Just in case you thought things might get better in the world, the Financial Times has reported this morning that:
Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to resume large-scale strikes against Iran and had instructed his military to plan for a major new offensive earlier this month, moves that risk plunging the region back into full-scale war.
It is now clear that Benjamin Netanyahu is planning a major new offensive whether he wins the election in Israel or not, and I make the last point deliberately because, Trump-style, it is unclear whether he would accept being removed from office.
As the article says, the major assault in question was planned for October 10, but deferred at the request of Donald Trump, who does not want a major offensive before the midterm elections in the first week of November. My suspicion is that once Netanyahu has next week's general election in Israel out of the way, such restraint will be abandoned.
If Netanyahu and his coalition win a new mandate, and it is possible that they will, war in what is properly called West Asia is likely to get much worse, and not better, which can only increase the risks of a major crisis developing in 2027.
The immediate economic and political prospects in this country and around the world look to be deteriorating rapidly. I suspect none of that will be reflected in what John Healy will have to say in his budget next week. I suspect that will be cocooned in assumptions unrelated to what is really happening in the world. That is also why I expect everything it suggests might happen is unlikely to do so.
The surreal nature of politics at present is a major cause for concern. The world is falling apart, and our supposed leaders don't seem to be noticing. How is that possible?
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Netanyahu knows that he will be protected by his country’s ‘war powers’ if he assaults Iran. Surely that is the only answer? This is how chancers like Netanyahu function.
TBH I’d expected a serious escalation in the conflict or Reichstag Fire moment domestically at the time of the mid-terms to enable Trump to declare a state of emergency.
The Israeli attacks/war against Iran could also be a cover for the on-going annexation of parts of Syria and Lebanon to form greater Israel. The UK gov is happy to go along with these land grabs (performative hand wringing does not count as opposition) in the main due to the pervasive influence of zionists within the UK gov. The NAZA interviews show that many/most of educated Israel is happy to go along with this (if you are indifferent to murdering children, land grabbing seems quite minor).
The Iranians have no shortage of missiles and will doubtless respond to Israeli attacks in a substantive fashion, which in turn will provide reason/cover to Net & Yahoo.
‘Eretz Yisrael’ has been the goal since the 1920s, the time of Weizmann, Samuel and Balfour. It is now the goal of the USA uber rich too, in the worldwide creation of a far-right empire embracing the Americas, Europe, North Africa and near Asia. The UK government is bought and sold.
AI Overview makes comments which, in compressed form here, might provide answers to your so relevant question:
1) Political survival and polarisation – flexiblity is likely to be portrayed as betrayal
2) Fear of accusations and actions related to betrayal and/or incompetence
3) Being surrounded by people who filter information etc. that supports the status quo instead of questioning it
4) Tendencies towards hubris and narcissicism
5) Difficulties in conveying non-binary attitudes, thinking and behaviours
Might the main stream media and the mass education set up contribute to 1, 2, and 5?
Presumably our supposed leaders have indeed noticed, and actively want our world to “fall apart”. Why, I wonder.
Because they think they will be amongst the survivors?
It does not matter who wins the impending election in Israel the war with Iran and Israeli military activities elsewhere will be continued.
Why has Burnham committed the UK to defending Saudi Arabia, which will allow SA to continue its genocide of Western Yemen? Over 300,000 Yemenis killed or died of starvation since SA imposed its blockade and started bombing in 2015.
Ansar Allah are not the religious fanatics here. It’s Saudi Wahhabism, which the Saudis have been trying to impose in Yemen.
The western mainstream media’s trope is that Ansar Allah are the proxies of Iran. To date there has been no hard evidence to back this claim. All the action on the ground points to Ansar Allah being very independent of Iran.
We have agreed to help cover Israel’s southern front when the next assault on Iran begins
That’s how I see it.
If you are correct the UK will be sucked into the chaos of the disintegrating Gulf states. The UK left Yemen in the 1960s because it became to hot to handle. Then in the recent US/SA/UK campaign against Ansar Allah this coalition was defeated.
Tinkerman Burnham and the Foreign Office have little concept of history and political reality.
Agreed