Flimsy pretext for striking Iran

The American-Israeli attack on Iran has come at a time when the Muslims the world over observe siam or fasting for a month. Whether the choice of the time is deliberate or not, it is a heretical act. When Donald Trump boasts he has killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before the latter could kill him, this sounds like a matter-of-fact utterance by an anti-social gang leader. It is no turf war confined to a ward or borough of a municipality. Rather, involved here is the Supreme Leader, the top most cleric who served as the president of the country from 1981-1989. The Supreme Leader holds the ultimate authority over all branches of the government, military and the judiciary. He is also recognised as the spiritual leader of the Iranian nation.

Trump is heard to casually make the statement during a press conference in presence of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The ayatollah may be his adversary but a spiritual leader of the Iranian people certainly deserved some respect when the slain leader's name was mentioned. A man of his ilk, who can carry out the vicious attacks in the month of Ramadan when the Muslims practise abstemiousness, is hardly expected to have any respect for an Islamic scholar. If Trump had the slightest religious tolerance and respect, he could not launch the deadly attacks on Iran at the beginning of this holy month of Ramadan. From ancient Greece to Medieval Europe to pre-Islamic to Islamic Arabia, "Sacred Truce" or "Truce of God" was the rule of the day. If war clashed with observance of religious events or big celebrations like the Olympic Games, no-war policy was maintained.

However, Trump and Jewish state in the Middle East could not care less. Israel has not only disregarded the religious sanctity of Ramadan by killing the Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank but also, in its latest move, closed down the Al-Aqsa Mosque, denying prayer by the Palestinian Muslims there. The difference between the religious norms of the past and that of today could not be starker. On this count, the Hamas is no less guilty because this militant group carried out an attack inside Israel at the time Israelis were observing the Simchat Torah on October 7, 2023.

Clearly, it is a case of tit for tat. But Trump, a staunch patron of Israel, is hell-bent on 'regime change' in Iran and obliterating the Palestinians from Gaza strip. He cannot be expected to have any moral obligation. A man who found guilty of sexual misconduct by the court and was instructed to pay $5.0 million to his victim E Jean Carroll should not even have received nomination for election, let alone emerging victorious. Senator Gary Hart had to pull out of the presidential race when an affair during his wife's absence with Donna Rice, a 29-year-old model was reported.

Both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are lucky to have wriggled out of their scandalous affairs. While Clinton could complete his terms at the white house, he did not embark on political misadventure like the incumbent president. Yes, Donald Trump considers himself the lord of all he surveys. This is exactly why he can toy with the idea of making Canada the 51st state of the United States of America, express his unabashed desire to annex Greenland and annoy his NATO allies. But none of those can match the outrageous act of picking up a president of a small but sovereign country by unleashing a military sortie and holding him and his wife hostage. This is insanity at its worst. Then the madness prompts him to launch waves of attacks jointly with Israel on Iran to not only destroy nuclear facilities but also kill Khamenei.

What is the crime of Iran, its spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei and civilians there, particularly the school children who lost their lives when the first salvoes were carried out right at the time of negotiations for a peaceful solution to the problem held in Geneva. The contentious issue here is Iran's capability for developing nuclear arsenals which, Israel and America think, will be used against them. Iran was on the verge of achieving the capability so all nuclear facilities have to be destroyed. This argument is accompanied with the demand for regime change. The intention is to bring Iran to its knees and turn it into a vassal state. In case of Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserve estimated at 303 billion barrels comprising 18-18.17 per cent of the world's total, the objective is to establish monopoly right of US companies on the oil reserves. Iran also has the second largest oil reserve in the Middle East estimated at 209 billion barrels.

With this attack, the genie has been brought out of the bottle. Who knows how the war will end. But a civilised world cannot allow this kind of barbarity any more. The fact is that the UN has turned to be a silent spectator. This means no one has the gut to say to Trump, "Thus far and no further". The UN has been rendered a paper tiger because the members of the NATO in Europe are led by spineless leaderships. Russia is no longer the Soviet Union it once was. Also, it has not the moral courage of glowering at the USA because of its war on Ukraine. China stays back because its involvement in the fray would set alight a conflagration no less than the World War III.

Thus sovereignty of nations, human rights and democratic values have become a casualty on the great power bullies' altar of greed for power and natural resources like oil and minerals. The UN has become dysfunctional at a time when the world finds itself in deepening turmoil and needs it most. When international orders thus break down, courtesy of insanity of men like Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump, this world proceeds towards its perishment.

nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com