New York Times-verified images from a scene in southern Iran are horrific. A severed arm of a child lying in the rubble. Backpacks covered in ashes. The dead in body bags. Video of rescue workers digging through the remains of what had been a modest, two-story school near a military installation in southern Iran.

Please stop for a moment and think about the babies who died over the weekend. I call them that because that’s really what they were, elementary age school children learning their lessons on what had started as a typical school day during their holy month of Ramadan before turning into a nightmare.

Regardless what you think about the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, these girls were innocents. Students ages 7-12, they didn’t deserve this. Even growing up under the horribly, repressive thumb of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, they had hopes and dreams for their lives that sadly now will never be realized. Their families must be out of their minds with grief.

It’s tempting to turn away from such a devastating tragedy, but America needs to bear witness to what has happened. President Donald Trump says the U.S. joined with Israel to bring about regime change and stop the production of nuclear weapons. Iranian security forces have reportedly killed thousands of their own people.

It’s still unclear exactly how many schoolgirls were killed and which nation is responsible for the strike. The Times is reporting that at least 175 people altogether perished during the attack on the school located in the city of Minab in southern Iran.

According to The New York Times, the school is near a naval base where the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps is stationed. Reportedly, it also was struck that day. Various news sources reported that a spokesman for U.S. Central Command said military officials are “aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations” and is “looking into them.”

Meanwhile, the reports have sparked worldwide outrage. Nobel Peace Prize laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai wrote on X: “I stand firmly against violence and the targeting of schools and civilians.” She was a child herself when she was shot while returning home from school in Pakistan in 2012.

Imagine the blanket news coverage that would have taken place if something even remotely like this had taken place at a school on American soil. It would have made the front-page of every newspaper. But because it happened in a Muslim country thousands of miles away, it’s easier to act as if it never happened.

We can’t allow this kind of violence to be normalized.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris spoke for many of us over the weekend when she said, “Trump has dragged us into a war that we do not want.” The former Democratic presidential candidate added, “I unequivocally oppose this war of choice and everyone should.”

Polls show that most agree with Harris. Only one in four Americans approves of this war in the Middle East. I get it. We don’t want another drawn-out situation. We didn’t agree to this, and only Congress has the authority to authorize war.

We don’t even know what Trump’s end game is, but he has let us know that the U.S. can expect more military casualties. More war means more airstrikes and more civilian fatalities — possibly even devastation like what happened at the girls school — where, as Yousafzai said on X, “every child deserves to live and learn in peace.”

Given the administration’s reluctance to share more about the planned scope and scale of our military engagement, there is little we can say with certainty. Except that Trump’s reckless war proves his “Board of Peace” is a farce.

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