From Terry Hansen

Grafton, Wis.

To the Editor:

In his address to the nation, President Trump said the U.S. would bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, “where they belong.” He even threatened to destroy “electric generating plants.”

What would this mean for the most vulnerable, such as hospital patients, the elderly, and newborns in intensive care?

Historian and political theorist Achille Mbembe, author of Necropolitics, coined the term “death-worlds” to describe how the powerful impose conditions that amount to a living death. Mbembe writes, “The ultimate expression of sovereignty largely resides in the power and capacity to dictate who is able to live and who must die.” Gaza is a notable example.

Have we forgotten that, shortly after 9/11, some 60,000 fans at a soccer match in Iran observed a minute of silence for the victims? Or that thousands in Tehran held candlelight vigils, showing solidarity and compassion?

We must reject Trump’s dehumanizing language, reclaim our shared humanity, and choose diplomacy over destruction.