Guerra! Guerra! Guerra!

In the celebrated triumphal scene in Verdi’s Aida, the chorus sends Radames off to lead the war against Ethiopia as the general in charge of the Egyptian army. (The opera’s premiere was in Cairo.)

In a musical lust for war and victory, the chorus cries out “Guerra! Guerra! Guerra!”, war in Italian.

With Israel, we are currently in a war of choice against the vile government of Iran. (I do not address Israel in this blog.) But there is no general citizen approval of the war, no lust for war. In fact the war is opposed by the majority of Americans as is its initiator, the President. The problem with the war is that it makes no sense for most Americans. For Americans the chorus would change to “no guerra.”

Several justifications for the war have come from the White House including (i) its creation of an opportunity for the people of Iran to “take back” their government; (ii) payback for murders of Americans by Iran or its proxies; (iii) avoidance of an allegedly “imminent” nuclear attack by Iran; and (iv) the removal of enriched uranium held by Iran.

All of these justifications are without merit.

The people of Iran are afraid to go into the streets and “take back” their government because they are rightly certain that they will be murdered by the authorities. Murders of Americans do not justify war because more Iranian innocent civilians will be and are being killed by the U.S.A. than Americans who succumbed; simply stated, violence begets violence. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that nothing is “imminent.” The removal of enriched uranium from Iran cannot be accomplished by air power, the current warfare the military is employing. Woe unto any administration that sends the storied “boots” to Iran though it’s being threatened.

The war is said to represent an opportunity for Democrats in the November election because of its unpopularity. I do not think that the war will continue that long. Among many problems Democrats will face then is that the Democratic Party is disrespected and disliked.

If the war represents an opportunity for Democrats in the 35-50 House seats that will be seriously contested (all the other results are baked-in) it is because it is deterring the President from arguing that he is helping Americans to pay less at the supermarket than the high prices that they are now experiencing. Of course, he is lying about lowered prices, citing eggs and avoiding the biggies like expensive beef.

But fewer and fewer Americans like the Democratic Party. So anyone who tells you that the Fall election will result in victories for Democrats to take back the House is making a “likely” prediction but one that is far from certain and may not happen.

Let’s hope that the war ends soon.