The United States Bombs Iran and Potentially Begins World War III

In the early morning hours of February 28th, 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran. It was later revealed that these strikes killed Iran's leader Ayatollah Kohmeini ending his reign which began with the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979.

It is not clear what the long term consequences of these actions are but in the hours following Iran struck basically every U.S. military installation in the region, Qatar, Baharain, Dubai, Tel Aviv, and likely other targets that were not as widely reported on as of now.

As a new day began in the Middle East so too did significant bombing campaigns from both sides. U.S. bases across the region, U.S. and Israeli intelligence assets, hotels known to house U.S. officials, a French Naval Base, U.S. embassies and consulates, all were targeted in Iranian strikes and protests.

In response the United States has called for "more talks" and Israel has reportedly readied 100,000 troops, presumably to deploy across the region. What many had seemingly hoped would be a one or two day surgical campaign to remove Iranian leadership has devolved into significant conflict and potentially the beginning of what will one day be called World War III.

As the sun fell once again in the Middle East explosions and air raid sirens rang out in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere as Iran once again hit their targets. It is clear that Iran has decided to exact punishment on U.S. allies in the region and do their best to create economic turmoil and broader destabilization. Attacking Iran is markedly different than other American expeditions in the region. They are a more powerful military force backed by a more ideologically driven power structure, one that is now fighting for survival and seeking revenge.

There have been hundreds of casualties already including American soldiers. Donald Trump has weighed in and stated this may go on for weeks and he expects more soldiers to die in the process. The attacks began with negative popularity numbers and that is surely only going to increase as time goes on. Especially given the whole world is watching this conflict unfold on their smart phones reminiscent of the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza both of which have radicalized observers for years.

Hopefully those who speculate this will be over quickly are right, but I'm not super hopeful they will be. All the ingredients for a broader quagmire are there and plenty of powers on the world stage would love to see the United States descend into another drawn out conflict in the Middle East. This time one that potentially pales in comparison to those of the past. Only time will tell but it is not a situation where those opposed have no agency.

The U.S. and Israeli actions in the Middle East have spawned anti-war protests in cities across the United States and the rest of the globe. Whether popular protest registers as true opposition with any meaningful force anymore is definitely up for debate. Whether this materializes into a genuine anti-war movement with meaningful organization capacity seems doubtful given recent American history. But people in the heart of the empire have a moral obligation to do what they can to stop the meat grinder.

World War III will be bad for everyone but defense contractors. Obviously the worst impacts will be felt by the most marginalized civilians of the Middle East, people who often already experience intense destabilization and repression. Those are the people Western observers must take action for. As the famous Jean-Paul Sarte quote states, "when the rich wage war, it is the poor who die." And unfortunately decades later that is just as true as ever.