Just hours ago, Iran attacked two US bases in Iraq. The strikes occurred at 1:20 am local time, the same time that Iranian general and Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was killed by a US drone last week. Iran’s armed forces announced that their “fierce revenge” for Soleimani’s assasination had begun.

It seems that we are on the precipice of another decades-long war — a war that could be even bloodier and more unwinnable as the last, and just as unjustified.

The Trump administration, Republicans, military officials, pundits, and plenty of Democrats will now say that our nation’s hand has been forced, that we must respond to the provocation with another attack of our own. GOP leaders and right-wing think tank goons will be giddy, electrified as always by the prospect of spilling fresh blood. Democrats will speak of retaliation somberly, perhaps “with a heavy heart.” But both will make the same argument: “We must respond.”