Letters to the Editor: Trump on Iran war

Trump said on camera on May 12, “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran: they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.” Trump’s actions not only demonstrate insensitivity to our welfare but also contradict his previous actions.

In 2015 President Obama negotiated a deal with Iran that was also signed by Russia, China, France, the UK and the European Union called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It states in two places that “Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.” The International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran was complying with the deal to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. In 2017, shortly after taking office, president Trump tore up that agreement since he wanted to impose more sanctions on Iran than the deal permitted. This disrespected the other signatories to the agreement and allowed Iran to restart its nuclear program, which it soon did. Those sanctions did not deter Iran from supporting violent groups like the Houthis and Hezbollah, were a total failure, and allowed the Iranian regime to stir up more hatred against us.

The war in Iran is certainly making American’s financial situation worse, and there is no evidence that it is affecting Iran’s ability to construct a nuclear weapon. In June 2025, he launched an air raid on an Iranian nuclear facility and declared on camera “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” Yet he justified the war launched last February by saying “they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland.” Intelligence analysts dispute this, and have said that there is no threat of this for many years.

So why did Trump start the war if there was no imminent threat? Two days after the war started Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.” So Trump started the war since Israel was going to start it for us. Rubio denied Israel’s role in the decision, but I think he had it right the first time. 

The Iranians were committed to never getting a nuclear weapon and then Trump allowed them to. The Strait of Hormuz has never been closed before, but now it is. Iran claims the right to close it which it never claimed before. Trump campaigned on no new wars and then started one. He killed the leader of Iran and the replacement is even more radical. Iran has not been our friend since at least 1979, but Trump’s policies have made a tense relationship far more dangerous.

Trump thinks he can bomb Iran into surrender. In WWII the Germans tried it on Britain and failed. The U.S. and Britain tried it on Germany and failed (the ground invasion forced the surrender). The U.S. tried it on Japan and failed (until we dropped two nuclear weapons). Trump’s policy is doomed to fail unless we conquer Iran with a ground invasion (which would kill thousands of Americans) or launch a nuclear war. But he doesn’t care about us. He even said so.

Jim Eliason, Storm Lake

Prom for Senior Citizens SLHS class gives thanks

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following businesses: La Original, Valentina’s Meat Market, Sugar Bowl, Hy-Vee Floral, Bomgaars, Luxe Lily, Dollar General, Lakeshore Cafe, Villager Restaurant, Maurices, Coffee Tree, Brown’s Shoe Fit Co, Walmart, La Isla #2, Dairy Queen, Pizza Ranch, La Juanita’s, Zimmy’s Bar & Grill, Brenda Delights, Liliana Hernandez “Hair by Lily,” Marisol Mendoza, Edith Ultreras, Yuri and Otsego Place for helping make the Senior Citizen Prom at Otsego Place such a tremendous success. Their generosity, kindness and willingness to support our senior citizens created an evening filled with joy, laughter, music and friendship.

Events like this remind us how meaningful it is to honor and celebrate our seniors, and how powerful it can be when a community comes together. Without the support of these businesses, this special night would not have been possible. Their contributions provided decorations, food, entertainment and many thoughtful touches that made the evening unforgettable for everyone who attended.

On behalf of the SLHS Prom for Senior Citizens May Term Class, we extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to everyone who helped make this event such a meaningful and successful celebration.

Vrenda Love, Storm Lake High School