I’m a proud graduate of James Monroe High School in the San Fernando Valley, class of 1974. That was one hell of a time to be in high school. 

The Vietnam War was still raging. Nixon was in trouble. And most explosive of all, until December 1972, the draft was still on, and kids graduating our school were getting pulled up against their will, sent off to Vietnam to kill and die for what turned out to be another war-justifying lie: the “domino theory.” 

Imagine you’re 17 years old, finishing your senior year, minding your business, trying to get something out of an L.A. Unified School District education, and your number gets called. The next thing you know, you’re a cog in the wheel of the military industrial complex, soon to be fodder for what was initially called a “policing action,” and then you’re in the jungle, shooting at people who just want you out of their country, while you’re just hoping to somehow stay alive. Just the summer before, you were surfing Malibu. 

The anger about all this had the country nearly in flames, with student protests just about everywhere. My own James Monroe High was no exception. And why not? Our friends were literally being thrown into what was secretly known in the White House as a lost cause. 

(Country) Joe McDonald died March 7. He was best known for his anti-war rally song, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag”: 

And it’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for? 

Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, next stop is Vietnam … 

And it’s five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates … 

Well there ain’t no time to wonder why 

Whoopee! we’re all gonna die. 

Yet again, it ain’t no time to wonder why. 

Some things never change. 

Another president. Another war. 

This one, the Israel-American conflict with Iran, caught us all by surprise. Without approval by Congress, apparently without consultation with our allies, and certainly without prior disclosure to the American public, the once anti-war President Donald Trump launched a massive, devastating attack on Iran, a country widely understood as posing no present danger to us. 

Trump announced an ever-changing list of reasons: stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Eliminate an “imminent threat.” Destroy their missiles and military capabilities. Preemptively prevent attacks on American troops. Retaliation for 47 years of aggression. Regime change. Peace through strength. Protect the Strait of Hormuz. It’s just a short-term excursion. 

“And it’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for?” 

It’s starting to sound like we don’t know, and maybe don’t care. 

What we do know is this: We’re feeding the military industrial complex’s massive appetite again. 

Trump used to say, “We are not the policemen of the world. We don’t want to fight these endless wars.” 

Yet the Middle East is feeling like a forever war all over again, a continuation of last year’s massive bombing that, in Trump’s words, left Iran’s nuclear facilities “completely and totally obliterated.” 

I guess that rationale changed. 

Like Bush II’s yellowcake and aluminum tubes, it seems we’re once again finding whatever justifications will fly to support bombing and mayhem. 

Reports have emerged that early strikes may have hit a school, killing large numbers of people, many of them young girls. My memory still sees that haunting image from Vietnam, the young girl running naked down the road, fleeing a napalmed village. 

There’s no doubt the militaristic regime in Iran is widely disliked by its neighbors and by many of its own citizens. My son is married to a lovely Iranian woman. They are hoping, deeply, that something better comes from all this. 

But war is a strange thing. 

Ask Vladimir Putin about his “three-day special military operation,” now years long, with 1.2-million-plus casualties, and drones shutting down Moscow’s airports. Once unleashed, war spins in all directions. 

Who didn’t see this coming? 

The Strait of Hormuz closed to the West. Oil prices rising. Transportation costs surging. American businesses taking the hit. Inflation creeping back. 

Even voices from inside the administration are now raising alarms. 

Just yesterday, top Trump counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigned, with this quote: 

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” 

When that kind of doubt comes from inside the room, it’s no longer just politics. 

“Well, come on Wall Street, don’t move slow, why man, this is war a go go. There’s plenty good money to be made by supplying the Army with the tools of the trade …” 

I’ve seen this movie before, and all its sequels. 

Here we go again. Another forever war, far from home, for whatever the reason of the day. Iranian cities under fire. American businesses squeezed. American families once again watching events that are reaching closer to home. 

Trump, always convinced he has the answers, has now demanded increased arms production. The factories are humming. 

Feels like old times at Monroe High, just without the draft — yet. 

As I write this, there’s news of 2,500 special forces troops heading toward the region. No one knows what’s next. 

Gary Horton is chairman of the College of the Canyons Foundation board. His “Full Speed to Port!” has appeared in The Signal since 2006. The opinions expressed in his column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Signal or its editorial board.

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