It's Giving Neocons-in-2003 Triumphalism

Edited by Sam Thielman

I'M WRITING THE NEXT IRON MAN SERIES FOR MARVEL COMICS! IF YOU PREORDER IT, I'LL SEND YOU FREE STUFF! FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE AT THE LINK AND THEY'RE YOURS!

I SPENT TUESDAY doing my least favorite thing: watching a televised airstrike. The best thing that can be said about a nightmarish, infamous day, a day in which Israel and the U.S. moved closer than ever before to open warfare with the Iranian coalition, is that at least no innocent Israeli died from a bombardment of 200 ballistic missiles that could have targeted population centers far more densely; and next time, might. 

After that I have nothing good to report. I'm writing this on Tuesday night and I'm emotionally spent. The last few days I've been reaching out to friends who are in or who have family in Lebanon and North Carolina. The anguish I've heard from dear ones is going to drive the next couple paragraphs. I can tell you right now that it's going to impact upcoming issues of IRON MAN. 

Something I've been hearing a lot about in my conversations over the last several days is that the people in the Biden administration who make decisions about the Middle East are a very small circle that believes very deeply that it has handled the past year's fallout from October 7 in as responsible a manner as could be. I thought of that while I watched a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday afternoon in which Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the spokesperson, endorsed what he understood to be Israel's "limited operations to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure that's arrayed along the border there." Ryder explained, "We fully understand as part of their overall efforts to return people home, that they do need to address those threats that are along the border there."

With that, the Biden administration endorsed the third Israeli invasion of Lebanon, something it has professed for a year to be working relentlessly to forestall, often via adviser-envoy Amos Hochstein, one of those within the policy-setting coterie. (Working relentlessly to forestall... just never to the point of using the overwhelming military and economic leverage that U.S. patronage of Israel bestows.)

As we prepare for what the Israelis and Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan call "consequences" for Iran, it has to be emphasized that what is happening now is a war of choice. At every moment over the past year, the U.S. could have compelled Israel to stop its onslaught in Gaza, the very thing that since May 31 it has claimed to be just on the verge of achieving. Instead, as Gaza inflames divisions within Israel, particularly over the now-forsaken plight of the hostages, and where the IDF does not see an achievable victory, Israel, with backing from the policymaking coterie in the White House, has chosen to seize what it considers an opportunity to deal a blow to Iranian power. 

In particular, report my former colleague Erin Banco and Nahal Toosi of Politico, Hochstein and colleague Brett McGurk conveyed to the Israelis their support for gambling with the lives of millions in the Middle East, which the U.S. hopes will weaken the Iranians and "decouple" Lebanon from Gaza: 

The decision to focus on Hezbollah sparked division within the U.S. government, drawing opposition from people inside the Pentagon, State Department and intelligence community who believed Israel’s move against the Iran-backed militia could drag American forces into yet another Middle East conflict. …

In mid-September calls and meetings, Israeli officials outlined broadly that their military was preparing to make the shift. They didn’t offer details. Hochstein and McGurk relayed to their Israeli counterparts that — while they still urged a cautious approach — the timing was likely opportune for such a move, especially after Hezbollah had been significantly degraded in the months prior.

I don't know what else to call this but the sort of thing I recall vividly from being around Washington neoconservatives in 2003. Drunk with a sense of potential to make history. To wipe the board clean and to reset it on our terms. To prove to those fucking motherfuckers—whether they're in Tehran or at a D.C. think-tank moaning about restraint and deescalation—that we are not to be fucked with; they are. To tear down their Dream Palaces. To show that American power is here in this region to stay. 

Using war as an opportunity is an act that never loses its infamy despite its frequency. It is a choice to kill people because you want something—a resource, a hilltop, a vision of how the world ought to be. The Biden people never wanted to be neocons. They have always held the neocons in contempt as fanatics. You can go back to Joe Biden reading Paul Wolfowitz's draft 1992 Defense Planning Guidance and giving can you believe this shit from these weirdos quotes. Readers of REIGN OF TERROR may remember that Joe Biden's 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq War came wrapped in some malarkey that he was actually voting for peace and, in doing so, outfoxing the neocons. 

But now, throwing away even the no-escalation mantra and simply blessing Israeli escalation, all for some vague notion of… rolling back Iranian power in the Middle East? Netanyahu was talking in one recent video like he expects to incite an uprising against the Islamic Republic. An actual 2003-era neocon, Michael Rubin, went on CNBC on Tuesday and invented a scenario where some of the Iranian missiles in the barrage on Israel carry "chemical, biological or radiological" payloads. "I think we're in the last days of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he predicted. You can just say any old shit on TV. 

What else can you call this but a return of the 2003 neocon Fuck-Around era, this time presented by those who have for decades presented themselves as the Responsible Alternative to the neocons? They give us this as their last act in office, their moment to steward American power, their time to apply all the wisdom they claimed over the many who told them that they were leading us only to the long, painful twilight of Finding Out. 

I HOPE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT BIBI WANTS TRUMP. War with Iran and/or its coalition will help Trump, no matter how tightly Harris embraces that war. I don't know what's going to happen with the election. But it is remarkable that the Biden team is an accomplice in an effort that redounds to the benefit of the guy who wants to end the facsimile of democracy we practice in this country – the guy they recognize is supremely dangerous. 

MY FRIEND JESSICA VALENTI is perhaps the most important journalist documenting the unfolding assault on women's most basic freedoms. She's written a just-released book that deserves to be a best seller and that I look forward to reading: Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies and The Truths We Use To Win.

IF YOU WANT TO HEAR ME SPEAK FOR HOURS ABOUT NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER, there's a very long episode of Cerebro that involves an extended parallel to Recep Tayyip Erodgan of Turkey. 

AS I WAS DRAFTING THIS ON TUESDAY NIGHT, THE PENTAGON RELEASED the following statement from Secretary Lloyd Austin, and it underscores that the era of rhetorical endorsement of ceasefire is over. 

Today, U.S. forces in the Middle East intercepted multiple missiles launched by Iran toward Israel, as we fulfilled our commitment to partner with Israel in its defense. We condemn this outrageous act of aggression by Iran, and we call on Iran to halt any further attacks, including from its proxy terrorist groups. We will never hesitate to protect our forces and interests in the Middle East, and to support the defense of Israel and our partners in the region.

I am deeply proud of the skill and the bravery of the U.S. troops who helped to save lives today from Iran’s assault and who continue to support Israel’s defense and to prevent a widening conflict or escalation. Our forces remain postured to protect U.S. troops and partners in the Middle East, and the Department maintains significant capability to defend our people, provide further support for Israel’s self-defense, and deter further escalation. I will continue to monitor the situation closely and to consult with our allies and partners. 

In addition to the recent naval buildup via the USS Wasp—a big-deck amphib that I've watched the Super Bowl on—the Pentagon is sending three squadrons of combat aircraft to the Mideast, flying F-15s, F-16s and close-air-support A-10s. At yesterday's Pentagon briefing, Ryder described the squadrons as providing "versatility" for "contingencies" like shooting down drones, recon and electronic warfare, rather than the U.S. shooting at Iran or Hezbollah. We're sure going to find out.

IT'S ABOUT TO BE ROSH HASHANAH. This year has been awful. On top of the state of the world, the wife of a woman who has been a second mother to me has just passed away, and this dear woman's troubles have not eased since. I am putting as much energy as I possess into the Days of Awe because I can't begin to describe the spiritual bereftness that a year of war leaves behind. May 5785 be the year we build peace, justice and health. L'shana Tova. 

By this, I also mean: I need your patience. The pace of this newsletter really needs to slow down as I get through the High Holidays and enter what's about to be an IRON MAN-heavy cycle. Upcoming editions of FOREVER WARS are going to be—out of necessity—anchored to podcast appearances (both journalistically and comics-wise), a big Zeteo essay I finished edits on yesterday afternoon, and promotions for something exciting that I'll soon detail going down at New York Comic Con. 

Thank you for your support of this newsletter. I feel very guilty when I can't bring it to you twice a week. 

WALLER VS. WILDSTORM, the superhero spy thriller I co-wrote with my friend Evan Narcisse and which the masterful Jesús Merino illustrated, is available for purchase in a hardcover edition! If you don't have single issues of WVW and you want a four-issue set signed by me, they're going fast at Bulletproof Comics! 

No one is prouder of WVW than her older sibling, REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP, which is available now in hardcover, softcover, audiobook and Kindle edition. And on the way is a new addition to the family: THE TORTURE AND DELIVERANCE OF MAJID KHAN.