Whether inept, driven by survival or corrupt, they are unfit to lead their countries, let alone make decisions that imperil the whole world
This was not inevitable. This is a war Israel chose. It could have been prevented. Diplomatic talks were ongoing when the bombers took off for Iran. Israel’s continuing, illegal, unjustified airstrikes are unlikely to achieve their stated aim – permanently ending Tehran’s presumed efforts to build nuclear weapons – and may accelerate it. They must stop now. Likewise, Iran must halt its retaliation immediately and drop its escalatory threats to attack US and UK bases.
This conflict is not limited, as was the case last year, to tit-for-tat exchanges and “precision strikes” on a narrow range of military targets. It’s reached a wholly different level. Potentially nothing is off the table. Civilians are being killed on both sides. Leaders are targets. The rhetoric is out of control. With Israel fighting on several fronts, and Iran’s battered regime backed against a wall, the Middle East is closer than ever to a disastrous conflagration.
Reasons can always be found to go to war. The roots of major conflicts often reach back decades – and this is true of the Israel-Iran vendetta, which dates to the 1979 Islamic revolution. The so-called “shadow war” between the two intensified in recent years. Yet all-out conflict had been avoided, until now. So who is principally to blame for this sudden, unprecedented explosion?
Answer: three angry old men whose behaviour raises serious doubts about their judgment, common sense, motives and even their sanity.
The fact that one of them – Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister – has actively sought a showdown with Iran for years does not mean it had to happen. The fact the Tehran regime is unusually vulnerable after Israel’s attacks last year and the defeat of its Hezbollah ally does not somehow legitimise a surprise assault on its sovereign soil. It’s true that UN nuclear inspectors say Iran is breaking treaty obligations. But that doesn’t amount to a green light for war.
Netanyahu, 75, is unfit to lead Israel, let alone make life-or-death decisions on its behalf. He failed to protect Israelis from the 2023 terror attacks, then dodged responsibility. He has failed to fulfil his vow to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages, yet his soldiers have killed more than 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the process. He invaded Lebanon and Syria. Now it’s Iran. Where will he stop? Will he fight Turkey next? It’s not out of the question.
War is Netanyahu’s choice. It’s what gets him out of bed in the morning. It’s what keeps him and his UK-sanctioned far-right cronies in office and out of jail. His actions have inflicted extraordinary damage on his country’s reputation, fueling antisemitism globally….
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/15/trump-netanyahu-khamenei-three-angry-old-men
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Chris Hedges: The Rule of Idiots
Files reveal Nixon’s role in plot to block Allende from Chilean presidency
The joint CIA – MI-6 instigated coup in Iran that changed the Middle East, and the cover-up
Eve Ottenberg: Abolish the CIA
The CIA’s Intervention in Afghanistan: Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paris, 15-21 January 1998
TOM ENGELHARDT: The American Century Ends Early
Henry Kissinger was the definition of elite impunity
Roaming Charges: Kissinger – the Dr. Caligari of American Empire
After the truth-shower 