( Five minute read)

It is not how dangerous this war is going to be to the Middle East, rather the signals it is sending to the rest of the world.

If you think accommodating a USA base gives one protection you need to think again.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions began under the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with support from the United States and Western Europe.

In 1957, Iran and the US signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement as part of President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program.

Only self defense against a prior armed attack across as international border legally justifies a claim of self-defense.

(Absent this, all threats, as well as uses of force, are considered severe violations of international law, which is and has been shown in all wars to be pie in the sky.)

Surely it’s not necessary to refer to previous wars conducted in the last century to realise that you cannot defeat a people whether you bomb them from here to kingdom come.

The current war in the Ukraine is another example.

Military might no longer matters in wars that are conducted by Missiles and drones.

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Iran and Russia are strategic allies and form an axis in the Caucasus alongside Armenia.

Iran and Russia are also military allies in the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine; and partners in Afghanistan and post-Soviet Central Asia. The Russian Federation is also the chief supplier of arms and weaponry to Iran.

China and Pakistan have also emerged as friends of Iran;

Already the conflict is resulting in a horrific toll of dead and injured, major environmental destruction, large scale forced migration, world-wide recession, as well as producing other equally dangerous and unintended consequences.

All of which contribute to the immiseration and increasingly forced migration of millions of people across the region and the unjustified repression of their legitimate aspirations for freedom, justice, democracy and sustainable development.

Indeed, absent a valid claim of self-defense any attack on Iran, never mind a full-scale invasion and occupation by the United States, violates the core articles of the UN Charter (Articles 2(4), 33, 39 & 51) as well as the legal imperative to seek a peaceful settlement of all international disputes. 

Donald Trump this time has bitten off more than Boots on the ground can handle or win.

The outcome of any war is not written in stone or regime change.

The world is now being held hostage to its values.

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.

Contact: bobdillon33@gmail.com