Discover why the recent U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran during ongoing negotiations shouldn’t shock anyone. This hard-hitting Orthodox Christian analysis from author Walt Garlington exposes the deep-rooted patterns of American duplicity and aggression—traced to “Yankee” Puritan Millennialism and a consolidated federal government that’s aggressive abroad and despotic at home. Drawing historical parallels like the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid and Robert E. Lee’s warnings, the article critiques bad-faith diplomacy, Zionist influences, and Christian Zionism as heretical forces driving endless conflict. Published amid Great Lent reflections, it calls for repentance, warns of demonic delusions in politics, and urges turning to the Orthodox Church as the true path away from this “preparation for Antichrist.” If you’re questioning mainstream narratives on U.S. foreign policy, Iran war escalation, neoconservatism, or the spiritual roots of American exceptionalism, read this provocative Southern Orthodox perspective now.