Concerns Voiced, Though, on Political Solutions; Repeating Past Mistakes
Trevor Phipps
As soon as the U.S. and Israel launched a massive attack on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, the growing conflict has triggered many opinions from Americans across the country, and especially in Colorado and Teller County.
The Ute Pass region, in fact, sports scores of military veterans who served in the Middle East during their service. As a result, they are monitoring the war, commanding national and international attention, extremely closely, and have strong feelings about the outcome. To date, many key veteran leaders in Teller County appear to support the military actions in the Middle East. At the same time, some have concerns about the ultimate political end-game.
However, like many Republicans across the country, local veterans in the Ute Pass region are currently supporting the president’s efforts in Iran. Most have said that something needed to be done to stop Iran, and that drastic military actions against the country were long overdue
Some area veterans, though, do have concerns about the growing conflict, currently creating sky-high gas prices and causing much economic turmoil across the country. They hope that the Trump Administration has a good plan on how to lead Iran, following the conflict. Moreover, most of the veterans TMJ spoke with, stressed that they hope the conflict doesn’t turn into a decades-long war, similar to what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, where some of them previously served.
Local Veterans’ Take on Ongoing Middle East Conflict
Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams served as a colonel in the U.S. Army and personally has a large amount of combat experience in the Middle East. “I think the overall sense is obviously that Iran is a bad actor, and I think this was going to be inevitable at some point,” Williams said. “One concern we all have is that we need an end state and clear objectives. We can do it militarily, but politically we need a clear end state and objectives.”
Mike Perini, owner of a local public relations firm served as a colonel for over three decades in the United States Air Force. “The use of military force is always the option of last resort, after diplomacy, sanctions, and other measures have been exhausted,” Perini told TMJ. “When a nation ultimately chooses to employ its military, timing matters—it reflects the judgment that delaying action could create greater danger for American interests, our allies, and regional stability. In my view, the objective of any operation should be clear and limited: deter further aggression, protect U.S. personnel and allies, and restore conditions where diplomacy—not conflict—can again take the lead in resolving tensions in the Middle East.”
Local podcast host Dennis Zerull retired after serving over two decades in the U.S Army Special Forces. “For me, I think this is something that has been a long time coming,” Zerull said. “The president decided that we can’t sit on the sidelines any longer because it’s pretty well-known that Iran has been sponsoring terrorism and involved in all kinds of stuff.”
Veteran Law Enforcement Officials Speak Out
Local law enforcement agents who have military experience also believe that the U.S./Israel attacks on Iran were necessary to prevent future violence.
Teller County Sheriff Commander and 2026 sheriff candidate Kevin Tedesco served in the military in the Middle East before he got into law enforcement over 20 years ago. “As far as foreign affairs and foreign matters goes and how the U.S. engages itself in those events, there is a significant process and decision-making process behind that that we are probably not privy to,” Tedesco said. “It might be a little soon to hold too much judgment towards it.”
Lieutenant Renee Bunting served in the U.S. Army before she got her community engagement role with the Teller County Sheriff’s Office over a decade ago. “I’m pretty excited about it, I think we just need to get it done! How many times do we have to go over there?” Bunting said.
“I know some people don’t really want it and they don’t like conflict. But obviously people who join the military don’t care about conflict. Really, that’s what you join the military for. You want to be there, and you want to help. You want to support. And I think a lot of times people don’t see it that way and it’s kind of sad.”
Tommy Allen who works as the public information officer for the Teller County Sheriff’s Office, served in the U.S. Army in the Middle East as recent as 2011.
“I have always been concerned about Iran’s nuclear program,” Allen said. “And I think it’s usually important that something major happened. These minor steps that we were taking just weren’t going to cut it. Watching what’s going on with them just inadvertently just throwing missiles around the area even at allies, demonstrates that had they achieved a nuclear weapon that could have gone up anywhere at any time. They don’t have essentially the adult leadership to be responsible for something like that.”
