Phyllis Bennis on Iran War Costs

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Washington Post (7/8/26)

This week on CounterSpin: One outlet says “it’s unclear if war is back on”; another says “Trump mulls restarting war”—as though you can start and stop the harm bombs bring, to people, to power plants, bridges, airports, hospitals. US corporate news report the US war on Iran as if it were a playground altercation. And the Washington Post calls the illegal violation of another sovereign state  a “political problem” Trump “can’t shake.”

If war were a football match, we could have a different conversation, and who takes the L would be a different story. But war is not a sport, and dead people are not afterthoughts.

As a corollary, people worry that the war on Iran has pushed the genocide in Gaza out of corporate media’s attention. But media outlets make their own choices about what to present to us.

And: Media attention isn’t change. Being on the front page guarantees nothing. There will never be a substitute for our learning about what’s being done in our name and with our resources, and if your paper of record isn’t doing that, you should seek other sources.

We hear about Iran, Gaza, Lebanon and the costs of war with Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, international advisor with Jewish Voice for Peace and author of numerous books, most recently one called Understanding Palestine and Israel, out last year from Olive Branch Press.

https://media.blubrry.com/counterspin/content.blubrry.com/counterspin/CounterSpin260710Bennis.mp3