Last week, I asked if the US should go to war with Iran. It appears that President Trump has decided for us. We want to know how you feel about it.
High tension as the world awaits Iran’s response to our attacks
After the US attacked Iran, major cities increased security as US agencies issued alerts and world leaders encouraged them to get detached.
Last Thursday, June 19, President Donald Trump said he would decide “in the next two weeks” whether the US will be directly involved in the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. Two days later, Trump announced the completion of a “successful” attack on Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. On Monday, June 23, Iran responded by hitting a US military base in Qatar.
So perhaps another US “eternal war” begins in the Middle East.
Like me, like me, if you spend your whole life with America, you’re entrenched in the Middle East conflict. There, friends and community members have lost their lives to war based on lies, and perhaps you are not excited by this prospect. (Scroll down or click here to share your thoughts with us.)
And we are not alone.
Do you think the US should have bombed Iran?
In an Economist/YouGov poll released before the bombing, 60% of respondents said the US military should not be directly involved. A majority (56%) said negotiations should continue. A Washington Post poll on June 18 found a similar pattern, with the majority of respondents opposed the airstrike. And when USA Today conducted its own reader survey, we received an overwhelming response that the US should not be involved and that the US should refrain from formal intervention.
In the aftermath of the bombing, Americans and the world appear to be split into decisions as before. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Trump Ally of R-South Carolina, praised and even encouraged the move, telling the Wall Street Journal that “this will reset the relationships and relationships of the world.” Meanwhile, R-Georgia’s Maga Faithful MP Marjorie Taylor Greene took him to X on Monday to play Trump and wrote, “It feels like a complete bait and a switch.”
I’d like to know if that feeling has changed within a week. Do you think Trump is right to bomb Iran? Do you think he should have waited for approval from Congress? What do you think Iran and the US will do next? Are you worried about the threat of nuclear war?
Why did Trump hit Iran? Does it change anything?
Questions are swirling with immediate fallout from the June 21 bombing. In a speech that night, Trump claimed that three major Iranian locations had been “expunged.” However, less than a day later, the photo was less certain as weapons experts, Iranian officials and even Russia challenged the true impact of the attack. Was these new developments worth it? And with a country that vows to arm Iran with nuclear weapons anyway, has that changed anything?
We want to know what you think. Please take the poll below or send an email to forum@usatoday.com with the subject “Forum US War.” In the next article on the Opinion Forum, we will publish a collection of answers from all aspects of the conversation.
Janessa Hilliard is the director of Gannett’s views and opinions audiences.
