I'm Drinking Coffee While We Bomb Iran

'Persist Tenderly; Deliberately'

Collage created in Canva by Nico Harlakenden

I’m Drinking Coffee Again

This weekend, we bombed Iran. No one in my meetings mentioned it, but I couldn’t sleep.

The next morning—from a city where most folks don’t make a livable wage, where they don’t discuss geopolitics during their morning stop for coffee and gas at the station en route to union work, if they’re lucky—I logged on to a different reality: my job. Eyes bleary from a night of dread, I sat through back-to-back meetings where no one said a word about it. I answered emails. I adjusted project timelines. Someone sent a meme to the group chat and I saw the makings of laughter as someone on my video call muted themselves. Someone asked how my weekend was: I said it was fine.

Though simply perceiving is no great moral opus, I watched the different bubbles folks—both in meatspace and online—exist within and how those projections morph with the news. I thought about how many people in my day-to-day life are not seeing the same things as each other (or as I am). Or if they are, they don’t feel equipped to speak about it. For many, news of the latest escalation arrives—if at all—filtered through the familiar lenses of mainstream media, which have already settled on a narrative.

It’s not framed as déjà vu: another U.S.-backed military action in the Middle East following a now-predictable pattern. Nor is it presented as an unprovoked strike against a Muslim nation labeled as an outsider. Instead, it’s reported as a justified retaliation. They paint it as a necessary intervention or some kind of heroic rescue mission. This is a perfect moment to remind myself/you that the machinery of empire doesn’t fear public outrage, it relies on public exhaustion to obliterate the possibility of pattern recognition.

The machinery of empire doesn’t fear public outrage, it relies on public exhaustion to obliterate the possibility of pattern recognition.

Backing Up: Last Weekend

The U.S. and Israel have long cooperated in targeting Iranian military infrastructure, citing speculative claims of nuclear weapon development. Israel bombed Iran last weekend. Most Americans didn’t notice. They didn’t notice Netanyahu trying to justify it with recycled Cold War fearmongering. They didn’t notice the pivot, decades ago, when Iran went from regional partner to existential enemy because it suited Israel’s new geopolitical aims. And they sure as hell didn’t notice that this was always going to happen. Trump was always going to escalate it and Democrats would feign restraint but do the same. Kamala, if elected, might have dropped the same bomb—with better grammar, more back-and-forth, and the optics of restraint. But the logic wouldn’t change. (Read on for reasoning and supportive sources.)

Kamala, if elected, might have dropped the same bomb—with better grammar, more back-and-forth, and the optics of restraint.

This latest bombing fits a familiar pattern: pretexts for escalation despite a lack of evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Illusions of peace: A thrifted impressionist-style oil painting on handmade frame I discovered this weekend, $10, unsigned.

Kamala Would Have Done the Same

Even if you voted Blue, know this: Kamala Harris wouldn’t fundamentally change the paradigm. In a 2024 60 Minutes interview, she named Iran as “America’s greatest adversary”—not China—and emphasized the U.S. must ensure Iran never acquires nuclear capability.

This is a bipartisan consensus. Even Democrats who reinvested in diplomacy made sure to say “all options are on the table.” This includes bombing. The system remains the same: protect Israel, protect oil flows, and protect global capitalism. No matter the cost.

Even though there's widespread discomfort within the Democratic Party about unilateral military action (see: War Powers Resolution) analysts in Europe and Asia echoed what U.S. insiders already understood: that whether it’s Trump or Harris at the helm, the underlying logic stays the same—military force remains an acceptable tool. Calls for diplomacy without readiness to escalate boil down to optics—not substance.

Iran Doesn’t Have Nuclear Weapons

Intelligence reports from March 2025—including testimony by Tulsi Gabbard as Intelligence Director—confirmed: Iran is not building nuclear weapons. Uranium enrichment stockpiles are not the same as nuclear armament. The IAEA agrees. So too do Senate Democrats like Jeanne Shaheen, who’s been working on this for years. Iran suspended any military nuclear program in 2003.

And here’s a basic truth: If Iran had nuclear weapons, Israel wouldn’t have bombed them. That’s the logic of deterrence. Nuclear states don’t get bombed. That’s why Israel gets to operate with impunity and why Palestine does not. (And why Israel felt comfortable moving against Iran despite ongoing talks.)

If Iran had nuclear weapons, Israel wouldn’t have bombed them.

Tech Involvement: Military-Industry Fusion

And while we sleep—or try to—the shape of war changes. The people leading Silicon Valley are now shaping how our wars are fought.

Palantir has long-standing contracts with ICE, the DOD, and police forces nationwide. OpenAI, Meta, and other tech companies have placed their CEOs on defense advisory panels. Project Maven and related initiatives are already using AI to assist in target selection for drone strikes. It’s real and fully-funded (and your tax dollars are paying for it).

The future of military force is being co-designed by tech giants whose profit depends on convenience, efficiency, and control. The more we offload our decision-making to AI—to summarize Google search results, to structure our work—the more likely it is that these tools shape our waking realities more than facts.

The future of military force is being co-designed by tech giants whose profit depends on convenience, efficiency, and control.

Safety is Not Shame

But neither is it sanctuary. If your safety isn’t used in service of others, what good is it? If your grief doesn’t help others understand why we bomb and who benefits, then what was your sleepless night for? Don’t let it become sedation.

This week I wrote something on a list in my notebook every time I felt worry. My own Kool-Aid to drink, I guess. It’s not beautiful, but it’s something I can share with you, if you’re still reading this:

❦

Persist Tenderly; Deliberately.

You persist by refusing to look away—
     but also by refusing to burn out.
By grieving out loud, and then feeding someone. 
By writing it down.
By standing beside someone smaller.
By staying permeable, not cynical.
By letting love politicize you more, not less.
By doing the work even when it's boring.
By doing the work even when there is no applause.
By doing the work even when the jaded chorus howls.
By knowing your work may not be seen—
     and doing it anyway.
By knowing your work may not be understood—
     and doing it anyway.
By knowing your work may not be accepted—
     and doing it anyway.
By laughing in the fleshy, red face of empire.
By laying down one brick—a post, a conversation, a refusal, a seed—
     and calling that enough for the day.

And tomorrow, again.

❦

My darling, my love: We need a left that organizes grief into clarity and that doesn’t hoard knowledge as power but extends it alongside an open hand. A left that says: We all came from somewhere. Let’s meet there and learn and act together. Even in this body, in this strange world, and in my small role I will act. And maybe you are, too.

I hope you are.

Until next time,

Nico

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