Could this possibly be an act of war?

First off, I would like to congratulate Andy Bryan on last week’s column, “Why I Can’t Care About Same-Sex Marriage.” With that said, I must now warn you that this article will in fact raise some questions and frustration amongst readers as did the previous article by Mr. Bryan. However, if you feel frustrated and angered by this article, this has been an acceptable accomplishment.

While so much focus was placed upon on the marriage amendment and the presidential election, nothing was mentioned about the very real possibility of war.

Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired at an unarmed U.S. Air Force drone conducting surveillance in international airspace east of Kuwait on Nov. 1, 2012. Now, if the situation was switched and Israeli air drones were attacked, a war could possibly erupt with Israel expecting support from the United States because of our close relations.While these attacks were made on U.S. Air Force drones, affecting US. foreign and domestic relations in the Middle East, the American atmosphere was more focused on the presidential election and the Minnesota marriage amendment. I was completely annoyed by the lack of attention that was placed on an issue that could potentially lead to another war.

For those of you who may take my statement out of context, I advise you to look beyond what the average American person believes to be important and realize that our country has the most extensive military power. I am not saying that the issues of same-sex marriage and the presidential election were not important. The amount of attention placed on them overshadowed the humanitarian and domestic issues that were taking place in the Middle East.

Dating back to the 1883, the US and Iran had close relations with each other, with the U.S. supporting a 1953 coup against the Iranian Prime Minister and a 1978 revolution against the country’s hereditary ruler, the shah. However, diplomatic relations were broken after the seizure of the U.S. Embassy and 52 Americans by Iranian students. Going back to the recent encounters with the U.S. and Iran, questions are being raised as to whether this could be considered an act of war.

With the U.S.’s long standing concerns over Iran’s nuclear programs, I certainly believe that this issue will not be left ignored by the U.S. government. It should also be noted that, while the President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in Iran, he holds little to no power compared to the Supreme Leader of Iran—who is in charge of foreign policy, the armed forces and nuclear policy.

Talks are still being discussed as to what will be done. In the meantime the Pentagon’s press secretary was quoted saying “the reality is that we have a wide range of options, as I said before, to protect our assets and our forces in the region, and we’ll do so when necessary.” Judging from this statement, how can one not assume that a possible war can arise from this?

The U.S. has never been a country to assume the role of a coward; take our involvement in the Vietnam War as a primary example. With the U.S. concern over Iran’s nuclear programs, the possibility of war is just around the corner. If the U.S. wasn’t reluctant to send troops to Cuba upon claims that missiles were fired at U.S. navy ships, why would no action be taken when evidence clearly points to Iranian fighters jets firing at U.S. Air Force drones?

So, should citizens completely ignore the ongoing issue of a possible war? That is the question I pose. While I am all for human rights issues, I do disagree with becoming involved in war that can in fact be avoided.