A burr underneath the saddle

March 21, 2026

OPINION by GARY KIRKLAND

In 1935 Common Era, Italian troops invaded Ethiopia. The rest of the world did little.

In 1937, Japanese troops invaded Manchuria, part of China. In 1939, German troops invaded Poland. England and France declared war on Germany. The United States did little.

Also in 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland. The rest of the world did little.

None of these things on their own led to World War 2, but collectively they started the war.

In 1979, Iranian forces took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran. This was an act of war because embassies are sovereign territory of the countries that own the embassies. Our president, Jimmy Carter, fiddled around until the end of his presidency.

For the next 47 years, Iran has been terrorizing most of the rest of the world.

Iran has been a burr under the saddle of the world long enough. Finally, the United States and Israel are trying to remove that burr.

Gary Kirkland is a retired teacher, an Atascadero resident, 35-year-old stockholder in the Atascadero Mutual Water Company and president of the San Luis Obispo County Libertarian Party.