I think we are in agreement about Iran being a basketcase theocratic Islamic regime with an appalling human rights record. And obviously I'm in support of freedom, civil liberties and security. I don't criticize war because I want Iran to 'win' or my country to be more like Iran. I criticize it because I actually think the biggest risk to our civil liberties comes largely from within, and an over enthusiasm for war which has led the US on a 20+ year mostly-failed quest that has worsened the security situation for the US and other regions around the world, not improved it. In addition, excessive war can work against spreading democracy.
In the US, we also have a growing problem with religious fundamentalism, especially Christian Nationalism that would like to start legislating morality to push their religion on others. Essentially, it is these folks that pose the greatest risk of turning the US into some sort of theocratic nightmare like Iran. I am vehemently opposed to this.
The current push for abortion bans in the US is a good example. Abortion bans are the policy of Iran, Taliban, North Kora, and Josef Stalin (who banned abortion in 1932 in the USSR). For the life of me, I cannot figure out why these religious fanatics are trying to push polices that are the same as the Taliban, who the US fought for 20 years. What's the point of fighting fundamentalist religious extremists in places like Afghanistan or Iran, if we have them right here at home implementing the same Sharia law policies?
The other big danger to civil liberties in the US is the fact that despite calling ourselves a 'democracy' we're effectively a plutocracy. We don't really get to vote on whether we go to war or not. Those decisions are made by a ruling elite. I think it's important to question carefully the merit of yet another drawn-out conflict and whose interests it actually serves. Are we actually 'defending democracy', or just ensuring contracts for ExxonMobil and LockheedMartin?
War is dangerous, because it too can erode civil liberties, rather than preserve them. For example, the 'patriot act' in the US that was passed after 9/11 paved the way for far more invasive government surveillance of citizens under the pretext of security.
Security and civil liberties/freedom are often at odds, especially in wartime and so I think it's healthy to question how much 'security' we trade away civil liberties for and if these wars merit the risks. The US has a history of political oppression and crackdowns on people who do not enthusiastically support war (especially in WWI where speaking out against the war could land you in prison), as well as mandatory conscription which no one wants again here.
Finally, the US has backed some pretty awful regimes in the past that have caused 'blowback' (for example, the Taliban grew out of the Mujihadeen the US backed against the Soviets). At the beginning of the US invasion in Afghanistan, our troops were getting attacked with old stockpiles of US weapons that were still kicking around the country and that landed in the hands of the Taliban. The US also has a bad habit of miring itself in conflicts that are simply unwinnable (Vietnam, War on Terror/Afghanistan), or end up drawing the US into pointless tribal/religious feuds and foreign civil wars.
That's why I'm wary of war - not because I'm hoping for Iranian-style Sharia law to take over. I understand the impulse to attack this head-on militarily, but I think one thing the US and the West is learning the hard way is that this can do more harm than good. After all, the current regime in Iran came about due to unwise US meddling in Iran and was 'blowback' from anger at the US-backed coup and the US-backed regime that the Iranians despised (and rightfully so). The Shah had about as bad a human rights record as the current regime. The Ayatollas rose to power on the promise of kicking the Americans out (which they did).
I'm not yet convinced that this Israeli military action is going to accomplish much of anything of lasting worth. I'm afraid it will just turn into yet another expensive war for both the US and Israel that ends up worsening an already bad situation and cause people around the world to associate the US and Israel with death bombs and destruction which the images on the TV depict, rather than democratic ideals and human rights.
Killing civilians because their regime sucks in the hopes that they'll rise up and change it rarely accomplishes that. It just ends up recruiting more of them to fight for the regime that sucks. They end up hating what they view as the invader/occupier even more than their own lousy leaders. This was essentially the story of the US war in Vietnam. The Communists were stronger than ever when the US finally pulled out... thanks to the US driving the locals into their arms and to their cause.
This war could beat Iran and its proxies back... or it could embolden them and make them as popular as ever in the Arab world. That's the big danger here I think, and a very popular Iran and a very unpopular US/Israel is fertile ground for terrorism to thrive, and a recruiting dream come true for them.
