The United Nations hosted its 2026 General Assembly and Debate in Manhattan from September 22 to 28. At the assembly, President Trump addressed the nations and peoples of the world and made this remarkable comment concerning the U.S. war with Iran in his speech:
“But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”
Trump seems to hold, as an option to end the war, the slaughter of well more than 90 million people: the men, women and children of Iran. The term “annihilate” suggests the U.S. might fire nuclear weapons against Iran, the possible use of which, ironically, is the reason the U.S. is warring against Iran—which has no such weapons.
The U.S. is a violent nation. It was founded through a violent revolution and has engaged in many wars, mostly on its own initiative.
I initially reacted to Trump’s confusing statement with astonishment, condemnation, and disdain. I then recalled that on the first day of the war—initiated by the U.S. and Israel—168 girls, most between the ages of 7 and 12, were killed at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab in southern Iran.
On Sept. 21, the U.N. independent international fact-finding mission on Iran released a report that concluded the U.S. was responsible for the bombing of the school and murder of the girls. The fact-finding mission raised the question of whether the U.S. should be held responsible for committing a war crime.
I find that the treatment of children, generally the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, is a good measure of a nation’s justice and humanity.
Millions of Americans viewed Trump’s warning of annihilating Iranians as reprehensible and regret the U.S. warring on Iran. Millions of other Americans would support Trump taking this action. And while Trump was speaking as if he has sole authority on killing more than 90 million Iranians, he might be representing what our nation is really about.
The U.S. is a violent nation. It was founded through a violent revolution and has engaged in many wars, mostly on its own initiative.
Indeed, violence is part of the DNA of the U.S. Constitution. It’s stated in these few and vague words of the Second Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
We can thank the U.S. Supreme Court for its interpretation of these words in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). The court ruled in Heller that the Second Amendment entitles not only our nation and its states to “bear arms” (i.e., have our national military and National Guard), but also entitles individual, civilian Americans to “bear arms.”
But one asks, would the “founders” of the Second Amendment have thought differently if they had the kind of weaponry we have in our time? The Supreme Court has gutted American compassion with its absurd thinking.
Countless guns currently circulate among the U.S. populace. It’s difficult to nail down the actual number of these firearms, but according to a survey by Harvard and Northeastern Universities, in 2016 there were an “estimated 265 million firearms in U.S. homes.”
The plethora of guns impacting children especially provides evidence of inherent violence in American society.
The Washington Post conducted a study on school shootings in the U.S., beginning with Columbine High School in 1999 and continuing through 2022. It identified 435 school shootings, exposing more than 398,000 students to gun violence. According to The Post, at least 218 children, educators, and other people were killed in the shootings at schools, and another 512 were injured.
Typically, semiautomatic weapons are the firearm of choice for school shooters. I’m quite familiar with such weapons.
As a recruit at the Marine Corps boot camp on Parris Island, I learned how to shoot an M-16 rifle, capable of both semiautomatic and fully automatic firing. Later, as a New Jersey state trooper, I carried a semiautomatic handgun. For several years as a trooper, I served on a SWAT team and was proficient in using an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
Such firearms are designed to kill people. They are instruments to be carried and used by law enforcement officers/agents and soldiers. I question why so many civilian Americans like to own them.
Not surprisingly, such firearms are readily available in the U.S. for the public. In fact, there is a gun shop in the city of Santa Maria, legally located across the street from Santa Maria High School.
I checked out the firearms inventory on the shop’s webpage. There are lots of semiautomatic firearms available through the shop. One of the many semiautomatic rifles is named the Minuteman and is manufactured by the Patriot Ordnance Factory.
It’s no surprise that a sign depicting a revolutionary minuteman holding a rifle welcomes folks to a public middle school across the street from the main gate of Vandenberg Space Force Base, where (unarmed) Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles are periodically test-launched and sent to the Marshall Islands, 4,200 miles away.
I struggle to see our nation as authentically just, humane, and peace-seeking.
Scott Fina writes to the Sun from Santa Maria. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in October 8 – October 15, 2026.
