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<span class="submitted">Sun, 05/20/2018 - 7:00am | <span class="authors"><a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/author/news-gazette" class="">The News-Gazette</a></span></span>
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</div><p class=""><strong class="">By C.G. ESTABROOK</strong></p><p class="">Israel is pushing the U.S. to go to war with Iran. We shouldn't let it happen.</p><p class="">Fifteen years ago, the U.S. government attacked Iraq and killed a
million people — on the basis of lies that Iraq had dangerous "weapons
of mass destruction."</p><p class="">During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump talked of his opposition to the attack on Iraq:</p><p class="">"Look at the war in Iraq and the mess that we're in. I would never
have handled it that way. ... What was the purpose of this whole thing?
Hundreds and hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people
coming back with no arms and legs?</p><p class="">Not to mention the other side. All those Iraqi kids who've been blown
to pieces. And it turns out that all of the reasons for the war were
blatantly wrong. All this for nothing!"</p><p class="">A principal instigator of that shameful U.S. war against Iraq was the
government of Israel, which wished to remove Iraq as a regional rival
in the Middle East.</p><p class="">Now Israel is trying to repeat that crime, urging the U.S. to attack and kill Iranians.</p><p class="">The Iran nuclear deal guaranteed that Iran would not develop even one
nuclear weapon. (The U.S. has thousands; Israel has at least 200.)</p><p class="">But Trump is violating the agreement and withdrew from the deal. The
Israeli government cheers, because they want the U.S. to attack Iran for
their benefit.</p><p class="">One commentator writes, "Trump cited Israeli Prime Minister
Netanyahu's bogus speech from last week. Without doubt, this effort is
coordinated. Will any Democrats call for an investigation of this Trump
collusion with a foreign power (like 'Russiagate')?"</p><p class="">In order to get its war on, Israel has attacked Iranian troops in
Syria (who are there legally, unlike U.S. troops). An Israeli government
adviser has all but admitted that killing Iranians in Syria is designed
to provoke an open war with Iran.</p><p class="">Meanwhile, Israeli snipers kill peaceful protesters in Gaza, including children and journalists.</p><p class="">We should not allow the Trump administration to expand U.S. wars in
the Mideast. The president and our congressional representatives should
be urged to remember the lessons of Iraq and not attack Iran — among
other things a more populous and better armed country, with powerful
allies, notably Russia and China. War with Iran risks a much larger war —
even a nuclear war.</p><div class="insertAdRight"><div id="div-gpt-ad-1392329065879-20" style="width:300px; height:250px;" class=""></div></div><p class="">The largest anti-war demonstrations in history occurred around the
world before the U.S. attacked Iraq. As Americans, we must do even more
to prevent this new criminal war.</p><p class="">If the U.S. and Israel attack Iran, there should be general work stoppages — strikes — and street demonstrations across the U.S.</p><p class="">In the meantime, write the president and our congressional
representatives — Rep. Rodney Davis, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Sen. Dick
Durbin.</p><p class=""><em class="">C.G. Estabrook is a retired visiting professor at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He conducts the weekly hour of news
commentary, "News from Neptune " on Urbana Public Television.</em></p>
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