2026 War, What’s It Good For? OP-ED

Artwork generated for The Baltimore Informer

Let’s get one thing straight right out of the gate. I possess zero sympathy for terrorists. The Islamic Republic has a long, brutal track record of repressing its own citizens and funding proxy violence. But I deal in pragmatism and facts, not patriotic fairy tales. And the undeniable fact of this current Middle Eastern bloodbath requires us to look at exactly who threw the first punch.

Before these shenanigans even started, the federal government quietly renamed the Department of Defense back to the Department of War. At least they are finally being honest with us. There is a massive, fundamental difference between genuine self-defense and an aggressive war of choice.

The United States and Israel launched a massive preemptive strike to wipe out Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the IRGC top brass. We hold the ultimate trump card–vast stockpiles of nuclear munitions guaranteeing our survival against any existential threat. We faced no immediate risk of total annihilation. Yet we chose to strike first, ignite a regional powder keg and act surprised when the target fought back.

Contrast that with how the system treats individuals. Look at the Jayden Simpson case right here in Baltimore. Last year, 18-year-old Simpson threw a “preemptive strike” at 61-year-old John Hasty at a gas station. The surveillance camera clearly showed Hasty’s hands were down. He wasn’t an active threat. Simpson hit him anyway, and Hasty died. While the judge handed Simpson an outrageously light 90-day sentence that disgusted this city, the law still recognized the act for what it was: involuntary manslaughter. It was an unprovoked assault, not defense.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you look back at the 2024 campaign trail. We all remember the rallies where Trump stood on stage promising to be the world’s ultimate “peace broker”–the guy who could end “forever wars” with a single phone call. He leaned heavily on his record with the Abraham Accords and complained constantly throughout 2025 regarding how the Nobel Peace Prize committee spitefully snubbed him. He even made a massive show of it when the actual winner finally realized the sham and handed the medal over to him directly. He told us he was the only one who could prevent World War III and mocked the “military-industrial complex” for their endless thirst for blood. Yet here we are in 2026–watching those same warmongers earn money hand over fist while he signs off on the very preemptive slaughters he once campaigned against. It’s the ultimate bait-and-switch. He didn’t drain the swamp; he just gave the alligators a fresh supply of blood and a bigger budget.

When an everyday citizen is caught on camera legitimately defending themselves from a violent attacker, the state drags them through absolute legal hell to prove it wasn’t murder. But when the government launches an unprovoked preemptive strike that slaughters thousands, the corporate media demands we blindly applaud it as “tactical defense.”

Now look at the scoreboard. The 24/7 news networks scream about a blocked Strait, but they conveniently ignore the butcher’s bill. We are talking about roughly a dozen American military casualties and a few dozen Israelis. On the other side? The Iranian health ministry counts over 1,400 dead. Human rights groups push that number well past 3,000. They aren’t putting up a peer-level fight; they are getting their asses kicked in a spectacularly one-sided slaughter.

Nowhere does this slaughter look more sickening than the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab. On the very first day of this campaign, U.S. Tomahawk missiles triple-tapped a civilian educational facility. We aren’t talking about a military bunker. This building featured pastel murals of crayons and microscopes painted on the walls. Nearly 170 young girls between the ages of seven and twelve sat inside when the roof collapsed. Rescue workers spent the aftermath pulling severed limbs and crushed children from the concrete. Over 170 people died in that single strike. The corporate media barely blinked.

Why the massive disconnect? Follow the cash. Escalation represents a booming industry designed to help the right portfolios earn money. Turn on CNN or MSNBC and watch the parade of “national security experts” demanding immediate retaliation. Stephen Hadley, Jeremy Bash, Leon Panetta and a whole club of retired generals sit in climate-controlled TV studios demanding we drop more bombs.

What the sleek lower-third graphics fail to mention? These guys sit on the boards of massive defense contractors or work for the lobbying firms representing them. They are quite literally selling the public the very missiles they want the government to purchase!

Let’s call this exactly what it represents: pure, clinical psychopathy. To sit in a television studio and aggressively advocate for policies that result in seven-year-old girls being crushed to death just so you can earn money on defense stocks requires a complete absence of human empathy. We are dealing with bloodthirsty executives wearing tailored suits. These pundits in DC and retired politicians down in Florida talk like they are some kind of battlefield badasses. They pontificate about “surgical strikes” and “strategic dominance” while sipping their fancy morning flavored coffees. They aggressively demand total war, yet they haven’t got a single scratch on their knuckles. They will never smell the burning rubber, dodge a drone strike or pull a suffocating child from the rubble.

Let me make one thing crystal clear before the corporate media tries to twist my words. I hold zero animosity toward the enlisted grunts on the ground. The men and women in the lower ranks just follow the orders they receive. They bleed for this country while the suits sit comfortably in air-conditioned rooms. My wrath strictly targets the Commander-in-Chief and the military generals orchestrating this circus.

If the top brass or the politicians in charge have a problem with this Op-Ed, they know exactly how to reach me. I am extending a formal, open invitation. You are all welcome to come to Baltimore, sit across the table from me and hash these grievances out in front of a national American audience. Bring your talking points and I’ll bring the receipts.

Here in Baltimore, we recognize a hustle when we see one. We know the difference between a necessary defensive fight and lucrative corporate slaughter. Until the armchair tough guys demanding the bombs are the ones standing directly underneath them, we should all refuse to buy into their BS. They just want to earn money off the blood of others.