Melakou Tegegn, Kampala- Uganda– As a famous Amharic saying has it, “Aya jibo satamehagn bilagn”; ostensibly the lamb said to this to the hyena who was saying all and sundry but dying to eat the lamb. In 1964, the Johnson administration in the US fabricated a story that goes in the history of falsified incidents as the Tonkin Gulf Incident to start the war in Vietnam.
The White House produced photographs of ostensibly North Vietnamese gun boats attacking a US navy vessel. Decades later, the US government officially admitted that the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” was all fabrication. Incidentally, the Reagan administration that was dying to start war in El Salvador and by extension in Nicaragua at the time also came with another fabrication.
This time, Regan brought a couple of Salvadoran “deserters” to testify at a press conference that there was Nigaraguan military involvement in El Salvador. The US media quickly conducted investigation and found out that those Latinos who testified at the press conference were not Salvadorans but residents right there in the US. Reagan’s fabrication collapsed.
Now, it looks like it is Trump’s turn to fabricate a story to start war with Iran. It accused Iran of blasting two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The story is quickly being refuted by those who were on the spot.
Now, this is a deadly serious matter because the US with the instigation by Israel wants to go to war with Iran. This is a Trump-Netanyahu agenda. The matter is serious at two levels. Even if we accept that really did it, then the US will get the excuse to start war.
On the other hand, even if Iran is not involved, the fact that the Trump administration manufactured such a story clearly indicates that it is bent to start war. It is the blasting of the tankers today, it could be something else tomorrow. After all, the US has already brought two war heads close to the region.
The tension between the US-Israel coalition in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and U. A. Emirates, is out to confront Iran mainly because Iran is viewed as the major obstacle to the Israeli agenda of obliterating Palestine en toto and the Saudi’s self-appointment as the police man of the Gulf region. Iran, on its part actively supports the Palestinian cause and the Houtis resistance in Yemen.
The Saudis launched a much publicized military offensive by air against the Houtis a few years ago but got stuck the process. The Saudi air offensive could not be followed by ground offensive as the air offensive was not successful enough to warrant ground offensive. Through time, the Houtis seem to take the offensive which is the case at the moment.
Their drone attacks against targets inside Saudi Arabia have been successful so far and very recently, they also managed to attack and occupy targets inside Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, currently led by the juvenile Prins Mohammed Salman, lost credibility at the diplomatic level after assassinating the journalist Kasogi and executing political opponents. Israel on its part has never stopped killing and maiming peaceful Palestinian protesters.
The patron of the Saudis and Israel, Trump, moved the US embassy to Jerusalem which is against international law only to please Netanyahu but pushed many in the US itself to detest US’ blind obedience to Israel. This should be viewed against the background of Trump’s undoing of major US achievements on international diplomacy under Obama, namely the Iran nuclear agreement, the Paris climate accord, active cooperation with China and so on.
This is the second time that a republican president is bent to undo what was achieved by a democrat president. Clinton’s presidency was among other things marked by successes in either resolving or starting the process of resolving of major hotbeds in the world.
The Friday Agreement ended the Anglo-Irish war, Apartheid was dismantled with the US clearly withdrawing its active collaboration it, and most of all, the Oslo Agreement between Palestinians and Israel was signed with the unambiguous agreement on the two states solution, i.e. the state of Palestine side by side with the state of Israel. Rapprochement with North Korea was also made with North Korea publicly pledging to dismantle its uranium enrichment programme.
Now, when George Bush Jr. became president, he started to undo Clinton’s achievements but it was too late for him to save apartheid. He literally declared war on North Korea and gave the green light to Israel to distance from the Oslo Agreement. With that, Israel began its belligerent policy towards the Palestinians and the Oslo Accord collapsed with Israel’s declaration of war on Palestine.
Obama tried to reverse the hostility between Palestine and Israel and initiate a new round of talks with the involvement of the European Union and Russia. The Israelis were not happy with Obama’s initiative. The arrival of Trump was a pie in the sky for Netanyahu who had already initiated a big agenda to isolate Iran.
The obliging Trump made Netanyahu immensely happy that he continued with the killing in broad day light of peaceful Palestinian protesters and ending the negotiation. Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem in a move which is against international law.
After all these violations of Palestinian rights, it is so cynical on the part of Trump who talks about the Peace of the Century negotiations between Palestine and Israel to be initiated by him. Undoubtedly, Donald Trump is out to destroy the Palestinian cause and please Israelis. But, many observers are warning that such US obedience to Israel is eventually dangerous to the US itself.
With the end of the Cold War, many hoped that the world would be at peace as the causes of nuclear war were being doing away with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, some including the right in Israel and US read the situation differently. Instead, they saw opportunity to attain their objectives. Israel that has amassed a nuclear arsenal wanted to destroy the Palestine agenda.
But, hitting those Arab regimes actively supporting the Palestinian cause had to be obliterated. Saddam’s Iraq was on top of the list. The excuse? Amassing weapons of mass destruction! The US destroyed Iraq and then it was the turn of Syria.
The US was not successful in Syria. Then came the Arab Spring that swept a few Arab regimes notably Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarek in Egypt and Salah in Yemen. The one in Yemen gave way to a protracted civil war through which the Houthi phenomenon emerged as a decisive factor.
The Saudis ganged up the anti-Houti camp because the Houtis are Shia. Iran supported the Houthis for the same reason. The US as an active supporter of the Saudis formed an unholy alliance between Israel, Saudis, Egypt and U. A. Emirates mainly against Iran.
Finally, when the Saudis who started their air bombardment campaign against Yemen failed to change the situation in Yemen because they could not launch ground offensive, rang the alarm bell that the Shia satans (Iran and Houtis) are going to prevail in Yemen. Trump and Netanyahu quickly rallied with the trio in a stand-off against Iran.
The US moved two war heads closer to the Strait of Hormuz in a clear sign of initiating war with Iran. What we witnessed the last two days with the US claiming that Iran blasted the oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman is indeed a preparation to start the war.
Trump just needed an excuse. Those around the scene refuted Trump’s claims of Iranian involvement. The Amharic saying, “Just do it …go and eat me…no excuses!” ostensibly uttered by a lamb to a hyena that was dying to eat it, perfectly describes Trump’s actions.