Escalating conflict in the Middle East this week has a lot of us on edge, worried that maybe we're on the verge of yet another war.

I'm Anne Strange Champs. We've been following the news, keeping up with events.

So in this episode of, to the best of our knowledge, let's step back and ask a bigger question.

Why do we go to war?

Ever? At all.

Wisconsin Public Radio.

It's to the best of our knowledge.

I'm Anne Strange Champs.

Where were you when you heard the news this week?

I think I was at home with my wife because it was between Christmas and New Year's. In a major escalation and tensions between the U.S. and Iran, the top Iranian in general has been killed in an airstrike while leaving the Baghdad airport.

You think you have a lot of questions about what happened this week?

Foreign policy expert Scott Anderson worked at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

He was just as shocked as the rest of us, and he had even more questions.

Music I had just written another article on the December 29th air strikes against Khatab-Hizballah

sites in Iraq, then heard about this action.

Qasem Soleimani was one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East.

This attack comes after Iranian-back groups breached the U.S.

embassy in Baghdad just two days ago.

Initially, I had, frankly, some difficulty believing that it was 100% true and that it was 100% of US action.

My first thoughts were what will this mean for the US-Iraq relationship moving forward.

The Parliament has just passed a resolution to end the presence of all foreign troops in the country.

I was just kind of surprised that it would be undertaken, particularly so soon after the December 29 strikes

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