By Feroze Mithiborwala | January 29, 2026
The drums of war are not just beating; they are being synchronized in a high-stakes orchestration between Tel Aviv and the hawks of the current Washington administration. As American carrier strike groups mass in the Persian Gulf and the rhetoric regarding Iran’s nuclear capabilities reaches a fever pitch, a chorus of high-level dissenters—decorated combat veterans, former CIA officers, and seasoned geopolitical analysts—is sounding a desperate alarm. The message is singular and devastating: America is being maneuvered into a catastrophic war that serves no U.S. national interest, but rather the desperate domestic survival of Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Architect of Entanglement
For decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pursued a singular geopolitical North Star: the total military neutralization of Iran via the proxy of the United States military. Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a combat veteran and senior fellow at Defense Priorities, laid bare this dynamic on Redacted this week. “We are walking eyes-wide-open into a catastrophe,” Davis warned. “If we launch a war against Iran to satisfy Netanyahu’s domestic political needs, we are betraying the American soldier and the American taxpayer.”
Davis’s critique cuts through the sanitized language of “strategic partnership.” He argues that the U.S. is being “played” by a leader who views American blood and treasure as a fungible resource for Israeli regional hegemony. The “America First” promise, which many believed would insulate the U.S. from further Middle Eastern quagmires, is being dismantled by an inner circle of “war hawks” who have sidelined voices of restraint.
The Ghost of the False Flag: A Track Record of Deception
Perhaps most chilling is the growing consensus among intelligence professionals that the “inciting incident” for this war may not be an Iranian provocation at all, but a “false flag” operation designed to leave Washington with no choice but to strike. This is not the realm of conspiracy, but the realm of historical precedent.
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Case Officer, points to a “documented history of ‘false flag’ operations” involving the Mossad, citing the 1954 Lavon Affair—where Israeli agents bombed Western targets in Egypt to blame Islamists—and the 1967 attack on the USS Liberty.² “They are perfectly capable of staging an event on U.S. soil or against a U.S. ship to ignite the war they’ve been promising for decades,” Giraldi warns.³
This sentiment is echoed by Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst with 27 years of experience. McGovern describes a “playbook” where the Mossad, as “masters of the craft,” create a provocation and then rely on a compliant U.S. media to echo the calls for blood.⁴ The fear is that a “new 9/11” or a catastrophic strike on a U.S. asset in the region is being prepared—not in Tehran, but in the corridors of the Kirya in Tel Aviv.
The Strategic Suicide of an All-Out War
Military realists argue that the “maximum pressure” campaign is a prelude to a strategic blunder that would dwarf the Iraq War. Col. Douglas Macgregor has been blunt: Netanyahu has wanted this for 20 years, and if he cannot achieve it through diplomacy, he will manufacture a crisis.⁵ The tactical reality, according to Macgregor and Davis, is that Iran is not the Iraq of 2003. It is a “defence-in-depth” power capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz, devastating the global economy, and launching a missile swarm that would overwhelm current regional defences.
Scott Ritter, the former UN Weapons Inspector, notes that Israel knows it cannot defeat Iran alone. “To win, they need the U.S. Air Force,” Ritter says. “To get the U.S. Air Force, they need an American ‘Pearl Harbor’—and they are more than willing to manufacture one.”⁶
This assessment shifts the focus from Iranian “aggression” to Israeli “desperation.” For Netanyahu, facing internal legal battles and a fractured domestic coalition, a regional conflagration is the ultimate political “get out of jail free” card.
The Betrayal of the American Taxpayer
While the geopolitical cost is measured in lives, the domestic cost is measured in the final collapse of the American middle class. Larry Johnson, a former CIA and State Department counter-terrorism official, points to the “track record of deception” that led the U.S. into Iraq based on false intelligence.⁷ The trillion-dollar price tag of another war would effectively end any hope of domestic renewal, infrastructure repair, or economic stabilization.
As journalist Max Blumenthal points out, “Netanyahu’s political survival depends on permanent war.”⁸ In this view, the American soldier is reduced to a “hired muscle” for a foreign regime.
Dr. John Mearsheimer, the preeminent scholar of “Realist” international relations, argues that the pressure to attack Iran is almost entirely a product of the “Israel lobby” and its ability to shape Washington’s policy against the actual national interests of the United States.⁹
Conclusion: Demanding a Halt to the March
The warnings from figures like Judge Andrew Napolitano and Clayton Morris emphasize a critical need for public skepticism. If a “terrorist” attack occurs that points directly to Tehran, the “cui bono” (who benefits?) principle must be applied immediately. “We must demand an independent investigation, not a rush to bomb Tehran,” Napolitano urges.¹⁰
The message from the dissenters is clear: The United States is being led toward a cliff by an ally that prizes its own regional dominance over American stability. To proceed further is not just a military mistake—it is, as Col. Davis suggests, a betrayal of the highest order. The American public must decide if they are willing to see their children sent into the “Tehran Entrapment” for the sake of a Netanyahu’s political career.
References and Citations
· Daniel Davis, interview by Clayton Morris, Redacted, January 29, 2026.
· James Bamford, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 200-215. (Regarding the USS Liberty).
· Philip Giraldi, “The False Flag Danger,” The American Conservative, October 14, 2025.
· Ray McGovern, “Intelligence as a Tool of Provocation,” Consortium News, December 1, 2025.
· Douglas Macgregor, “The Coming Conflict,” Judging Freedom Podcast, January 10, 2026.
· Scott Ritter, “The Netanyahu Strategy,” Energy Intelligence, January 15, 2026.
· Larry Johnson, “Deception and War,” Sonar21, January 5, 2026.
· Max Blumenthal, “The Gaza-Tehran Nexus,” The Grayzone, November 20, 2025.
· John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), 229-262.
· Andrew Napolitano, “Questioning the Narrative,” The Washington Times, January 20, 2026.
Feroze Mithiborwala is an expert on West Asian & International Geostrategic issues. He is the Founder-Gen. Sec. of the ‘India Palestine Solidarity Forum’. He was among the key organisers of the First Asian Convoy to Break the Siege of Gaza (2010) and the First Global March to Jerusalem (2012). Founder of the ‘India Iran Friendship Forum’ and ‘Indians in Solidarity with Venezuela’. He is also the Vice-President of Hum Bharat Ke Log, We the People of India, an organisation committed to Communal Harmony, National Unity and Constitutional Democracy.
Contact: feroze.moses777@gmail.com