System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian is one of the latest musicians to denounce the recent attack on Iran by US President Donald Trump.
For much of the last few days, the world has shifted their attention from the devastating Australian bushfires to the harrowing confrontation between the US and Iran.
Kicking off on January 3rd, the latest round of troubles began when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike. A divisive action across the board, it’s let many onlookers worried that things might escalate into a potential World War III.
Although the irony of noting that his predecessor Barack Obama would start a war with Iran to guarantee re-election appears lost on Donald Trump, countless politicians, commentators, and celebrities have come forward to denounce the potential of a new war.
One of these vocal critics happens to be none other than Serj Tankian, frontman of System Of A Down, whose music was seen as something of a soundtrack for opposing the US’ involvement in the Iraq war in the early ’00s.
Taking to Twitter, Tankian was quick to draw parallels between Trump’s actions and those of similarly-impeached President Bill Clinton.
“A month before his impeachment trial in the Senate and on an election year Trump makes a call to assassinate a leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards,” Tankian shared.
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“A move [Bill] Clinton made, bombing Iraq before his Senate impeachment. We’re saying NO TO ANOTHER WAR!”
Check out Twitter posts by Serj Tankian and Franz Ferdinand:
A month before his impeachment trial in the Senate and on an election year Trump makes a call to assassinate a leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. A move Clinton made, bombing Iraq before his Senate impeachment. We’re saying NO TO ANOTHER WAR! https://t.co/KvLqZADAw2
— Serj Tankian-#SanctionAzerbaijan (@serjtankian) January 3, 2020
This is not how I wanted to see the name of my band trending on Twitter #FranzFerdinand
— Alex Kapranos (@alkapranos) January 3, 2020
I naively presumed that history was something best learned from rather than repeated.
— Alex Kapranos (@alkapranos) January 3, 2020
For the record, we think #WWIII is a bad idea.
— Franz Ferdinand (@Franz_Ferdinand) January 3, 2020
In somewhat related news, the assassination of Qasem Soleimani has seen many liken him to that of Franz Ferdinand, whose death is seen as the catalyst for World War I over a century ago.
As one might expect, this has seen the hashtag #FranzFerdinand trend on Twitter, much to the dismay of the Scottish indie-rockers who share the infamous moniker.
“This is not how I wanted to see the name of my band trending on Twitter,” wrote frontman Alex Kapranos on Friday.
While one user noted the band should’ve expected such an association wile choosing such a name, Kaparanos was quick to note that he “naively presumed that history was something best learned from rather than repeated.”
Capping it all off though, the Scottish rockers were quick to note on Twitter that they’re quite opposed to the notion of a global conflict; “For the record, we think #WWIII is a bad idea.”
While it remains to be seen where Donald Trump’s actions and hubris may send us, you can be sure we’ll be pumping plenty of System Of A Down while we protest against the notion of another large-scale war.