Over 1,200 bombs struck Iran in the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 28. As of March 18, the reported death toll has reached 1,444, according to Aljazeera, with bodies still being recovered from the rubble of both the U.S.-Israel strikes and the Iranian retaliation attacks.
One of the major cities struck was the Iranian capital, Tehran. This specific strike killed the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, causing an uproar within the country. This attack also led to the death of multiple other Iranian political figures.
President Donald Trump’s reasoning behind ‘Operation Epic Fury’ is to rid Iran of all nuclear weapon ambitions and give the Iranian people a chance to overthrow their government, which follows the structure of a theocracy. A theocracy is a form of government that recognizes the supreme leader as a godly figure and often causes a lack of freedom and expression.
With these claims, many MAGA supporters are for Donald Trump’s war efforts. However, with the anti-war sentiments that stem from the Vietnam War, even those who voted for Trump are very against the war, especially after Trump’s administration created the ‘America First Foreign Policy’, which was supposed to prioritize the safety and overall well-being of the American people.
Many don’t believe that this war follows this policy, as the retaliation attacks have killed seven U.S. service members, including Cody A. Khork, Nicole M. Amor, Noah Tietjens, Declan J. Coady, Jeffery R. O’Brien, Robert M. Marzan and Benjamin N. Pennington. On top of these deaths, there are also roughly eight soldiers who are currently fighting for their lives as a result of the attacks.
More news on the war continues to flood news outlets, and this will likely continue for the weeks to come, as the war has been projected to last roughly four to five weeks by the Trump administration. Although the war itself may not seem like it will last long. The consequences of the war may last far longer than that, as oil prices have skyrocketed, although Trump makes the promise that the war will end very soon and oil prices will drop.
