Open Letter to the U.S. Armed Forces: An Act of War for Whose Benefit?

  

Open Letter to the U.S. Armed Forces:

An Act of War for Whose Benefit?

By Larry Romanoff

 

 

 

To the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines of the United States Armed Forces:

 

I address this letter to you directly because Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury, has just declared a new war on Iran, an economic war that history shows is usually the prelude to a larger military conflict. His brief speech, which you can read in full below, is designed to frame this act of economic aggression as a noble crusade. But a careful reading of the historical record reveals a very different story: one in which the United States has been the aggressor, not Iran; a story in which American lives and treasure have been sacrificed for the strategic ambitions of Israel, with no benefit whatever to the United States.

 

I acknowledge your service to your country. You have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. You have not sworn an oath to fight wars of choice for the benefit of Israel’s hegemonic quest over the entire Middle East. You have not sworn an oath to die so that Israel and the Jewish bankers in The City of London can secure Iran’s oil.

 

Donald Trump, under extreme pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu and AIPAC, launched a war against Iran in 2025 and 2026, and lost. The United States lost not only the war, but tens of billions of dollars of aircraft, equipment, and missiles, and hundreds of billions in damage to its military bases in the Middle East. Faced with the fact that its “Banker’s Private Army” [1] lost an unconscionable war that had no justification, Israel now uses the US in an attempt to destroy Iran economically, demanding that the entire world join and support this economic war. They are fervently hoping that severe economic sanctions against Iran will impoverish the population and cause a revolution that will overthrow the government, and produce a leader who is more weak and pliant, one who presents to Israel on his knees.

 

Furthermore, Scott Bessent addresses the military personnel of Iran, and effectively suggests they consider a mutiny and a political coup. His words, “To the ordinary soldiers supporting this (Iranian) regime, ask whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin.”

 

That is perhaps the Core Question, and I would pose it also to you: “Are you being asked to sacrifice your lives and your honor for America, or for the genocidal ambitions of Israel?”

 

The full text of Bessent’s speech, and an official government link to it, are below.

 

 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at a news conference, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, at the Treasury Department in Washington. Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press. Source:

 

Bessent’s Speech. [2]

 

The United States Treasury has begun Operation Outcast, an unprecedented campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its enablers. In the Second World War, D-day marked the historic beginning a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe. Around the globe. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone. Iran’s fanatics devote themselves to “Death to America”, and seek nuclear weapons to do just that.

 

They have murdered and maimed more of our citizens and service members than any other terrorist regime on earth. And they have been at war against America, their neighbors in the Gulf, and the rest of the world, for 47 years. President Trump has taken action that his predecessors have long deferred and, under his leadership, America is no longer managing the Iranian threat; we are ending it. Our great armed forces have laid the groundwork for achieving the President’s objective of preventing Iran from ever obtaining nuclear weapons. They have shown America’s resolve to finally end this threat. And the strength of America’s economy under President Trump allows us to wage this sustained financial operation alongside the might of our military. 

 

 

Iran now faces a very clear choice, with only two paths before them: complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path back to normalcy with an opportunity to rejoin the global economy. Today we are launching Operation Economic Outcast to foreclose every other option available to the Iranian regime. Treasury has mapped every node, every facilitator, and every network, that Iran has used to smuggle oil and evade sanctions. Beginning today, the actions of Treasury and other agencies will tighten the noose and block every potential source of revenue that funds the IRGC and the evil Iranian regime. We are enforcing a zero-leakage approach. There will be no minimal breathing space for the regime to rebuild its capacity to inflict terror against America and the world. The final refuge of this regime is a mistaken conclusion of nations that still finance the Iranian threat in the hopes of evading it.

 

If Iran wants to “return to normalcy” it needs to eliminate the US and Israel because they are the only blockage. It is the US illegal sanctions that have prevented Iran from “rejoining the global economy” for 47 years. By what measure do you categorise Iran as “an evil regime”? What “evil” has Iran committed against anyone? It is the Jews in Israel who want Iran destroyed, to eliminate a threat to their hegemony over the entire Middle East. Iran has never done anything to anyone. What “terror” has Iran inflicted on “America and the world”? None. The terrorist groups in the Middle East have all been created and financed by the US, not by Iran. It is the US and Israel who inflict terror on the world, not Iran.

 

It is no longer acceptable to operate in the grey spaces of this conflict. Countries cannot claim they are blind to enabling this activity. Iran’s enablers purchase [and] transport its petroleum, they facilitate the flow of its finances through exchange houses and free trade zones. They welcome Iran’s flights and maintain registries on its behalf. They turn a blind eye to seaborne fuel transfers and overland transit. They condone illicit use of their banks, all the while concealing the extent of their complicity. 

 

The President is making phone calls to world leaders with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime. We are already seeing results. Over the weekend, comments from Iranian leadership clearly acknowledge the effect of this campaign, and nations that facilitate any international interactions with the regime should quickly heed our message. Those who stand with the United States will reap the rewards of our partnership; those who tether themselves to the Iranian regime should expect to share in the isolation of a withering regime.

 

Teams from Treasury, State, and the US military are now meeting with their global counterparts to tell them that the United States expects action. Every country has a defined timeline to shut down activities we have identified. If they do not take action, we will do so unilaterally through Treasury authorities. For example, every branch of Bank Melli must be shuttered and dark. And let me be clear: any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran, will be removed from the US dollar system. The clock just started ticking. 

 

The new sectoral sanctions, determinations, issued today, target five of Iran’s most vital lifelines that it exploits in other countries: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. These measures broaden secondary sanctions risk for anyone foolish enough to continue conducting business with this regime, and will accelerate the speed with which we pursue them. As I speak, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is also sanctioning over 60 entities, individuals, and vessels around the world, that enable the Iranian regime to procure illicit nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations, and generate oil revenue. 

   

This is a sustained campaign to collapse every last option for Iran. Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States: an economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime, will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power. For decades, this regime has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain, and American enforcement as negotiable. Under President Trump, that era is over. To the ordinary soldiers supporting this regime, as more and more of your paychecks stop, or are supposedly just delayed, ask whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin. And recall that the Berlin wall fell when ordinary soldiers decided not to shoot at their own people.

 

And to those who enable Tehran, do not discount the cost of testing Washington’s resolve. No nation should expect to enjoy the rewards of our system while helping those who seek to destroy it. It is now a time for world leaders to make a decision between prosperity and isolation, peace and terror, American and Iran. The campaign we begin today will gather force with every day that follows, and it will not end until this regime stands alone. 

 

Section 1: The Historical Record of US Aggression Against Iran

 

These are the documented historical acts of US aggression against Iran. This is the “buried history” you have not been told.

 

1953 Coup: The Founding Act of American Enmity

 

You have been told that Iran is an “evil regime” and that it has been “at war with America for 47 years.” But what you have not been told is that the United States and Britain overthrew Iran’s democratically elected government in 1953. The CIA and MI6 orchestrated a coup that deposed Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq because he had nationalized Iran’s oil industry, which had been controlled by the Jewish bankers in The City of London. [3] The CIA’s own declassified documents acknowledge that “the military coup… was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy”. [4] The result of that coup was the installation of Shah Pahlavi as a brutal dictator, who ruled Iran for 26 years with American backing until he was overthrown by the Iranian people in 1979. This was the founding act of American enmity toward Iran. The Iranians have not forgotten it. [5]

 

USS Vincennes (1988): The Downing of a Civilian Airliner

 

On 3 July 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 civilians on board, including 66 children. The plane was a scheduled civilian flight in Iranian airspace. [6] [7] The US Navy first claimed the aircraft was military, then that is was in international airspace, then admitted it wasn’t, and dismissed the act as a “mistake.” The ship’s captain was later awarded a medal for his actions. The families of the 290 victims have never received an apology or compensation. While the US government termed this a simple mistake, most observers believe it was intentional. [8] The Iranians have not forgotten. [9] Ask yourselves: If Iran had shot down a US civilian airliner, killing 290 Americans, how would the United States have responded?

 

The Assassination of Qasem Soleimani (2020):

 

On 3 January 2020, the United States (Israel actually, with American assistance) assassinated Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport, while he was on a diplomatic mission. [10] The Pentagon claimed this was a “defensive action” to deter future Iranian attacks. But even US senators pointed out, this was “a reckless escalation of hostilities” that put “U.S. forces and citizens in danger and very possibly sinking us into another disastrous war in the Middle East”. [11] The US intelligence agencies and many US Senators also noted that there was not a shred of credible evidence that Iran was preparing any action against anyone. This was yet again false Jewish (Israeli) forged misinformation. [12] [13]

 

The so-called “Decapitation” Strike

 

This betrayal really must be classified as one of the most repugnant, unethical, and immoral foreign policy acts ever committed. While in the midst of “peace” negotiations with Iran, the US and Israel conspired to launch cruise missiles into the building where Iran’s leaders and negotiators were known to be meeting. The explosion killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, the members of his family, all the negotiators and other members of Iran’s military. This was done on the advice of Benjamin Netanyahu, who asserted that a “decapitation” strike would collapse the Iranian government, facilitate a regime change, and that Iran would quickly surrender. None of those benefits occurred. Instead, this horrendous act of treachery served only to harden Iran’s resolve to never capitulate to the United States. More pathologically, this duplicity was effected twice, with the US attacking Iranian locations a second time during “peace” negotiations. After that, Iran refused any further negotiations with the US.

 

The so-called “Pilot Rescue”; The $5 Billion Uranium Blunder

 

Donald Trump concocted a bold, ill-advised – and quite stupid – plan. He asked the US military to prepare a “black operation” to infiltrate a team into Iran, commandeer the Isfahan nuclear facility, and confiscate the nation’s stockpile of enriched uranium. The Washington Post confirmed that the military complied with a plan. [1] Trump’s apparent hope was to create another “Venezuela moment” in Iran. If successful, the Donald would then appear to be the hero he had always believed himself to be. Sadly, things didn’t go as planned. [14] If you don’t know the full story, I strongly suggest you read this article.

 

The Memorandum of Understanding

 

President Donald Trump, representing the United States, signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, conceding to all the points Iran demanded. The first of these points was that Iran, and Iran alone, would be responsible for traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The US immediately violated this first clause by imposing a so-called “blockade” on the Strait. A second condition of the MOU was that Israel cease its military activities in Lebanon, and fully withdraw from the country. Israel violated the MOU by immediately launching yet another murderous attack on a Lebanese town. And so on. Within a week, the US had reneged on the MOU it had just signed, by violating each and every one of the 14 clauses. From this, Iran reasonably concluded that negotiation with the US was pointless, and that the Americans were “agreement-incapable”. In other words, US officials and politicians could not be trusted, so discussion and agreement were of no use.

 

The Minab School Massacre: A “Double-Tap” Strike

 

On 28 February 2026, a US strike hit a primary school in Minab, Iran, killing at least 165 people, most of them children. The strike was a “double-tap”: a first strike, followed by a second strike approximately 40 minutes later, that deliberately targeted first responders and survivors trying to rescue the wounded. Donald Trump claimed the strike was from an Iranian missile that had gone astray, but US investigators later acknowledged that the United States was responsible for the attack. [15] The New York Times and other American media confirmed that the weapon used was a US Tomahawk cruise missile. The subsequent “official narrative” was that this was a “mistake” caused by either (a) ignoring factual intelligence, or (b) the use of “outdated maps”. It was further claimed that the school was “inside” a military compound and was therefore merely “collateral damage”, but in fact the school was only near a military compound, within a completely separate perimeter, and in no way part of a military base. This could not possibly have been an accident as claimed. No competent military uses ten-year-old maps. Ask yourselves: Can the nation that commits such an act – killing children in a school – credibly describe itself as a force for good? Can the same nation that kills children in a school call Iran an “evil regime” with a straight face? Tucker Carlson denounced the US military’s attack on Iranian elementary schools, calling them utterly inhumane, and bluntly stating, “A country like this is simply not worth fighting for.” [16]

 

For your information, this story was identical to that of the US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the war in Yugoslavia: the unfortunate use of “outdated maps”. But the truth was that the US believed the Chinese were using the Embassy’s transmission facilities to pass information to Serbia, so they bombed it, then dismissed the bombing as a “mistake”.

 

The 47-Year War

 

Bessent and Trump claim that Iran has been at war with the US for the past 47 years, but that is backwards. It is the US and Israel that have been at war with Iran, levying financial sanctions and other coercive measures for 47 years. That rift 47 years ago had two causes: (1) The Iranians organised a revolution and kicked out the Shah, taking back their country, and (2) the Jewish bankers in The City of London lost control of Iran’s oil. Since then, since 1979, your government has subjected the people of Iran to the most brutal, even savage, economic “sanctions”, as punishment for obtaining their “freedom”. I must note here that these so-called “sanctions” – which are entirely an “American product” – are illegal, against all international law, against all morality, and against all good sense. They are criminal, extortionate, and inhumane.

 

In case you don’t know, this is precisely the same treatment that is applied to Cuba – for Castro’s expelling the Americans and Jews in 1959. When the US and the Jews installed Battista as dictator, Cuba quickly became known as “The Whorehouse of the Caribbean”. When the Cuban people finally revolted and expelled all the foreigners, the US imposed the most brutal economic sanctions on Cuba and has maintained them for nearly 70 years.

 

After reviewing this record, who is the ‘evil regime’? Who has been the aggressor for 47 years?” Scott Bessent and Donald Trump say the Iranians hate the US. Well, they have good reason, don’t they?

 

Section 2: In search of “Murderous Regimes”

 

Your USA has been a country for around 245 years; you may not be aware that it has been at war for 235 of those 245 years. Here is a brief list of the countries your US has bombed and/or invaded since World War II: [17] How many people, in how many innocent countries, has your US killed in the last 40 or 50 years? Tens of millions. I have covered the US invasion and destruction of both Iraq [18] [19] and Libya [20] in detail. I earnestly urge you to read these articles. I can assure you they contain information that will surprise and shock you. The wars against Iraq, Libya, and Syria have one thing in common that you won’t know about. Read it here. [21]

 

Korea 1950-53

China 1950-53

Guatemala 1954

Indonesia 1958

Cuba 1959-60

Guatemala 1960

Belgian Congo 1964

Guatemala 1964

Dominican Republic 1965-66

Peru 1965

Laos 1964-73

Vietnam 1961-73

Cambodia 1969-70

Guatemala 1967-69

Lebanon 1982-84

Grenada 1983-84

Libya 1986

El Salvador 1981-92

Nicaragua 1981-90

Iran 1987-88

Libya 1989

Panama 1989-90

Iraq 1991

Kuwait 1991

Somalia 1992-94

Bosnia 1995

Iran 1998

Sudan 1998

Afghanistan 1998

Yugoslavia – Serbia 1999

Afghanistan 2001

Libya 2011

Iraq and Syria 2014 –

Somalia 2011 –

Iran 2020 –

 

List of countries Israel has attacked, bombed or invaded in recent years: [22]

 

Palestine (Gaza Strip and West Bank)

Lebanon

Syria

Egypt

Jordan

Iraq

Iran

Tunisia

Uganda

Sudan

Yemen

Qatar

Greece

Malta

 

List of countries Iran has attacked/bombed:

 

If we want to assemble a list of countries against which Iran has initiated military attacks in the past 75 years, that list will be empty. There is no occasion during these past decades where Iran has attacked any nation, not even the US. We can ignore the Iraq war, since Iran was merely defending itself against an onslaught initiated by the US and Israel, but this was not a war that Iran started. We can similarly ignore the 2025-2026 war with the US, since this also was not initiated by Iran.

 

The “official narrative” in the (Jewish-controlled) media tell us that Iran has sponsored every manner of “terrorist groups” who have attacked nearly everyone, but this is fabricated propaganda. The truth is that Iran has never supported any terrorist group, and in fact the groups like ISIS have all been created, led and financed by the US, not by Iran. As one example, the US and Israel have financed and led the Kurds in attempts to spark revolutions in both Iraq and Iran, then blamed Iran for “cracking down” on the poor Kurds. This is all merely misleading war propaganda and has no basis in truth.

 

It is true that Iran has supported Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen, but these groups are defending their homeland against military attacks from Israel and the US. They are not initiating wars, and they are not in any sense “terrorist”. They are fighting existential threats against their homelands, and that is not the same thing. Supporting a nation under attack by an evil government is not “terrorism”.

 

The Interpretation of “Initiation”: While Iran has launched direct military strikes on multiple nations in response to the US-led offensive, these are framed within the context of a defensive reaction to an attack on its own soil. From this perspective, Iran has not initiated a new war but is responding to an existing one. The historical record consistently describes Iran’s military engagement as defensive, never as initiative. There are no documented instances of Iran initiating a war against another country in the last 75 years. Iran’s military actions have always been in response to a large-scale attack by the U.S. and Israel. This distinction is a crucial point of analysis.

 

Hezbollah in Lebanon is a primary example of Iran’s “defensive” posture. The Israeli military campaigns against Lebanon and Gaza have been met with calls to expand support for the “resistance” on those fronts, described as a necessary response to Israeli actions. The Houthis in Yemen fit a similar pattern. The Iranian-led alliance has activated the Houthis as a “trump card” to relieve military pressure on Iran and other members of the Axis, and to warn the US and its Gulf allies against escalating the conflict. This move is described in the sources as a response to the US-Israeli military campaign, rather than an unprovoked aggression.

 

This assessment is strongly supported by the evidence. The historical record does not show Iran initiating unprovoked military actions. Instead, its military posture – including its support for non-state allies like Hezbollah and the Houthis – is consistently documented as a defensive response to large-scale US and Israeli military operations and the perception of an existential threat.

 

Section 3: The Sacrifice of America’s Own; A Military in Ruins

 

There has been much news in the media recently about the poor condition of US naval ships. [23] [24] There is much documented evidence that the sailors and marines have no food, no toilets, no showers, have been at sea for over 260 days with no break. There have been many media reports of sailors jumping off the ships and committing suicide due to the unbearable conditions. There were also reports of a large fight aboard one of the ships where 7 sailors were killed. This was apparently due to the intense pressure and lack of facilities. This is a powerful indication that the US doesn’t really care about its military personnel, sacrificing them this way as well, all in the service of Israel, when there was no threat to the US. My guess is that if the navy is this bad, the air force, the army and marines are likely similar. Also, there is the issue that Pete Hegseth, the “Secretary of War” is not competent.

 

The documented conditions aboard US naval vessels, particularly the USS Abraham Lincoln, provide powerful corroborating evidence for the central thesis that the US military is being systematically sacrificed in a war that serves only Jewish interests.

 

 

US Military Suicides. Source:

 

The USS Gerald R. Ford

 

Consider the case of the USS Gerald R. Ford, an item in this context that is both noteworthy and curious. The ship suffered a fire that burned for more than 30 hours before it could be extinguished. The ship’s fire suppression system failed, and the fire was so widespread it destroyed the berths of 600 sailors. [25] The official narrative was that some clothing caught fire in the laundry of the ship, but that cannot possibly be true. There is nothing in any laundry room that could cause a fire; electrical circuits are on breakers, and sailor’s undershorts are not notably flammable. US media now say the damage was so severe that the ship will need a year of repairs.

 

It is almost certain that the ship was hit by an Iranian missile; it would require something of that severity to cause a fire that cannot be extinguished for 30 hours. And here is the critical detail: President Trump himself described the ship coming under a coordinated ’17-direction’ assault by Iranian missiles and drones, saying the crew ‘had to run to save our lives’. Which story do you believe? That a pile of laundry burned for 30 hours and disabled the most advanced aircraft carrier in the world? Or that the ship was struck in combat, and the Pentagon is lying to you about the truth of this war?

 

Iran has claimed to have damaged U.S. carriers while the US military denies this. But if the Pentagon is willing to lie about the Ford fire, what else are they lying about? How many casualties have been hidden? How many ships have been damaged? How many soldiers have died in a war they were told was ‘winnable’ when their own leaders knew otherwise?” The official US Navy account said the fire was “not combat-related,” and that the carrier remained “fully operational”. However, significant evidence contradicts this:

 

1. The fire was catastrophic, not minor; It burned for over 30 hours before it was extinguished, and was so extensive that ceilings were burned through, with melted wiring hanging down; the internal structure may have been compromised due to prolonged heat exposure to the steel hull. CNN and other US media have since reported that the damage was far more severe than the Pentagon initially admitted, with some officials stating the ship may require at least a year of repairs. [26] [27] [28]

 

2. The “Laundry Fire” explanation is not only implausible, but impossible. A modern warship’s electrical systems are protected by breakers, and sailors’ undershorts are not a source of self-sustaining 30-hour combustion. Countless military experts have noted that the failure of fire suppression systems and the length of the burn point to serious design or damage-control failures, cannot be caused by a simple laundry accident. The vessel had also suffered previous maintenance issues, including blocked toilets affecting 650 crew members.

3. Public Statements from President Trump Suggest a Different Story

 

In a public address, President Trump described the USS Gerald R. Ford coming under a coordinated “17-direction” assault by Iranian missiles and drones, and that the crew “had to run to save our lives”. [29] This account is dramatically at odds with the Navy’s laundry-room explanation and essentially admits that the fire was a consequence of combat damage, not an accident. The Iranian military explicitly stated that they had attacked the USS Abraham Lincoln, rendering it non-operational, and planned to attack the Gerald Ford as well. [30] [31] The US military has denied this, but given the pattern of official downplaying of damage, independent verification is difficult. [32]

 

This information is powerful evidence of the systematic cover-up of the true cost of the war, of the true hardships and casualties suffered by innocent and uninformed sailors, soldiers, and airmen. The pattern is consistent: The Pentagon says “minor incident, no damage, crew safe”, then we learn the fire burned for 30 hours, 600 sailors lost their berths, and the ship is out of action for a year. Then the President himself suggests it was a major attack. This supports s broader argument that your government is not honest with you about the risks you face, and is withholding information that might cause your soldiers and sailors to question whether this war is worth fighting.

 

The USS Abraham Lincoln

 

The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier carrying more than 5,000 sailors and Marines, departed San Diego in November 2025. It was supposed to return in May 2026. Instead, it has been deployed for more than 260 days, with a record-setting 208 consecutive days at sea without a port call. It is currently attempting to enforce (with little success) an illegal naval blockade against Iran. [33] [34]

 

What has life been like on this ship? Let me tell you what the families of the sailors – and the sailors themselves – have reported, in their own words. Food shortages: Sailors have been placed on food rations. Some have received as little as two biscuits and half a bowl of rice for a meal. Supplies have repeatedly run low. Contaminated water: The ship’s water system failed early in the deployment. When it was restored, access to showers remained restricted. Broken sanitation: Toilets have backed up and overflowed, leaving human waste on the floors of restrooms used by hundreds of sailors. Mold and mildew have infested the showers. The BBC carried a long report of conditions aboard the Abraham Lincoln. [35]

 

No mail: Care packages from families have been lost in transit for months. Mail has been so disrupted that sailors have gone without contact from home for extended periods. Suicide attempts: It is documented that multiple sailors have jumped overboard or have attempted to jump overboard. Families have reported receiving messages from their loved ones saying they “hope they don’t wake up tomorrow”. A deadly brawl: In August 2026, a CENTCOM official boarded the ship to address mounting complaints, and was met with boos and water bottles thrown at him. A fight broke out among the crew, involving knives and other bladed weapons. Seven sailors were killed. [36]

 

These are not isolated incidents. The USS Gerald R. Ford suffered similar problems: toilets failing, sewage overflowing, a fire in the laundry room that injured more than 200 sailors. The USS George H.W. Bush has also reported shortages of food, water, and soap after 136 days at sea.

 

The parents of these sailors have been forced to beg their elected representatives for answers. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to Secretary Hegseth, expressing concern that the Navy “cannot sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier force”. One father even wrote to his senator asking if he could do a “parent swap” to take his son’s place aboard the Lincoln, so that his son could come home. This is how America treats its warriors.

 

And who is responsible? The man in charge of this debacle is Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. He is a Christian Zionist who “loves Jesus” so much that he told a collection of several hundred Generals that “Your purpose is to kill people for a living”. Congressional leaders have called him a “failure” to his face. Senator Gary Peters told him: “You, sir, are the failure. [37] Not the men and women who are on that front line… You don’t have a strategy. You don’t have a long-term plan to actually win this war”. Hegseth responded not by fixing the problems, but by accusing his critics of “political cowardice”. And the official narrative from the US military chooses to deny all these realities. [38]

 

When reports of the Lincoln’s conditions surfaced, Hegseth called them “completely misrepresented”. He told reporters that the government ensures “every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them”. Yet the families’ accounts, the sailors’ testimonies, and the seven dead sailors from the brawl tell a different story.

 

If this is how the U.S. government treats its military personnel – denying them food, water, sanitation, mail, and mental health care while keeping them at sea for over 260 days – what does that say about how much it values your lives? What does it say about the Israeli cause for which you are being asked to fight? You have been told that you are fighting for America. But consider how “America” treats you while you fight.

 

US Military Servicemen are Disposable

 

I don’t want you to think my words are inflammatory exaggerations. You won’t want to hear this, but the US Government – and the Department of Defense – have always viewed their military servicemen with contempt and treated them as disposable. Your former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, said, “Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy”. [39] Yes, he really said that, and was not criticised for it.

 

Covert experiments by the US government on its own military personnel are not new. For at least the past 70 years, the US military has used its servicemen as laboratory animals in conducting illegal and inhumane experiments. From at least the 1940s until today, ex-military patients in US Veterans Administration hospitals were used as test subjects under many circumstances, without their knowledge or consent. Millions of US servicemen have been deliberately exposed to biological pathogens, nuclear radiation of various forms, medical substances and other procedures, all without their knowledge or consent. The admission of these appears only after many decades of secrecy and some are still denied. With the extensive destruction of records, much of the truth will never be known.

 

This unconscionable treatment includes deliberate exposure to radiation: you may not be aware of this but, during atomic bomb tests, your leaders instructed military aircraft to fly through the mushroom clouds simply so they could obtain first-hand information on the rapidity of radiation poisoning. For 20 years or more, the US military ordered about 250,000 servicemen into very near ground zero to observe nuclear explosions, in addition to another 200,000 who were part of the US occupation force in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There was no scientific or military justification for the forced exposure of these men, especially in such large numbers. The Defense Department was simply sacrificing soldiers in attempts to learn the incidence of illness and death from exposure to nuclear explosions.

 

US servicemen have been knowingly exposed to lethal pathogens, used in many kinds of human experimentation, and much more. Operation Desert Storm and the Iraq war left countless soldiers with debilitating ailments, the existence of which the US military either ignores or denies the existence. You won’t know this, but your military subjected many war veterans to undergo forced frontal lobotomies in experimental attempts to control what is today considered the psychological trauma of war, many of these victims being very young men who were having trouble dealing with the horrors they experienced. The men, of course, became vegetables.

 

This is such a serious matter that I researched and wrote an article exposing some of the unconscionable treatment US servicemen have received at the hands of their own government. The article is titled, “The US Declares War on its own Military”. [40] It is heavily documented with references, and I strongly urge you to read it. It may shock you to your core.

 

Section 4: The real agenda: This is Israel’s war, not America’s

 

The evidence is overwhelming that this war is being fought not for America, but for Israel and the Jews of AIPAC. This is not “anti-Semitism”: it is documented fact. This is not a war for America. This is a war for Israel. And you are being sacrificed: not only in combat, but in peacetime conditions that are themselves a form of slow torture. Your leaders have failed you. They are spending your lives to serve Israel’s ambitions. The question is: will you continue to let them?”

 

The Jewish demand for the annihilation of Iran is not a secret. Worldwide media have consistently reported that the push for the war against Iran comes from Israel and the Jews in AIPAC. The bald truth is that Israel wants total military and political control of the entire Middle East – including all of the oil – and is willing to fight to the last American to achieve this.

 

The head of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, Joseph Kent, resigned in March 2026 over the Iran war. In his resignation letter to President Trump, he wrote: “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 lobby”. [41] Kent, a former Green Beret who served multiple combat tours, said that “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. He called this “a lie” and said it was “the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war”. [42]

 

The academic Stephen Walt, writing in Foreign Policy, has documented how the Israeli lobby pushed Washington into a direct confrontation with Iran. He names specific figures: Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, Mike Huckabee, and notes that “(Jewish) political money played a pivotal role”, citing Miriam Adelson as the largest donor in the last election. Walt quotes Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming that the US administration was “fully aware of Israeli plans for the attack, and even chose to initiate the attack despite anticipating Iranian reactions against American forces”. In other words, America attacked Iran knowing that US forces would be retaliated against – and that Americans would die – because Israel demanded it. The US wars against Iraq, Libya, Syria, and now Iran have been fought for the benefit of Israel. None have benefited the United States. None have made America safer. All have cost thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars.

 

Iran is not a threat, and is not even of interest to the US, but Israel views Iran as an existential threat to its regional hegemony, and you are being used as a tool to fight Israel’s war for it, and possibly to die for the cause. It is only Israel and the Jews who want aggressions against Iran, yet, under pressure, the US has consistently aligned with Israel’s pathological aggression.

 

The war with Iran is not a US war, but one that is being waged because Israel wants Iran destroyed. I would note in bold letters that Israel will fight to the last American to achieve this. I would remind you that the US wars against Iraq, Libya and Syria were also for the benefit of Israel and were of no benefit to the United States.

 

A question for you to ponder: “Why are you fighting a country that has never attacked you, has never done anything to you? Why are you supporting a genocidal foreign “power” that dictates your foreign policy?

 

Section 5: The illegitimacy of U.S. sanctions

Bessent’s claims refuted

 

Bessent’s speech is a textbook example of what I term the “official narrative”, which is a propaganda document designed to frame an act of economic warfare, extortion and bullying, as a moral crusade. Several elements stand out under critical scrutiny:

 

• Donald Trump has said repeatedly that Iran has already been “obliterated”. Its ships have all been sunk, its aircraft all destroyed, all missiles and missile launchers gone, all the country’s leaders killed, all nuclear facilities “bombed to kingdom come”, inflation at “300%”, the military not being paid for lack of funds, popular revolution in the streets, and much more. The first question is WHY, if Iran is already destroyed and “obliterated”, are these new sanctions necessary?
• 
  
• 
  
• Framing as “D-Day”: Bessent invokes the Normandy landings to equate illegal and extortionate economic sanctions with a noble, allied campaign against a universally recognised evil. This is a rhetorical manipulation that obscures the unilateral, coercive nature of the military action.

• The “Evil Regime” Label: Bessent repeatedly calls Iran “evil” and “murderous”, but provides no concrete evidence of Iranian aggression against the US. In reality, there is nothing in Iran’s history that would justify such labels. This is emotional branding, not factual argumentation.

• False Accusations: Bessent claims Iran has “murdered and maimed” more US citizens than any other regime, but the historical record has no factual support for this assertion. It is the US, through the actions I am listing below, that has inflicted devastating harm on Iran. And, while I regret being so blunt, it is the US and Israel who have “murdered and maimed” more citizens of more nations than all the other countries of the world, combined. Lists are presented below, for your information.

• Projection: Bessent accuses Iran of being “at war with America for 47 years”, when it has been the US that has sustained a comprehensive economic warfare campaign against Iran for that duration, and totally in absence of any Iranian “terror” threat.

• The “Choice” Narrative: Bessent presents Iran with a false dichotomy: “complete global isolation” or “a path to normalcy”. He omits that the US itself is the agent enforcing the isolation, and that “normalcy” is a euphemism for capitulation to US (and Israeli) demands. It is the United States that has isolated Iran by imposing and maintaining illegal sanctions against Iran for 47 years. It is the United States that has prevented Iran from rejoining the global economy.

• The Plea to the Iranian Military: Bessent’s direct appeal to Iranian soldiers, asking them to question their commanders, is a deliberate attempt to foment mutiny. It is an act of psychological warfare aimed at destabilising a sovereign state.

• Bessent says Iran’s oil trade is “smuggling” and its payments are “money laundering”, through the “illicit use of banks”. Iran sells oil, receives payment, and deposits the money in a bank. What is “illicit” about that? Iran’s oil is Iran’s property. Its sale to willing buyers is not smuggling; it is commerce. The United States has no right to dictate to sovereign nations the countries with whom they may trade. Who is the US to dictate to the entire world the friends they can have? Who is the US to demand that “You must hate whomever I hate, or I will destroy you”?

• The United States is not the world’s policeman. It is one nation among many. By what authority does your government demand that every country on earth sever ties with Iran? By what authority do Donald Trump and Scott Bessent demand that no airline fly to or from Iran? This is not diplomacy. This is coercion, extortion, economic warfare, and plain bullying.

• Bessent refers to Iran as an “evil and murderous” regime”, when Iran is no such thing. Bessent (and Donald Trump) claim Iran has “murdered and maimed” “thousands of Americans”, military and civilian, but there isn’t shred of evidence to support this assertion. On the other hand, the US has killed many thousands of Iranians. Define “Evil Regime”: Is it a country that defends itself, or one that invades, bombs, and sanctions others into submission while supporting a foreign power’s expansionist agenda?

• Bessent refers repeatedly to “The Iranian threat”. But what is this “threat”? Iran has never threatened anyone. The only recent war involving Iran was the war with Iraq, which was entirely instigated by the US and Israel.

 

Section 6: A Call to Reflection and Action

 

To the ordinary American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines: You are the American military. You are not Israel’s army. Your oath is to the American Constitution, not to the Jewish AIPAC lobby. Are your lives being sacrificed for American security or for Israeli ambition? Are your lives so worthless as to be spent on a war that serves no American interest? If you are ordered to fight this war, know that it is a war for Israel, not for America. Ask yourselves whether your commanders are leading your country to triumph or to ruin. Will you refuse to fight a war of aggression on behalf of a foreign power? Will you consider that the honorable path is not to obey an unlawful order, but to refuse to die for Israel? Bessent invoked the image of The Berlin Wall: I now ask you: Will you kill thousands of innocent civilians in Iran, as you did in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria? Will you consider that the honorable path is not to obey an unlawful order, but to refuse to die for Israel? Your real choice is to (a) uphold your oath, or (b) die for the Jews.

 

Consider the choice before you: fight for a foreign power, or uphold your oath. Think carefully. And act accordingly.

 

Replant the American Dream

 

Your USA Today is The World’s Most Hated Nation. Why? [43] This article provides the answer.

 

A Favor to Ask

 

And finally, I want to ask a favor of you, regarding the roughly 500,000 German Prisoners of War that were shipped to the US near the end and after the end of World War II. I have written an article that covers this matter in considerable detail. [44] Briefly, these Germans were sent to the US on various fabricated pretenses, and the “official narrative” states they were all repatriated to Germany shortly after the war ended.

 

The problem with the official story is that there is not the tiniest shred of evidence that those soldiers ever left the US, and exhaustive searches of all US military documents and those of the International Red Cross, contain no evidence of those men ever arriving in Germany or anywhere in Europe. There were apparently a few hundreds of men who were actually returned to Germany, and who then functioned as a kind of propaganda machine, claiming their imprisonment in the US was “the best time of our lives”.

 

But the reality is that there is no record of those Germans either leaving the US or arriving anywhere else, and for a contingent that large it would be impossible to not leave media and other trails. I have researched this topic off and on for nearly 20 years and so far have found no evidence to support the official story, nor any evidence of the true fate of these men. I believe this is a very dark chapter in the history of the US, and I want to find the answers to the questions.

 

Since you are a member of the US military, you will have access to documents and information not widely available to others. You may know something, or know someone who knows something (likely someone quite elderly). If you have any information on this topic, I ask you with all earnestness to submit it to me. The email address you can use is 2186604556@qq.com

 

*

Mr. Romanoff’s writing has been translated into 34 languages and his articles posted on more than 150 foreign-language news and politics websites in more than 30 countries, as well as more than 150 English language platforms. Larry Romanoff is a retired management consultant and businessman. He has held senior executive positions in international consulting firms, and owned an international import-export business. He has been a visiting professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, presenting case studies in international affairs to senior EMBA classes. Mr. Romanoff lives in Shanghai. He is one of the contributing authors to Cynthia McKinney’s new anthology ‘When China Sneezes’. (Chap. 2 — Dealing with Demons).

His full archive can be seen at

https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/ + https://www.moonofshanghai.com/

He can be contacted at: 2186604556@qq.com

*

NOTES

[1] The Bankers’ Private Army
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/23933/

[2] Remarks from Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Operation Economic Outcast against Iran
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0614/

[3] 73 years since CIA-MI6 coup in Iran: Oil, foreign intervention and the question of sovereignty
https://www.presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/08/19/774652/73-years-since-cia-mi6-coup-iran-oil-foreign-meddling-question-sovereignty

[4] CIA documents acknowledge its role in Iran’s 1953 coup
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23762970?xtor=AL-73-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bnv.ua%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bukrainian%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D#1

[5] 1953 coup in Iran
https://www.britannica.com/event/1953-coup-in-Iran

[6] In 1988, a US Navy warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane in the heat of battle
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk/

[7] BBC Audio | Witness History | Flight 655: When The US Shot Down An Airliner
https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/w3cswsnc

[8] Iranian Commander Says 1988 U.S. Bombing of Iranian Flight on Purpose
https://en.people.cn/english/200006/22/print20000622_43627.html

[9] Zarif: Iranians won’t forget IR655 downing by US
https://en.irna.ir/news/82585422/Zarif-Iranians-won-t-forget-IR655-downing-by-US

[10] Pentagon confirms U.S. killed top Iranian commander
https://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/03/c_138676526.htm#1

[11] Iran’s top leader vows ‘tough revenge’ for Soleimani’s killing by US
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202001/03/WS5e0ea170a310cf3e35582402.html#1

[12] U.S. Killing of Qasem Soleimani: Frequently Asked Questions
https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R46148/R46148.3.pdf

[13] US drone strike ordered by Trump kills top Iranian commander in Baghdad
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/02/middleeast/baghdad-airport-rockets

[14] The F-15 Pilot Rescue and the Aborted Uranium Heist — UPDATED
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/24012/

[15] US investigators ‘say American strike most likely responsible’ for Iranian school massac
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-investigators-say-american-strike-most-likely-responsible-iranian-school-massacre#1

[16] “It’s not worth fighting for such a country!” A well-known American host angrily condemned the U.S. military’s attack on an Iranian elementary school as inhumane
http://news.china.com.cn/2026-03/11/content_118377456.shtml

[17] List of the countries the US has bombed and/or invaded since World War II
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/heres-a-list-of-all-the-countries-the-us-has-bombed-since-world-war-ii-2-394703/

[18] Humanity at the Crossroads — Connecting the Dots to Our Brave New World
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/english-blue-moon-of-shanghai-archive/

[19] Information Blockades – How and Why?
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/6212/

[20] The Tragedy of Libya
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/10648/

[21] The Jews Want Their Money Back
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/23596/

[22] Updated list of & territories Israel has attacked / bombed since October 7th 2023:
https://news-pravda.com/russia/2025/09/13/1682408.html

[23] The U.S. Navy Is Broken
https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-u-s-navy-is-broken/

[24] Half of US Navy’s Amphibious Fleet in ‘Poor Condition’: GAO
https://thedefensepost.com/2024/12/04/us-navy-amphibious-fleet/

[25] 30-hour fire on USS Gerald R. Ford exposes design, damage control issues and prolonged deployment strain: Chinese expert
http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/W/A_251464/16449463.html

[26] Interior footage of the US Navy’s USS Ford aircraft carrier fire revealed—how severe was the damage?
https://news.youth.cn/gj/202606/t20260606_16700556.htm#1

[27] U.S. media reported that the damage caused by the fire on the USS Ford far exceeded what the U.S. military had disclosed
https://big5.cctv.com/gate/big5/news.cctv.com/2026/06/05/ARTIetp1ir0Vzbq9dmOHa9w5260605.shtml

[28] After a 30-hour continuous burn, the damage inside the US Navy’s USS Ford was exposed
https://www.peopleapp.com/column/30052333188-500007533228

[29] Elusive victory in Iran war
https://www.dawn.com/news/1986610/#comments#1

[30] The Iranian military claims that the attack on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Lincoln rendered it inoperable
https://www.163.com/dy/article/KO0AOPH20530W6DQ.html

[31] “Lost combat capability” Iran claims it attacked the Lincoln aircraft carrier and forced it to withdraw
https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1773372904129028.html

[32] Iran released its latest battle report, stating that most of the missiles launched were produced 10 years ago and warned of targeting the logistics of the USS Ford
https://www.sohu.com/a/996994765_137462?scm=10001.325_13-325_13.0.0-0-0-0-0.5_1334&spm=smpc.channel_248.block3_308_NDdFbm_1_fd.2.1773625573990FiXXfGu_324

[33] Stretched US aggression against Iran leaves military families reporting strain across multiple ships
https://www.presstv.co.uk/Detail/2026/08/14/774363/US-Iran-USS-Abraham-Lincoln-families

[34] Ranking Members Subramanyam and Garcia Demand Answers About Conditions on USS Lincoln
https://subramanyam.house.gov/media/press-releases/ranking-members-subramanyam-and-garcia-demand-answers-about-conditions-uss

[35] Concern grows over conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyvl2d5j52lo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss#1

[36] Seven dead in brawl aboard USS Abraham Lincoln
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/246919/Deadly-brawl-reported-aboard-USS-Abraham-Lincoln

[37] Peters calls Hegseth a ‘failure’ at hearing
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5982164-peters-calls-hegseth-failure/?__vfz=medium%3Dconversations_top_pages#1

[38] The US denies reports of dire conditions on its aircraft carrier in the Gulf.
https://www.vietnam.vn/en/my-phu-nhan-bao-cao-ve-tinh-trang-toi-te-tren-tau-san-bay-tai-vung-vinh#1

[39] Henry Kissinger Quote: Military Men Are Just Dumb Stupid Animals …
https://archive.org/details/henry-kissinger-quote-military-men-are-just-dumb-stupid-animals-to-be-used-as-pa

[40] The US Declares War on its own Military
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/10806/

[41] Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war, blames ‘Israel, its powerful American lobby’ for conflict
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2598097/top-us-counterterrorism-official-resigns-over-iran-war-blames-israel-its-powerful-american-lobby#1

[42] Foreign Policy: How the Israeli Lobby Pushed Washington Towards a Direct Confrontation with Iran?
https://alquds.com/ar/posts/232082#1

[43] Replant the American Dream
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/613/

[44] German POWs in America – What Happened to Them?
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/21149/