I’m a veteran and U.S. History teacher. We had interesting discussions in my classes about our history of Imperialism last Fall when we discussed the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the Spanish-American War. We discussed what happened in Venezuela in January in that context, and now students want to know about Iran.
Once again, we are undercutting American principles, exposing the United States as hypocritical for the entire world to see and for China to capitalize on. Our aggressive and modern-day imperialist rhetoric towards Greenland and these actions against Venezuela are destroying the rules-based international order we worked so hard to establish after World War II. Our allies can no longer trust us as we threaten friend and foe alike, so they are making other arrangements for their own security. Canada is signing agreements with China, and Europe is signing agreements with India. Unnecessary trade wars are weakening the U.S. dollar. “America First” is devolving into “America alone.” Yes, the military execution in Iran last June and in Venezuela this January was flawless and commendable. But there was a risk here too: continued success encourages the executive branch to engage in more military adventures around the globe.
It’s hard to keep up, but the President of the United States has threatened military action in Colombia, Mexico, and Cuba here in the western hemisphere, never mind follow-up actions in Venezuela if the new acting president does not comply with his demands. He threatened military action against Greenland, and Americans got caught attempting influence operations against that semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. He ordered ineffective missile strikes in Nigeria on Christmas Day 2025 and threatened more military actions if the government does not do more to protect Christians. He threatened additional military action against Iran in support of protestors and moved significant forces back into the Middle East over the past month in a build up that was almost certain to lead to war while engaging in negotiations that now appear to have been a sham delay tactic.. There are others – Canada, Panama, and Syria have been directly threatened too.
None of this was bluster, as we proved last year with Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran, Christmas strikes in Nigeria, and the January Maduro snatch and grab operation in Venezuela. If we keep going down this road, things will eventually go horribly wrong. Iranian schoolgirls and their teachers are dead due to a day 1 military strike. American servicemembers are dead and wounded due to military operations in Iran, and American civilians are trapped overseas because evacuation orders were not sent out until after airports in the Middle East were hit and airspace was closed. Oil prices have spiked because Strait of Hormuz traffic is being attacked.
None of these military actions complied with the War Powers Act of 1973. Like with Vietnam and Afghanistan, initially popular actions, however justified, can quickly spiral into “forever wars.” Iran posed no imminent threat. This is a war of choice.
Judicious use of force, with allies in pursuit of common, limited objectives, in compliance with international norms and laws, is wisdom. Arrogantly going it alone at the whim of this administration – of any administration – is pure folly.
I beg Utah’s elected officials to assert their constitutional authority as the Article 1 branch to restrict future military adventures not authorized by Congress. It is completely unfair to saddle the American people with what could turn into forever wars without a vote of the people through our elected senators and representatives. Utahns – contact your elected members of Congress and ask them to put the brakes on this adventurism before things spin further out of control.
Deborah Gatrell is a third-generation Army veteran with more than 25 years of service. She is also a National Board Certified high school history teacher in Utah.
