America must demonstrate strength by returning to core values and ideals

Before the war with Iran, one quarter of the world’s population was already living in a conflict zone. The Carter Center, an organization my grandparents, former President Jimmy and first lady Rosalynn Carter, founded to advance peace and health around the globe, monitors the immense human suffering caused by ongoing conflicts in, among other places, Sudan, Mali, Ukraine and Palestine.

The world did not need another war. And yet, here we are.

Since the United States and Israel embarked on the war with Iran, at least 3,000 civilians (including hundreds of children) have been killed, the global economy has suffered, our alliances have been strained, and our geopolitical position has weakened.

Our current president’s dangerous rhetoric, including a threat to destroy a “whole civilization” and to bomb civilian infrastructure into the “Stone Ages,” has outraged our country. It violates every discernible moral code. It is un-Christian. It is un-American.

Indeed, American power has never been based on brute strength. Our greatest strength has always been the idea of America: The 250-year-old revolutionary belief that all people are created with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That idea is more powerful than any bomb, and the betrayal of it can be even more destructive.

USA could lose its standing with the war on Iran

Jason Carter is the chair of The Carter Center Board of Trustees and is the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter. (Courtesy)

America has always been strongest when these ideals have supported our foreign policy and offered a level of predictability and reliability the world could count on. Those values include a belief in basic human rights and dignity, a loyalty to our allies, a commitment to partnership and dialogue, and an adherence to domestic and international law. Without those values — and the stability they offer — the entire world order is weaker, and thus America is weaker.

We Americans are already feeling the immediate costs of this war. Most poignantly, in the lost lives of American servicemen and -women. Most broadly, in the brutal prices at the gas pump and the grocery store.

But above and beyond those costs and the actual tax dollars spent on the war, another impact is harder to measure and will bring a different kind of pain: the loss of our standing in the world as a force for good.

When our leaders betray the ideals our country was founded on, it changes how the rest of the world sees us — with real consequences.

America has always been strongest when these ideals have supported our foreign policy and offered a level of predictability and reliability the world could count on. Those values include a belief in basic human rights and dignity, a loyalty to our allies, a commitment to partnership and dialogue, and an adherence to domestic and international law. Without those values — and the stability they offer — the entire world order is weaker, and thus America is weaker.

We Americans are already feeling the immediate costs of this war. Most poignantly, in the lost lives of American servicemen and -women. Most broadly, in the brutal prices at the gas pump and the grocery store.

But above and beyond those costs and the actual tax dollars spent on the war, another impact is harder to measure and will bring a different kind of pain: the loss of our standing in the world as a force for good.

When our leaders betray the ideals our country was founded on, it changes how the rest of the world sees us — with real consequences.

When we lose trust, it’s harder to find support for our agenda, whether it’s trade, climate, immigration, nuclear proliferation or any number of other American interests that are entwined with other countries around the world.

My grandfather revered the office of the president and was awed by its power. He once told me, “When you sit in that seat, you cannot help but feel the weight of history.”

Americans must demand a return to checks and balances

Then-President Jimmy Carter stands with Bruce Laingen, who was held hostage while serving at the U.S Embassy in Tehran in 1981. Carter became the 39th president on a promise of national healing after the wounds of Watergate and Vietnam. (D. Gorton/The New York Times)

Today, “history” may second-guess my grandfather’s decision not to bomb Iran during the hostage crisis. The American people certainly made their electoral judgment at the time. But whatever one may say about his specific choices, no one questions his adherence to America’s greatest values. He spent his life guided by his Christian faith and by his fundamental belief that we must preserve America as a beacon for democracy, dignity and peace.

He repeatedly chose to protect our values regardless of the personal or political cost.

Today’s decisions about Iran will face the same judgment. Both the American people and history will decide whether starting this war reflected any values at all.

So, what now?

Now, we need a true demonstration of American strength and leadership.

In our own lives, we have all witnessed the weakness in a bully’s bluster. And we have all admired the kind of strength required to admit a mistake, pick up the pieces and pursue the greater good. Where will our leaders find this strength?

I believe it is in our nation’s DNA. The genius of the Declaration of Independence’s expression of values is matched by the genius of the Constitution’s structure. But the modern presidency has become too strong.

The American people must demand that Congress assert their constitutional authority and restore our system of checks and balances. Restoring, for example, their claim to the power of the purse and the power to declare war.