In 2006, I returned to Northwest Indiana and reconnected with family and friends after processing out of the United States Marine Corps. As a combat veteran, the transition to the civilian world is, at first, particularly jarring. One of the primary things that becomes very apparent upon returning to the civilian world is the virtually impossible task of explaining the brutal realities of war to generations of Americans who’ve never served, hence never experienced the horrors of war. The disconnect, while completely understandable in the absence of a draft, is profound.
After all, how does one even begin to explain what a human body looks like after being hit with an M2A1 .50 caliber machine gun, or following an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonating? The melted flesh, exposed bones, brain fragments, and coagulated blood. The black emptiness in the eyes, if the eyes remain intact. The rotten smells. The meat of war. The part of war no one really discusses these days. The sort of stuff hidden from Americans by the corporate press and the Pentagon.
During the Vietnam War, images of firefights, bombing campaigns, executions, and burning villages were beamed into American households. Tens of millions of Americans tuned in each night for updates on the war. Hundreds of journalists were on the ground, talking with GIs, writing columns, and witnessing the war up close and personal. Investigative journalists broke important stories. Today, almost none of that is true. The corporate news doesn’t show Americans the carnage and death unleashed on Iranian civilians as a result of American and Israeli missiles and bombs.
The same was true, for the most part, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The perspective of ordinary Iraqis and Afghans on the ground was rarely featured in the nightly news casts at the time. The caskets of dead U.S. soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen were also hidden from Americans, who only saw what the Pentagon and the Bush Administration approved. The thousands of veterans who returned with life-changing injuries remained in the shadows or were used as props by those in power to justify continuing the war effort.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, Americans remain largely sheltered from the day-to-day realities of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). This is why groups such as Veterans For Peace (VFP), Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) have spent so much time over the last quarter century simply describing the sheer terror and often whitewashed atrocities of modern war: in the absence of a draft, a very small percentage of Americans experience the human toll of never-ending war.
Think about that: twenty-five years of nonstop war, drone strikes, bombing campaigns, cyber attacks, torture, CIA black sites, drone strikes, assassinations, coups, occupations, failed states, refugees, and history-altering geopolitical ruptures that will haunt the world for decades to come. For those of us who live in the belly of the empire, shielded from the human consequences of war, it’s even more important to put ourselves in the shoes of those on the receiving end of Uncle Sam’s aggression.
Over the years, I’ve brainstormed and reflected on how anti-war activists, veterans, and others opposed to the U.S. Empire could better convey their message to a broad audience. Here, I believe creativity, literature, art, movies, and music have the potential to play a vital role in helping Americans better understand the realities of empire, militarism, and the chaos and brutalities of war. After all, what better way to convey the concept of empire to a casual audience than by watching a film such as Star Wars or Dune?
Fortunately, today, unlike the initial stages of the Iraq War, the majority of Americans are opposed to the U.S. and Israel’s illegal and unprovoked war against Iran. This is a positive development, and one we should build upon and strengthen. For this essay, I’ll attempt to reframe U.S.-Iranian relations in a way that allows American readers to put themselves in the shoes of the Iranians — not in the aim of focusing on the individual, subjective experience of war, but to imagine about how American society, culture, political and economic systems would look today if the U.S. endured the same sabotage, violence, and chaos Iran has over the past 73 years.
How would Americans feel about their place in the world if they had experienced the same struggles, death, and destruction the Iranians have suffered at the hands of the U.S. Empire? How would Americans view Islam? How would they feel about the Iranian people themselves? How would our government structures change? What would our economic system look like after decades of sanctions? How about our media, culture, social relations, and so on?
A Quick Note
It’s impossible to adequately include every aspect of U.S.-Iranian relations in this short essay. It’s equally impractical to include the civilizational history of the Persian people, their experiences regarding the Ottoman Empire, or the British Empire. For the sake of time and readability, the story in this essay begins in 1945 and focuses primarily on U.S.-Iranian relations, although the role of Israel is also explored, albeit not necessarily adequately or exhaustively.
I’ve taken the liberty of using various North American, Latin American, and Caribbean nations as stand-ins for countries throughout Western Asia and North Africa. For instance, I use the Dominican Republic as a stand-in for Israel, not for any political, cultural, or economic reasons, but due to its relatively similar geographic proximity to the United States. The same is true of both Canada (standing in for Iraq) and Mexico (standing in for Afghanistan), which are used because they’re bordering nations in the way that Iran borders Iraq and Afghanistan.
I think geography is important, fascinating, and often a decisive element in major political, economic, cultural, and military struggles. Surrounded by two major oceans, most Americans understandably have a hard time imagining how close these countries are to one another. They might not understand the true size of a country like Iran or Pakistan. They might not know that Iran borders both Afghanistan and Iraq. They probably don’t realize how close Iran is to Dubai. It’s not like our media or education system properly informs the public about such things.
The Tables Turned on 73 Years of Belligerence: A Brief & Crude Overview
Imagine Iran emerges from World War II (1945) as the most powerful nation in the world. They have the world’s most powerful military, the largest economy, and unprecedented global reach. In 1953, the Iranian intelligence services overthrow U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and replace him with a dictator who does Tehran’s bidding. Whereas Eisenhower had planned to use the profits from the U.S.’s various industries to help poor and working-class Americans, Tehran had other ideas. They made sure to put their guy, we’ll call him Dictator X, in power to make sure that Iranian corporations and geopolitical interests were properly represented in Washington, D.C.
Dictator X, supported by oligarchs in the Middle East, proceeds to clamp down on all political activities, unleashing secret police forces, torturing and killing students, religious leaders, and political dissidents across the United States. Dictator X consolidates every media platform in the country. Journalists are jailed, tortured, and killed. Christianity is demonized, and Christian values are either completely destroyed or culturally and politically ostracized. Wealth inequality explodes. Political corruption and state repression become the norm. And all of this continues for the next 26 years.
In 1978, a series of strikes and protests sweep the U.S. Dictator X clamps down on protesting Americans and sends many to jail; his security forces torture and kill thousands of others. Eventually, a central figure emerges, a Catholic leader. We’ll call him Father Z. He becomes the figurehead of the New American Revolution. Understandably, after decades of repression and brutality, all Iranian influence is rejected and condemned — socially, culturally, politically, and economically. In February 1979, the revolution succeeds, and Dictator X is toppled. Later that year, American students take 52 Iranians hostage for 444 days.
In September of 1980, a dictator to the north, we’ll call him Dictator Y, controls Canada and invades the U.S. with Iranian support. Iran provides billions of dollars of economic, military, and technological support for Canada’s invasion. Iran also provides military intelligence. During the war, Iran furnishes Canada with chemical weapons, which Canada uses against American forces, but also against opposition groups in Canada. Americans are outraged. From 1981-1986, Iran also sells weapons to the U.S. and uses the profits to fund pro-Iranian forces in Yemen, who are fighting against a socialist government, and to secure the release of Iranian hostages in, let’s say, Jamaica (it seems contradictory and absurd to arm a nation while simultaneously arming its rival, invading nation, but that’s precisely what the U.S. did during the Iraq-Iran War).
As a result of the eight-year war between Canada and the U.S., there are between 5 and 10 million casualties (numbers adjusted for population differences). Following the war, Iran imposes strict sanctions on the U.S., causing shortages in food and healthcare equipment. In 1990, Iran goes to war against Canada, the nation it had formerly armed and supported. Between 50,000 and 150,000 Canadians are killed during the war. In 1995, Iran imposes a total trade embargo on the U.S., preventing the U.S. from developing economically. Throughout the latter half of the 1990s, Iran consistently engages in clandestine operations in Canada, cultivating resistance to the Canadian regime and looking for opportunities to assassinate Dictator Y.
In 2001, Protestant Christian terrorists attack Iran, killing thousands of its citizens. The U.S. has absolutely nothing to do with the attacks, nor do American Catholics, who’ve long been at odds with Protestants. Yet, immediately following, Iran labels the U.S. a member of the ‘Axis of Evil’ and vows to stop the U.S. from ever developing a nuclear weapon, even though Iran has thousands of nuclear weapons and remains the only country in the world to have ever used them. In 2001, Iran invades Mexico, kicking off a war that will last for another 20 years. In 2003, Iran falsely accuses Canada of possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and subsequently launches a war of aggression, invades Canada, and topples the government, breaking apart the social and cultural fabric of Canadian society, plunging it into a protracted civil war.
As a result of the occupation, Canadians experience immeasurable economic, political, and social misery, resulting in between 500,000 and 1,000,000 casualties. The U.S., rightfully angry and threatened, provides material support for Catholic militias in Canada who are fighting against the Iranian Empire. Iran accuses the U.S. of ‘state-sponsored terrorism.’ In 2005, U.S. leaders attempt to create better relations with Iran, but Iran rejects the offer. Instead, the Iranian Empire conducts covert operations and various other actions against the U.S., including sanctions against U.S. financial institutions, causing even further harm to the economy and misery for ordinary people.
During this period (2001-2014), or what Iran calls its ‘Global War on Terror,’ the Iranian Empire also engages in drone strikes, bombing campaigns, and special forces operations in Cuba, Jamaica, Guatemala, Colombia, and Venezuela. As a result, tens of millions of people are displaced and become refugees. Millions of people are slaughtered. Governments are toppled across South America. Terrorist groups, many of whom are funded or supported by Iran, form and wreak havoc throughout the Western Hemisphere. North and South America are plunged into a never-ending cycle of violence, civil war, and economic chaos.
In 2015, the Iranians negotiate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the U.S., which limits the U.S. nuclear development program in exchange for sanctions relief. U.S. political leadership denounces the development of nuclear weapons and maintains that all U.S. nuclear enrichment programs will be aimed at civilian usage. In 2017, a new president takes power in Iran, posing a greater threat than ever before. He, unlike his predecessors, removes the gloves and makes no appeal to international law or international norms. In 2018, the new Iranian president imposes the harshest sanctions to date, withdraws from the JCPOA, causing not only immense harm to the U.S. economy but also heightening tensions between the two nations.
In 2020, Iran kills the highest-ranking four-star general in the U.S. military who was visiting Canada at the time of the assassination. People in the U.S. are outraged, as are many of Iran’s allies throughout the world. In 2021, a new Iranian president comes to power, but nothing fundamentally changes. In 2023, Iran’s closest ally in the region, the Dominican Republic, invades Haiti and conducts a genocide. Catholics throughout South America, and people throughout the world, are horrified. Yet, Iran continues to provide military and financial support for the Dominican regime, the most bellicose government in the region, and one of the few that obtains nuclear weapons.
In 2025, the former President of Iran is once again elected. This time, however, he’s even more unpredictable, angry, and unhinged than ever before. In April of that year, Iran engages in good-faith negotiations with the U.S. government, offering concessions in the hope of normalizing relations. From January through June of 2025, the Dominican regime, fully backed by the Iranian Empire, attacks the U.S., infiltrates the U.S. civil society with spies, and kills U.S. military leaders, politicians, and American scientists.
The Dominican Republic has been in constant violation of international law for many decades, but always backed and protected by the Iranian Empire. Despite all evidence, the Dominican regime insists that the U.S. is developing nuclear weapons, a claim it’s been making for the past three decades. In June of 2025, the Dominican Republic and the Iranian Empire launch what’s called the Twelve-Day War, bombing U.S. nuclear sites. As a result, the U.S. severs ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). U.S. hospitals, apartment complexes, and government facilities are bombed and destroyed. Many in the international community condemn Iran’s actions, but they offer nothing more than critical words.
Nine months later, in February of 2026, the Dominican Republic and Iran launch an all-out war against the U.S. — in violation of international law. The international community does nothing to stop Iran and the Dominican Republic. In the first days of the war, the U.S. president, who is also the leader of the Catholic Church, is murdered, along with many of his family members. A schoolhouse for young girls is hit with Iranian missiles, killing over 140 children.
Thousands are killed, including military, political, and religious leaders throughout the country. Schools, hospitals, military installations, energy infrastructure, apartment complexes, and various other cultural, religious, and civilian sites are incinerated. The Iranian regime expects or at least hopes that Americans will rise up against our government, but instead, Americans rally around the flag and the government in opposition to foreign attacks and aggression. Prior to the war, Iran and the U.S. were engaged in negotiations, but unfolding events prove that the negotiations were never genuine and simply bought time for Iran and the Dominican Republic to develop a plan of attack against the U.S.
During this period, the Dominican Republic also invades Haiti, taking a significant portion of Haiti’s geographical territory and killing thousands in the process. As the world’s largest oil exporter, the U.S. shuts down its production facilities to negatively impact the global economy in the aim of getting Iran to cease its war efforts. The Iranian regime, incapable of admitting defeat, maintains its bellicosity and continues to support the Dominican Republic in its efforts to destabilize the U.S. and potentially overthrow the U.S. government and replace it with a government aligned with Iranian and Dominican interests. The other option is total collapse and balkanization — an end result favored by the Dominicans, and tolerated by the Iranians. Overall, the situation is bleak. Entire nations in the Western Hemisphere have been destroyed over the past 25 years, with millions of casualties and refugees, creating an unstable and extremely violent context.
Further Reflections & Clarifications
Invariably, some readers will take issue with my crude summary of the past 73 years of U.S.-Iranian relations. However, my aim isn’t to provide an exhaustive and tirelessly nuanced history of the past seven decades, but, rather, a simple, readable, and hopefully useful thought exercise for ordinary Americans who might not understand the depth of U.S. aggression towards Iran, or who might have never thought about what our government and society would look like if the U.S. had endured what Iran has for the past seven decades. Political empathy is a fertile ground for cultivating genuine solidarity.
Many of my coworkers, neighbors, friends, and family who are not die-hard activists or experts in U.S. foreign policy consistently ask me: “What is our (the U.S.’) history with Country X?” In the course of regular social interactions and conversations, there’s never enough time to provide a complete history of any country, region, or war. Hence, I’ve tried my best over the years to distill the most important aspects of U.S. foreign policy in a manner that allows whoever I’m talking with to come away from the conversation with a better understanding of why the U.S. shouldn’t bomb, invade, or destroy whatever country Uncle Sam is threatening.
Furthermore, and this is a topic for a future essay, most people do not have the time to examine every aspect, every nuance of U.S. foreign policy, nor do I think it’s necessary that people do. People can only take in so much information. Here, I think the left makes the mistake of thinking that people should know, or need to know, every detail of every issue. Is this war necessary? Does this war help the people it’s claiming to help? Are you willing to fight and die in this war? How about your kids, siblings, nieces, and nephews? Do you think there’s a better way to solve international disputes? Do you think the U.S. should meddle in every region around the world? Those are the sort of questions I like to ask ordinary people about U.S. foreign policy.
The point, in my mind, is to empower people. Once people understand the fundamentals of why the war is wrong — morally, politically, etc. — the most important next step is to empower them with the idea that they can make a difference and potentially stop the war. Ideally, we would have an existing anti-war movement large enough and powerful enough to prevent wars before Uncle Sam launches them. But we’re not there right now.
At work, I’ll usually reference just one instance of U.S.-Iranian relations to highlight the insanity of U.S. foreign policy. For instance, if someone brings up the current war, I’ll say something like, “Can you imagine how Americans would feel if the Iranian equivalent of the CIA had overthrown our government back in 1953?” Or, “Can you imagine how Americans would react if the Iranian government helped Canada invade the U.S. and provided the Canadian military with chemical weapons to use during the invasion?” Make it personal. Make it relatable. I’ve found that’s a good way to get people to think about how they would feel if the tables were turned.
Another approach I’ve found useful is comparing the U.S. Empire to the evil empires portrayed in popular films and TV shows. Many of the younger folks I encounter at work or in my neighborhood have watched the recent Dune films, so it’s easy to draw analogies: the U.S. is basically the House Harkonnen. The Spice is oil. And the Fremen are the insurgents and rebels in the Middle East who are fighting back against the evil empire. Yes, of course, the story is more complicated than that. The story in Dune is more complicated than that, but it’s an easy way to get people thinking about the power dynamics between the various forces involved.
The same is true when I speak to older generations — people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. They remember the original Star Wars movies. The Ewoks take on the Galactic Empire, and they win using rudimentary weapons, whereas the Empire has the most advanced weapons in the universe. Sound familiar? According to George Lucas, the Ewoks were inspired by the Viet Cong resistance, who fought against and eventually defeated U.S. troops in Vietnam. Of course, everyone knows the situation in the real world is far more nuanced and complex than the plots of popular movies, though, to be fair, some films are quite intricate. But that’s missing the point. If we’re hoping to get ordinary Americans to think about the human impact and broader consequences of U.S. wars of aggression, we should use popular cultural references that virtually anyone can recognize and understand.
In the short term, it looks like Trump and Netanyahu are hellbent on escalating their criminal war against Iran. As the situation deteriorates and as the Iranians fight back, Americans will be bombarded with anti-Iranian propaganda. The corporate press will frame the Iranians as the aggressors. The Trump administration will blame economic instability and pain on the Iranian regime. Just remember to sit back and ask: how would our government react if the roles were reversed? How would you feel if you were living in Tehran, as opposed to Michigan, Florida, or Texas?