PIVOT Denounces Trump’s Reckless Actions To Rush to War with Iran

January 6, 2020

PIVOT denounces the reckless use of force by the Trump Administration, which was taken without consultation of Congress, against the advice of our military leadership, and can escalate into yet another never-ending war in the Middle East.  As Vietnamese Americans, we know first-hand the devastating impact of war and its aftermath. 

In recent days, Trump ordered the drone strike that killed a powerful official in Iran, Major General Qasem Soleimani, a reckless move that heightens the risk of war.  A decision to wage war must always take into account the tremendous human, societal and environmental costs that war produces. Furthermore, while the decision to go to war is made by the powerful and rich, it is the poor - often people of color and working people - who bear the brunt of the pain. Thus, war must always be the very last resort, when our safety and our country’s very core interests are under threat. 

The US has long played a key role in creating the current turmoil between Iran and Iraq with an agenda to control resources in the Middle East. In 1953, the US engineered a coup in Iran against the democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeghand and re-installed an authoritarian figure, turning Iran toward a dictatorship that lasted over 25 years. During this time, the US poured resources into Iran, boosting its military and political power in exchange for guaranteed US interest in the region.  In 1980, fearing Iran would gain too much dominance in the region, the US secretly aided Iraq against Iran. Yet, in 2003, the US invaded Iraq on the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction, which unleashed untold human, infrastructural, and environmental damage and broke apart that country, giving Iran an opening to restore its position as a key regional power. 

After decades of economic sanctions, in 2015, the Obama Administration successfully negotiated an agreement with Iran, in which Iran gave up its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.  That agreement strengthened reformers in Iran, laying the groundwork for a more stable and peaceful Middle East. Yet, in recent days after the killing of its military leader, Iran has declared that it will no longer abide by the limits of the 2015 nuclear accord, and Trump has threatened further escalations.  Our world has become a more dangerous place. 

As refugees and immigrants who are in the US due to a war in our own homeland, we continue to live with the traumas of war. As such, PIVOT is vehemently opposed to actions that may further inflame the region, leading to more bloodshed. In the midst of Trump’s impeachment proceedings, these actions cannot be seen as anything other than a manipulative and desperate attempt to distract the nation. 

We urge our PIVOT members and like-minded Vietnamese Americans to speak out and to call on our leaders, especially in Congress, to take immediate actions to rein in further escalations  that would lead to more senseless loss of human lives and destruction.