By Brian Garvey
People across the US, and around the world, are already rising up against the new illegal war on Iran. Demonstrators are filling the streets in opposition to another war in the Middle East. The speed of the response is striking, but so are the polls. Protesters are not a fringe minority. They represent most of the country.
The Trump Administration seems determined to ignore this reality, but they do it at their own peril. A University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll found that only 21% of Americans support U.S. military strikes against Iran. A Reuters/Ipsos poll put support for the current U.S.–Israeli strikes at just 27%. In other words, roughly three-quarters of Americans oppose this war. Stop someone on the street and there is a strong chance they oppose it too.
The challenge facing the peace movement isn’t persuasion, it’s mobilization. A quiet majority already agrees. The task is helping them find their voice.
A Callous Disconnect
Even as the human toll rises across the Middle East, Washington’s response has been disturbingly casual. President Trump recently acknowledged that additional American casualties are likely as the conflict escalates, describing the losses as tragic but unavoidable — simply the cost of war. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said. “That’s the way it is.”
The American people are unlikely to accept this logic indefinitely. They have seen this pattern before: in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and beyond. Each time, the promise is the same — quick intervention, stability, democracy. Each time, the result is instability, destruction, and decades of violence. What begins as “limited” strikes can quickly spiral into a broader regional conflagration, and with Iran the risks of escalation are particularly severe.
There is no clear objective here, no honest accounting of the costs, and no plan for what comes after. That is the definition of endless war.
Destroying Schools instead of Building them – Your Tax Dollars at Work
The human cost of this conflict was brought into devastating focus by the strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, which reportedly killed more than 165 children and staff. Images from the aftermath showed destroyed classrooms, collapsed walls, and children’s backpacks buried in rubble.
For the peace movement, this tragedy sharpens a question we should be asking more forcefully: what are our tax dollars actually building?
Massachusetts Peace Action’s Books Not Bombs campaign highlights the stark trade-off embedded in U.S. budget priorities. Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars flow into military programs while schools across the United States struggle with underfunding, overcrowded classrooms, and deteriorating infrastructure. Teachers buy their own supplies. Students sit in classrooms with leaking roofs and outdated textbooks. Meanwhile, Washington finds unlimited money for bombing campaigns abroad.
To join the discussion with union leaders and student organizations join us on Friday March 6th at 4pm for Defending Campus and Schools Expression.
Even a fraction of what is spent on military strikes, redirected toward public schools, could rebuild aging buildings, hire more teachers, reduce class sizes, and make higher education accessible. Instead, we are funding the destruction of classrooms in Iran while neglecting them here at home. A society that genuinely values education would make different choices.
War Abroad = Authoritarianism at Home
Endless wars don’t just devastate other countries — they erode democracy here. Militarization abroad rarely stays overseas. The same logic that justifies intervention expands the power of militarized police at home and normalizes a state of permanent emergency. The rhetoric of existential threat, once useful for launching wars, becomes a tool for intimidating communities and voters.
History offers countless examples of this pattern. Wars launched in the name of defending democracy have a way of weakening it at home — and that is not a coincidence. Opposing this war is not only about preventing destruction overseas. It is also about protecting democratic rights here.
Building a Movement — and Demanding Action
Opposition to endless war cuts across political, religious, and ideological lines. Veterans who have seen war firsthand. Students who refuse to inherit a future of permanent conflict. Faith communities for whom peace is a moral imperative. Families who know the human cost of militarism. These are not fringe voices — they represent the majority, and this movement belongs to all of them.
But opposition must be more than sentiment. It must become action.
The Constitution grants only Congress the authority to declare war, yet the United States is once again sliding into a major military conflict without congressional authorization. Congress must pass legislation invoking the War Powers Resolution to require the withdrawal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized. It must block funding for unauthorized military operations and weapons transfers that fuel the conflict.
For constituents across the country — and especially here in Massachusetts — the task is clear: contact your senators and representatives. Demand that they oppose this war. Demand that they vote to reassert Congress’s constitutional authority over decisions of war and peace.
The American people have already spoken. Three-quarters of them do not want this war. But democracy requires more than opinion — it requires people raising their voices and demanding accountability from those elected to represent them.
No war on Iran. No destruction of Gaza. No war on Venezuela. No war on Minneapolis, Chicago, or Los Angeles. No more endless wars.
