I have spent my adult life watching the “preemption” doctrine fail from the inside. I was 16 on 9/11 and enlisted at 18. Over 13 years, I held the highest security clearances, working in intelligence collection and analysis for the Navy and later as a contractor supporting U.S. and Australian Special Forces.
I’ve lived the “vicious cycle” of American foreign policy. I was in Iraq in 2009–2010 during the parliamentary elections—a moment we were told was the dawn of a new democracy. During that same tour, the task force I worked for killed the top leadership of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. We called it a victory. In reality, it cleared the path for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to rise and create ISIS.
By 2013, the cycle continued as I flew missions over the Sahara tracking an Islamist coup led by insurgents armed with weapons stolen from Libya following our 2011 intervention. By 2015, I was forced to return to Iraq to fight the very monster—ISIS—that our previous “successes” helped create. We strike first, create a vacuum, and then spend billions more to fight the fallout. Today, as the U.S. and Israel launch strikes on Iran, we are repeating this exact, faulty, and illegal logic.
The cost isn’t just “over there.” It’s being felt right here on our own streets.
As the federal government finds limitless billions for another “war of choice,” I have to ask: How does bombing Iran help the people of Wake Forest?
Infrastructure: How does it turn Capital Blvd into the freeway we’ve needed for 20 years? While we wait for design work on Segments C and D to even restart in late 2026, we’re sending carrier strike groups to the Arabian Sea. Construction here isn’t slated to start until 2031.
Our Schools: How does it fix the heat at Wake Forest Elementary? This month, parents had to petition for basic repairs to a failing boiler while children sat in cold classrooms. Why can we afford a missile for Tehran, but not a boiler for our local school kids?
The S-Line & Transit: How does it build the S-Line rail or the Rogers Road bridge? These are “long-term projects” dependent on federal grants that are being vaporized in the skies over Iran.
Housing & Security: How does it help legacy residents survive the insane property revaluations, averaging 53% increases, that are pricing people out of their own homes?
The Power Grid & Water: Where is the investment for our new power plants or the “One Water” infrastructure plan? Our actual strategic interest is in the bridges, water lines, and energy independence of our own town.
We had a diplomatic path with Iran. We walked away from it. Now, more people are under the bombs, and for what? My experience in intelligence taught me that attacking Iran will not make us safer; it will create the next “Baghdadi” while draining the resources required to rebuild our home.
The Global War on Terror was a failure. Iraq was a failure. Afghanistan was a failure. We cannot afford “more of the same” while our own foundations rot. It’s time to stop policing the world and start carrying forward the project of rebuilding the United States, starting right here in Wake Forest.
Tom Baker IV is the publisher of Wake Forest Matters, Wake Forest’s only independent local newsroom. A Wake Forest native, Navy veteran, and intelligence professional, Tom launched Wake Forest Matters to bring serious accountability journalism to his hometown. Tips and story ideas: publisher@wakeforestmatters.com