I just posted this on X:
I fear Trump will reveal his true level of inanity at the cost to the world, and we're doing nothing to stop him.
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This feels like the ramblings of a politician who is starting to realize war is just an extension of politics, albeit an expensive (use when all other options are worst) policy. The sheer focus of a warrior ethos has now shown its flaws. You can bomb all you want, but you have no political will against Iran, the strikes happened when the regime was recovering, not at their weakest. The pivot of “America First” in the Republican Party makes any of their claims of war justification ridiculous. They have no care of the Iranian people, they did not care for Ukraine when the democrats wanted to send aid to Ukraine.
Insane/part of the playbook/both?
RawStory article on trump’s potential gameplan re;revised defence budget
https://www.rawstory.com/trumps-military-budget/
The linked “five historical scenarios” on Snyder’s substack worth a read
This is from the roundup near the end…
“Indeed, all of them should only hurt him, if we are attentive and active. But there is no neutral position. We cannot do nothing and expect the republic to make it through. Indeed, Trump’s one chance to succeed, in any of these scenarios, is our own silent collaboration.”
So yes doing nothing isn’t going to end well.
To be fair to Starmer, is there anything he (or government) could say to alter events?
Ironically, having recently observed how callous “markets” are we may now be relying on them for a collapse on Monday to ensure TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). What a truly terrifying prospect.
Yes, there is something Starmer can do. That is to follow the lead of other European countries and forbid the US use of UK sovereign air bases for American military activities (especially on Tuesday) and forbid the use of UK airspace for US military aircraft. He could also cancel the Kings state visit. He could also cancel intelligence sharing and military co-operation.
It might be argued that would damage/destroy the transatlantic alliance and NATO. That is a misplaced fear because the alliance and NATO are both effectively dead.
If Starmer does not, at least, cancel the use of bases and UK airspace, the UK will be complicit in the war crimes Trump has announced he will commit on Tuesday.
This has happened in 2003 with the Iraq War. There was a split between supporting and not supporting the Iraq War. There even was a veto in defending Turkey (a NATO member) in case of fallout from the war. To say it will kill NATO would be a lie, it’s an organization built on decades of structural inertia. It has command structures, planning processes, standardization, joint exercises, intelligence sharing networks, and quite a bit more.
The most Britain can do is what Spain is doing: Refuse US permission to use their bases in this war, close airspace to war-related flights, and state opposition to the war.
As I’ll say, NATO is like roommates. They have shared dependencies and infrastructure that are better than being separate, there can be conflict without breaking up, and things are very disruptive for the individual splitting up.
NATO is a defence pact.
US aggression is destroying it.
You seem to kiss that point.
It is that aggression that will destroy it.
Well he could have condemned an illegal war and other war crimes. He might even have refused access to our UK bases for the bombers. As it is, we’re complicit.
Sadly, to borrow the words of Tony Soprano:
What ya’ gonna do?
In the face of utter madness, our own leaders are looking the other way, or crossing the road to avoid confronting the madness.
We know for sure what we would like our leaders to say. Something along the lines of: stop being so silly and go and have a cup of tea and a digestive. Instead, it will be ignored or dismissed with a shrug, Soprano style.
“What ya gonna do?”
You stand up. Say “no”. Allow/demand (dependent on power) unexpurgated reportage.
Saying “I cannot make them do this thing” is to ignore the influence of collective action. If you can influence even one other person to your position, you make a difference.
Please do.
See Steve Keen’s latest post on substack, very worrying:
https://profstevekeen.substack.com/p/economics-has-lulled-us-into-a-false?utm_source=substack&publication_id=872467&post_id=193257774
[…] post concerning Trump's threats issued with regard to a Monday deadline, was increased by his utterly intemperate, and frankly mad, expletive-laden post on social media during the day. This only served to expose his most base character trait, which is that of the […]
The way I read it is that Iranian retaliation has been causing far more damage than has been disclosed. That is not something to relish, as I suspect we are about to see.
To be clear – there is no ‘pivot’ to ‘America First’ – it has always been America first my friend, Nihal Hassan. All that is different is that there is no need to hide it any more.
Previous? The U.S. has plenty of it. When World War II ended, that very evening, the Americans stopped all aid to the UK without even telling us – their ‘ally’ – up front. They had the world in their hands and they grabbed it – they never left the islands they occupied in the pacific after their defeat of Japan. Because they wanted revenge on China and still do. To the victor, the spoils. ‘Fuck you, buddy’. Too right…………
I’ve met many ordinary Americans over the years and enjoyed their company. They’re no different to you and I.
The people who run the country though are another matter altogether. Their appetite for other people’s stuff is simply insatiable I’m afraid. Woe be to us that we have to witness this. So it must be it seems. And as this happens, we must vow to remember because as Milan Kundera put it, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting”.
This now is our duty in this bleak hour, it is the only way we can mitigate the suffering that will be wrought beyond our control.
What can Starmer DO?
He can do what is RIGHT. That is ALWAYS an option.
Our MPs need to know – the UK foreign relations/Defence-War status quo is not just intolerable, but it is criminal, and we hold them complicit in war crimes.
If Starmer and his 400 MPs choose a “special relationship” with war criminals and rogue terrorist states, then “at the going down of the sun and in the morning” we will indict them and hang their mug shots in the hall of infamy with other notorious war criminals.
Where’s Allah when you need him?
I think we must call him out. He’s “aff his heid”, as we would say here.
Dear Mr. Trump,
Thank you for your application to the Nobel Peace Prize. After reviewing your “living in hell” contribution to international harmony, we regret to inform you that your talents appear better aligned with the International Court at The Hague, where your name may yet receive the serious consideration it deserves.
The government may be on vacation but before they packed their bags they joined the war against Iran. They admit they are actively shooting down Iranian missiles and drones aimed at Other participants in the attack on Iran. The UK is not just complicit, it is a participant in an illegal attack on Iran. Starmer emulating Blair.