Sit, fetch, bring, good dog. This is what the world is witnessing and how Israel’s war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu is ordering Donald Trump around. And if that’s not enough, both the owner of the dog and the dog itself want us to believe it is wagging its tail instead, when we all know the tail is wagging the dog.
So, why did Trump do it? Was he blackmailed with Epstein files? Did he simply not believe his generals? Or, was it vanity? After all, his mighty military got the job done in Venezuela.
What I mean here is that first, it was hubris. It refers to “excessive pride, extreme arrogance, or overbearing self-confidence that often leads to a person’s downfall”. Originating in Greek tragedy as defiance toward gods, it now describes a fatal overestimation of one’s abilities.
Second, it’s internal political calculus. Trump knows his approval rating is in the gutter. According to the Economist, Trump’s net approval rating is -19, down 0.6 points since last week – 38% approve, 58% disapprove, and 4% not sure.
It is almost a certainty that come November midterms, the Trump Maga Republican group is in for a hiding, losing the house (congress) and very possibly the senate as well.
Third, we cannot ignore the Epstein files debacle. Trump and his cronies have gone to great lengths to suppress these files and we have to ask why?
They say, “Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort experienced when holding two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes simultaneously.” Coined by Leon Festinger, this theory suggests that people are driven to reduce this tension by changing their attitudes, rationalising their behaviour, or ignoring conflicting information.
This is precisely what we observe when listening to the Trump administration as to the reasons for this unprovoked illegal act of aggression against Iran.
I’m not sure which lie we must believe, “We obliterated Iran’s nuclear ambitions”, that’s what Trump told the world in its shock and awe display with B2 bombers just sic months ago.
“Iran may have a nuclear weapon within weeks” this is according to Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Israel was going to launch an attack, and we had to protect our assets in the region,” stated Marco Rubio, and finally, the truth, I think.
“We want regime change,” says Trump. “No. We are not engaging in regime change,” says Rubio.
What is going on? Why all this confusion?
I think when it is all said and done, it is rather shameful that Arab Muslim countries are aiding and abetting the war criminal Netanyahu and Trump by giving access to their airspace for attacks, allowing US military bases housed in their respective countries to operate in this war of aggression against Iran. Until now, Iran has never militarily attacked or declared war against any of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.
Meanwhile Trump and the Israeli government wants us to believe that this will be over swiftly in a matter of weeks, and yet the Israel Defence Forces is still fighting Hamas in Gaza, two-and-a half years later. They think they can destroy and have regime change in Iran in a few days? How delusional must one be?
Then there’s the consistent narrative of an evil Iran for the last 40 plus years. These false narratives through Western media no longer fool people including in the Western Hemisphere. People see right through Trump’s false narratives of white genocide in South Africa, mass killings of Christians in western Nigeria, and narcoterrorism by the Venezuelan government. You get the point.
This is why South Africa’s foreign policy is on the right side of history. Killing in cold blood a 86-year-old man, a cleric, a father and grandfather, and then celebrating it is evil.
Further escalation steps on both sides will unfold going forward. The Strait of Hormuz will certainly be closed by Iran. Next, more energy facilities will be bombed by Iran whilst more devastating bombardment by Israel, and the US takes place in Tehran.
Then Iran will up the ante and target the desalination plants of the GCC states (a lifeline for most Arab states). Eventually, the GCC states that are financing the AI bubble in the US will threaten to withdraw such support and when that bubble bursts, its tickets for the US economy.
What will be the cost to ordinary Americans and Europeans with high inflation and petrol and gas costs? When will the people respond in protest to their respective governments, demanding a course correction away from supporting Israel and the mad USA?
- Dr Van Heerden is a senior research fellow at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at UJ
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