'We do not want to die for Israel': US soldiers wary of Iran war
A profound sense of moral dissent is spreading through the ranks of the US armed forces regarding the unprovoked war Donald Trump has launched against Iran on behalf of the Israeli regime, a report says.
In an interview with HuffPost, active-duty soldiers, reservists, and advocacy groups said many US troops are reporting vulnerability, overwhelming stress, frustration, and disillusionment to the degree that they may leave the military.
A veteran and reservist who mentors younger officers told the news website that soldiers have told her that they "do not want to die for Israel." She said that she has heard soldiers saying that they "don't want to be political pawns."
The report comes as Trump orders the deployment of thousands of additional sailors and Marines to West Asia. The move has raised concern about the possibility of a US ground offensive in Iran.
According to HuffPost, the troops Trump is counting on for a possible ground operation appear increasingly wary of the war on Iran. One US official familiar with the matter described a ground operation earlier this week as "an absolute disaster."
Former US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis calls US President Trump's demands for unconditional surrender and regime change in Iran “absolute delusional nonsense.”
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"We don't even have a plan for that. We can't even fully defend a single land base in the theater." The lack of a clear, consistent narrative justifying the Iran war is a key source of discontent among troops.
The reservists believe that the war is placing them in unnecessary danger for no identifiable strategic benefit.
Iranian military officials have warned Trump against putting American soldiers in danger, saying the Iranian armed forces have had extensive training in asymmetrical warfare and are prepared to use their tactics on the battlefield.
Since the war began on February 28, Iranian ballistic missiles and drones have repeatedly hit US facilities in the Persian Gulf countries and the Israeli-occupied territories.
On the first day of the war, a US strike on a girls' school in the Iranian town of Minab killed nearly 170 schoolgirls. According to Mike Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War, for many soldiers, the attack on the school was the "breaking point."
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