ARE we seeing the end of the war that has cost nations precious lives and that sent many economies hurtling to record lows — that meant not only alarming figures but also starting livelihoods and meager incomes smothered? We are told that Donald Trump signed a “memorandum of understanding” that is supposed to presage the end of hostilities and the normalizing of maritime routes and international commerce.
Hardly had the ink dried on parchment when Al Jazeera warned that Iran was poised to close the Strait of Hormuz once more because of Israel’s continued bombardment of Southern Lebanon. Iran, it seems, is holding the US to the obligation to interdict Israeli incursions into Lebanon.
I watched a US senator deliver a blistering attack on the floor of the Senate against the deal, not because he wanted the war to continue but because he was dismayed that the US president willingly “gave up so much for so little.” He pointed to the fact that while the deal to which Trump agreed unfroze Iranian assets, allowed them to maintain their enriched uranium provided that it did not reach weapons-grade and other concessions, there was nothing about periodic inspections to see to Iran’s compliance with its obligations, no guarantee that the Strait of Hormuz would not be leveraged yet another time by Iran to mulct even more concessions from world powers.
Israel was obviously not pleased, and while an embattled Netanyahu, facing increasing opposition not only from the global community but, it seems, even from within Israel, boldly proclaimed that Israel was no lackey of the US and that his executive acts were not subject to Trump’s veto, he nevertheless realized that he could not do without US support.
There are no winners. Iran cannot claim victory. It has lost so much: Its infrastructure is devastated, many of its military assets, severely downgraded, its leadership, apparently in a confused state. Neither can the US. It started the war, and although Trump has repeatedly boasted that he commanded “the finest army in the world,” he really could not have his way with Iran. He wanted regime change. That did not happen — at least not yet. He wanted Iran to give up its uranium. He finally agreed to let Iran keep it — subject to certain conditions, no provision having been made to see to the fulfillment of such conditions.
As the Iranian leaders — however they might be, as even this is far from clear — await to lay their hands on the $300 billion bounty promised them by Trump’s MOU, what happens to the cause for which Saleh Mohammadi and others were hanged? What becomes of the aspirations of the courageous Iranians who took to the streets, made the world hear their protest, called the attention of the global community to the repression under which they had lived for decades and dared to hope for the dawning of the day of freedom? When Trump signed the “peace deal,” did he even think of them?
The devastation that Israel has visited on Gaza and on Southern Lebanon is undeniable, and Netanyahu must be made to account for his frenzied assaults on what he decided were enemy strongholds. But groups like Hamas and Hezbollah that have made it their mission to bring about the demise of Israel must be brought to the realization that peace can never spring from genocidal aspirations and that they really do not have the sympathy of the world. Terrorists are never deserving of it!
The fact that one country can hold the world’s economy hostage by closing a vital waterway is something that must be addressed. But solutions must be found within the bounds of law. This whole war was a strategic action plain and simple. It has not worked. What holds out the prospect of enduring solutions is strengthening the international legal order and rallying to its institutions. For those who are cynical about international law, what alternative is there to it?
I have no doubt that the Gulf States that received a share of shelling and pummeling for hosting US bases or facilities and are now obligated to contribute to the $300 billion booty promised Iran are reassessing their foreign relations policies in the wake of Trump’s unpredictable gambits. Trump’s braggadocio leaves many world leaders wondering, I am quite sure, whether it is a good idea to be allied with the US, given that it can ensconce at the pinnacle of power someone as petulant as Trump! Fissures in global Islam have also become apparent, and, more than ever, we realize that “Muslim” is not a univocal term.
We have not gained anything by this latest costly display of arrogance and pointless test of wills. But that we should have learned that the wages of war are paid for by those who profit from it least and hardly have a voice in the decisions that involve their lives and their futures — of that, becoming blasé is not a moral option.
rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph
rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph
