America is a foreign policy control freak

The march to war with Iran reveals America's obsessive need to intervene

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | U.S. government/Digital Globe via AP, NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Whether it was undertaken by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen or by Iran itself, the bombing of an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia is obviously an act of war.

But was it an act of war against the United States? Just as obviously, it was not. The crippled refinery is 6,000 miles from the U.S. It isn't owned or run by Americans. The U.S. doesn't have a mutual defense alliance with Saudi Arabia. The relationship between our countries is one of sponsor and client. We sell the Saudis more weapons than any other country in the world, presumably so they can defend themselves. The U.S. isn't even as dependent on Saudi oil as it used to be.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.