mission creep. We lived with the funerals, the trauma, and the quiet anxiety of wondering whether someone we loved would be sacrificed to a foreign war. Twenty years of quagmire was enough. Most Americans have no interest in doing it all over again.

Only one in four Americans approve of U.S. strikes on Iran, while about half — including one in four Republicans — believe President Trump ‌is too willing to use military force, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

So what do we do as Kootenai County locals when war once again starts knocking at the door?

When everything feels out of control, we start with what is in our control.

Use your voice. Contact our state’s congressional representatives and tell them where you stand. Speaking up is one of the most direct ways to influence what happens beyond our immediate circles.

Practice peace from the inside out. How we treat one another, how we show up in our neighborhoods, and how we build community are the everyday choices that push back against the chaos.

Reconnect with what steadies you. Spend time in nature. Pray, meditate, or return to whatever grounds you when the noise is turned off.

Even in turbulent times, these small, intentional actions help us stay centered and remind us that our voices matter. 

Those choices create ripples. Ripples become movements. And movements, over time, shape states, nations, and the world.

In the days ahead, peace and empathy will matter more than ever in a world shaken by conflict and uncertainty. 

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Sarah Martin is chairman of the Kootenai County Democrats.