Morning Note

Remember these early-2000s George Bush quotes?

“We will free the people of Iraq from the clutches of a tyrant and help them build a free and peaceful country." 

“The people of Iraq should be free… It is our moral duty to act on behalf of the oppressed."

“Our mission is clear: to free the Iraqi people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and to help them build a better future."

Reading those in hindsight is chilling. By advancing those sentiments, the disgraced former president used the American ideal of freedom to justify killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, destroying the lives, futures, and families of thousands of United States troops, wasting trillions of dollars, and further destabilizing the already turbulent Middle East. Your antennas should go up whenever any politician deploys the same kind of rhetoric.

Plenty are. This week, over 150 lawmakers introduced a resolution to bring freedom to Iran, embracing eerily similar language to what Bush used over two decades ago.

The American people are “looking forward to a free Iran in the very near future,” Congressman Lance Gooden said. 

“It’s not inconceivable to me that within the next few years, we will be celebrating the liberation of Iran,” Rep. Tom McClintock chimed in, adding that the Iranian regime has become a “supreme source of misery, injustice, and oppression for its own people.” 

“Now is the time” for change, Rep. Randy Weber also passionately proclaimed.

Years from now, Americans may recall this story as the beginning of a pivotal phase of their country’s destruction. Read it here.