The U.S., indeed the entire world, was confronted with an ongoing nuclear and missile threat from Iran, which was weakened thanks to the joint U.S.-Israeli Operation Midnight Hammer in June.
However, since then, Iran has been attempting to reconstitute its offensive weapons and nuclear remnants while proclaiming its signature mantra “Death to America, the great Satan.”
The U.S. and Israel would have none of that. The fanatic Islamist theocrats in Iran, with their proxies, are responsible for killing and maiming many Americans since 1979.
The U.S. and Israeli forces are wisely and decisively neutralizing the threat to break Iran after it became obvious that Iran was sticking to the same negotiating playbook of obfuscation, lying and delay.
Imagine, heaven forbid, a nuclear Iran in the present scenario.
— David N. Simon, Chicago
Are we safer because of war?
Let’s have a quick show of hands. Who here in the U.S. feels safer now that we’re killing Iranian schoolgirls? And can anyone tell me what, exactly, Iran has done to warrant American involvement in that country’s endless conflict with Israel? Is nuclear-armed Israel unable to defend itself? I suspect that no one in Israel would agree with that premise.
There has never been a point in history in which Iran posed any kind of threat to the security of the United States. Of course, President Donald Trump’s administration would like you to believe that the hostage crisis of 1979 marks the beginning of some kind of crucial, ongoing struggle between good and evil. In fact, once the hostages — all of them — were released, Ronald Reagan not only lifted sanctions on Iran but also supplied that regime with hundreds of missiles.
What remains to be seen is the degree to which the current fiasco will resemble our destruction of Iraq. That too, was launched upon a flurry of lies, regarding specifically Saddam Hussein’s supposed complicity in the 9/11 attacks as well as his possession of “weapons of mass destruction.” Over 4,000 U.S. service personnel died for those lies, along with tens of thousands of Iraqis — none of whom had anything to do with 9/11. Please note that, like today, the decision-makers were throwing other peoples’ children into the fire, not their own.
The real threat to Americans is our headlong rush toward normalizing blatant murder, whether that be of nameless occupants of motorboats in the Caribbean, schoolgirls in Iran or United States citizens in the streets of Minneapolis.
It is tragedy enough to be under the rule of a person who utterly lacks conscience, kindness or magnanimity. By every means available to us, we must resist being dragged into the sewer behind him.
— Michael Brandt, Spring Green, Wisconsin
The damage Hegseth has done
Well, it’s taken Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slightly more than a year to ruin the U.S. military. Incompetence at the top takes a while to percolate into performance, but look at what’s happening. We lost three F-15 fighter jets to friendly fire at a cost of about $300 million. We mistakenly bombed a girl’s school in Iran causing over 100 casualties.
And now religion has raised its ugly head in addresses to American troops about the conflict in Iran being a holy war and part of God’s plan. It will take new leadership and many years to undo the damage that has been done by these truly incompetent people.
— David Workman, Naperville
How Noem was taken down
The editorial praising the firing of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was very welcome (“Noem is sent packing as homeland security secretary. We’ll celebrate with most of Chicago,” March 6). However, I believe it’s also important to focus on how and why Noem was taken down. Yes, that decision ultimately came down to Trump’s whims, but the root of her downfall was her unpopularity and that of her capricious program to maximize deportations, regardless of any and all other costs. As the editorial notes, Chicagoans took concrete yet simple actions, such as utilizing whistles, to both deter immigration enforcement and demonstrate their fury. On a broader scale, the simple disdain toward Noem and her agenda by most of America was enough for Trump to kick her to the curb.
The sufficiency of disapproval to derail Trump’s primary immigration enforcement serves as further damning evidence against the companies and entities that so easily and so quickly capitulated to Trump last year. Whether it was CBS parent Paramount’s spineless legal settlement over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris in order to secure a merger, the donation of almost $1 billion in pro bono legal work from law firms such as Skadden and Paul, Weiss, or even the pathetic and saddening capitulation of universities such as Columbia and our own Northwestern to the administration, both we and these entities can see with every passing day that those were tainted bets, serving only to drag those entities down to Trump’s level of moral vacancy.
With notable but few exceptions, many of our most essential national institutions (media, legal, academic) were the first to buckle to Trump’s pressure, often preemptively. This shocking cowardice and sheer abandonment of any pretense of ethics or values are rendered even more shameful when considering that Noem was brought down by polls, likely more than anything else.
For all of Noem’s bluster, lying and grandstanding, it was everyday people with their normal morality who led to her ouster. How terrible and awful that so many of our prized institutions could not even muster the most basic courage to oppose the administration, something the American people did.
— Ethan Feingold, Chicago
Value of Tribune reporting
Congratulations to the Tribune for winning the Toner Prize for its exceptional journalism in coverage of last year’s Operation Midway Blitz. Nowhere was this immigration nightmare better represented than in the stories I read in my daily Chicago Tribune.
Contrary to my fears, when Alden Global Capital acquired the Tribune in 2021, the restructuring of operations didn’t lead to the demise of my favorite morning ritual: opening my front door to pick up the morning newspaper and start the day.
In this current environment of extreme partisan media and siloed algorithms that pass for news coverage, daily newspapers everywhere remain the closest sources of journalistic truth available. We cannot afford to lose a single one.
The coverage of the immigration crisis provided by Tribune journalists was simply the most compelling and trustworthy of any other source.
— Linda Finley Belan, Chicago
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
