On 28 February, the US and Israel took action against Iran, bombing the capital, Tehran, and killing the Supreme Leader, Khamenei. Eleven days in and over twelve hundred people have been killed, including a primary school bombing where 168 people were killed, 110 of whom were children. 

I do not know what surprises me less, Netanyahu being involved in another mass murder of innocent children, or the fact that Trump has finally bent the knee and done Israel’s dirty work for them. Both fill me with a great sense of demoralisation.

What I do know for a fact is that Netanyahu is getting his way: after stating for well over thirty years that Iran has been close to attaining nuclear weapons, he has finally convinced the right gullible American that Iran poses a threat to the West, despite Trump’s ‘historically successful attack’ on bombing Iran’s nuclear centre last summer. However, Iran’s weak retaliation following the initial bombardment demonstrates the issue with this rhetoric and Iran’s fundamental incapacity to be a danger. Rather than looking to Iran, I recommend our attention be more focused on Israel and the US.

Israel is not part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, meaning that it can do whatever it wants regarding nuclear arms and receive no international oversight. Although Israel has never explicitly detailed its nuclear weapon programme, there are estimates ranging from it having 90-300 nuclear warheads (equivalent to nearly half of Europe’s nuclear power combined). Now pair this mass mobilisation of weaponry with one of the most right-wing Israeli Prime Ministers in history (and there is some serious competition for that spot), who is also an international war criminal and responsible for causing genocide in Palestine. It is a bone chilling thought. Yet, Netanyahu and his friends in America are still trying to be seen as the guardians of Western liberty.

This façade of liberation is sadly fooling people. Even though a trope in Trump’s electoral campaign was about excluding America from warfare, stating that the Iraqi war was a ‘big, fat mistake’, the most recent polls see his decision to attack Iran as being supported by 85% of MAGA and 64% of Republicans. America just cannot help but relapse into yet another conflict in the Middle East.

It may be that Trump is unable to resist Netanyahu’s unquestionable charm. Think about all the benefits: you can help Israel remain under this fantastic leadership by securing support for their election in October; you can help fund your tech-bros’ newest identity tracking software that spies on all of your favourite enemies; and you get to see your new weapons make big noises and bright flashes. Oh, and you can’t forget that Iran also has plenty of oil.

Did you know that Trump has invaded two of the top three countries with the largest oil reserves? What a coincidence, ay? Funny world.

This entire mess leaves Europe in a precarious position, revealing certain fractures. For example, Germany’s strong ties to Israel and Italy’s natural affinity with any group associated with the right-wing, have meant that their responses have been more in favour of the conflict than other European powers. Spain has undoubtedly come out in the strongest opposition, and Starmer is refusing to hold a definitive position. This ununified position leaves Europe vulnerable to more geopolitical bullying. By believing that Trump is an ally, one must have the memory of a goldfish: Trump threatened to invade a sovereign country attached to Europe only the other week. Additionally, America’s lack of attention to Russia’s invasion of Europe illustrates the true motivation behind the US’s military goals. America’s selfishness could not be clearer than asking Ukraine to pay the small price of 500 billion dollars worth of your rare earth minerals.  

This imperialistic stance is becoming increasingly brutal. Even inside America, Anthropic (a major AI safety and research company in the US) has been cut off by the Department of War because it refused to create autonomous AI weapons independent of human control. This war is being used to propel the American military into a dystopian horror, where robotic killing machines are becoming the next fashionable craze in the US’s pursuit of securing a more concrete position as the world’s most powerful force. If one wishes to now stand up to America’s ‘might is right’ policy, they face their heads of state being toppled or their business being sued into oblivion.

This war will create so much loss and depravity. However, there is something in me that believes that Hollywood will still be able to make a movie about this in ten years’ time, painting how brave and patriotic it is to be hunted by a swarm of drones as you fight for your country’s future against evil Islamic forces. 

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