Move aside, Hamlet, and give way to the decisive deal-maker. The recolonistaion of West Asia is now in full swing, with Trump's bombing of Iran's nuclear sites on the night of 22nd June. It took him some time to decide whether or not to send in the B2 bombers with their payloads of the 15 tonne bunker busters or MOABs (Mother Of All Bombs). And he did it, as usual, with the MOAL (Mother OF All Lies), having announced just the day before that he would wait two weeks for diplomacy to play out. As with Israel's surprise attack on the 13th, diplomacy was once again knifed in the back.
Trump and Netanyahu are the Genghis Khans of our benighted times, and will probably never be made to pay for their serial war crimes and genocidal actions, but that is just a sign of the times we live in. Their game plan is now clear- regime change in Iran and joint hegemony over West Asia and its oil- though Ms Modi, Jaishankar and Doval cannot see it through their transactional, Islamophobic hoods. The story was never about Iran's nuclear weapons programme; it doesn't have one (as numerous testimonies have made clear). But then Saddam Hussain didn't have any weapon of mass destruction, either- that myth was created by the other two B2s (Blair and Bush) to serve their purpose. A similar myth has now been created by the two leading thugs of our times about Iran's nuclear programme, to green light another invasion and another war.
Which begs some obvious questions which very few in power in other countries, or even the media, are asking. Why should Iran not have a nuclear programme, even a nuclear weapons programme? Why is it asked to submit to IAEA inspections when other nuclear countries are not? Why does it not have the right to go nuclear when it is surrounded by none-too-pacific nuclear countries- Russia, Pakistan, India, and, of course, the biggest terrorist threat in the world, Israel? Israel does not even officially acknowledge that it has nuclear weapons capability, has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, does not subject itself to IAEA inspections or protocols. And yet, the sanctions are against Iran, not Israel.
The West has created another myth- that Iran cannot be trusted to have a nuclear weapons programme because it's a rogue regime and exporter of terrorism. This about a civilisation which dates back to a time when the ancestors of today's Americans were still living in caves in a miserable island in the North Sea. From two countries least qualified to make these charges- the USA is the only country in history to have actually used a nuclear munition against another country; it has started (and lost) more wars and bombed and destabilised more countries (30 at last count) by military force than any other power since the end of WW2. And Israel, with its voracious appetite for land, is the biggest terrorist power in the Middle-east, the quintessential rogue nation which has, in Gaza, killed hundreds of UN workers, medical personnel, journalists, aid workers, more than 100,000 Palestinians, and is currently engaged in starving the remaining ones to death. Both have repeatedly cocked a snook at institutions established to promote the international rules based order- the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court- and have even banned, threatened and sanctioned its functionaries and assassinated political leaders and scientists they take a dislike to. In all likelihood Trump may bomb the Nobel Prize headquarters if he is not given the Nobel Peace Prize and sanction the Israel Supreme Court if Netanyahu is not discharged from the criminal cases against him! And we are led to believe that Iran is a threat to global peace?
The ironies keep mounting, and would be farcical if they were not so sinister and dangerous in their implications. Pakistan nominates Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize the day after he drops the largest bombs ever made, without any provocation and in the face of all international laws! Trump himself, after practically triggering World War 3, tweets: It's now time for peace! Our own Prime Minister rings up the Iranian President after the bombing of the latter's main nuclear facilities by the USA, and advises de-escalation! Pardon me if I'm exceptionally stupid, sir, but shouldn't the party doing the escalation be the one asked to do the de-escalation? And, in the grandest gesture of hypocrisy and two-facedness, the EU fixes a meeting in the middle of July to "consider" sanctions against Israel- note, dear reader, the word "consider" and not "impose." By then, of course, another 1500 Palestinians would have been murdered in Gaza and the West Bank by a country they are all supporting, financing and arming. But Hey! what's the hurry, in the long run we're all dead anyway, aren't we?
I am sick to my stomach with the stench of all this posturing, deceit, barbarism, lack of any compassion or feeling of humanity, and evil power plays. Maybe I'm being too naive or am a bit of a simple Simon. But as I get along in years I find, in the words of Meryl Streep, that the funny thing about getting older is that while your eyesight starts getting weaker your ability to see through people's bullshit gets much better. Now, is that a blessing or a curse? Over to the Prince of Denmark to figure that one out.
We have lost our homeland. Globally. This is not the world we grew up in, reasonably secure in our innocence. The Era of Humaneness and Compassion is over. Welcome to illiterate, greedy forcefulness. The times they are a-changing and changing fast.
ReplyDeleteAnd All our bullshit of fighting Terrorism?
ReplyDeleteWe are actually admirers of Israel and would be so proud to be like them!
The politics has been hijacked by the goons and fake people with big egos. So called leaders of various countries are not bother about the people but playing repressive games. The vast majority is silent. A very strong World Body (UN) , committed to enfofce ethical principles is the need of hour.
ReplyDeleteAvay Shukla’s musings and Hamlet’s soliloquies share wide similarities in their reflections of the tempestuous times and the tumult in their lands, even though separated chronologically. What was Hamlet's Elsinore is Avay Shukla’s Gaza, and Denmark is more widely, all of the globe that has become one boiling cauldron of injustice.
ReplyDeleteThe likeness is undeniable. There is more that becomes apparent as one goes deeper, but the easier way is to observe how Avay Shukla has sandwiched his blog between titling it with Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, and ending it with leaving the Prince of Denmark to come up with answers.
“To B2 or not to B2” is a missile to Hamlet’s metaphor. The blog extracts the truth of the times like blood gushing from a rapier strike - far more directly than a sublime Shakespearean tragedy.
Mr. Sahu continues unabashed in his role as apologist for right-wing establishments. His points above at 2,3,5 seek to provide justification for the lawless actions of USA and Israel in attacking a sovereign nation without any justifiable cause. On point no. 1 he is completely wrong: Iran attacked the US bases in Qatar on 23rd June (not 21st, as Mr Sahu alleges) AFTER Trump bombed Iran's nuclear sites on the 22nd June. Also, his two week window for diplomacy is a matter of public record, no matter what Mr Sahu would like to believe. Point no 4 is conceded.
ReplyDeleteMr. Shukla,
ReplyDeleteYour response mischaracterises my position. Let me clarify: I never justified the U.S.–Israel attack on Iran. In fact, I endorsed your core argument — that such unilateral strikes violate norms and reinforce double standards in global politics. My response focused solely on factual corrections, which are necessary if our critique is to retain credibility.
1. On the sequencing of events –There appears to be a mismatch in my timeline. Iran launched drone attacks on the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq, on June 16, 2025. Trump announced on June 20 (India time) that he would “not decide to join” the Israeli assault on Iran for “up to two weeks”. That statement did not indicate a fixed two-week delay as you have suggested—it left open the possibility of action at any point within that window. He exercised that discretion and ordered the strikes on June 22.
2. Regarding the enrichment level – It’s a technical fact that 60% uranium enrichment has no civilian application and moves closer to weapons-grade material. Citing this is not endorsement; it simply explains the concern expressed internationally.
3. On regional activities – I explicitly stated that justifying military action based on Iran’s proxies reflects geopolitical bias, not legal parity. That does not equal support for such actions — quite the opposite.
4. On domino effect – Explaining why the U.S. and Israel fear nuclear domino effects in the region is not an endorsement. It's a strategic assessment, not a moral one.
You are right to hold power to account. But suggesting that anyone who adds nuance or corrects facts is “an apologist” is unhelpful. Robust discourse demands precision — especially when we’re critiquing global superpowers for ignoring legal frameworks.
Let us not weaken a strong case by overlooking key facts.
Dear Avay,
ReplyDeleteI'm a regular reader of your blog and never miss a chance to catch your interviews with Karan Thapar on YouTube. That’s why I was a little disappointed by your immediate labeling of Mr. Sahu as an “apologist for right-wing apologists.” To be honest, he didn’t seem to be waving any right-wing flags to me — in fact, he wasn’t even waving a flag at all.
I live in the US and have never really bought into the whole “greatest nation on God’s green earth” Kool-Aid. Frankly, I think our own Vishwaguru nonsense is the same thing, just with a bit more spice.
I agree with most of the points you raise. Trump, Netanyahu, and the rest are hardly paragons of virtue — but then, neither are many of their neighbors, or indeed, most nations. My benchmark for national "greatness" is rather modest: what a country does to improve the lives of its most vulnerable citizens — those with the smallest voice and the least power. Viewed through that lens, nearly every nation falls short. What remains, in most cases, is the relentless pursuit of national self-interest.
That said, for all their flaws and contradictions, the US, the EU, and similar democracies do a better job — albeit imperfectly — on this front. Moralizing over their geopolitical maneuvers can feel like arguing about which spoon is best for eating soup when the soup itself is the real problem. The world, unfortunately, seems to be in the grip of the deliberately uninformed — people who’ve outsourced their thinking to one tribe or another.
Let us, the more reflective readers of your blog, try not to fall into the same reflexive habits.
Warm regards.
Thank you for reminding us of Meryl Streep's observation about getting older and eye sights getting weaker, while the ability to see through "people's bullshit gets better." But while agreeing with her, I have to express my regret that while I can see through the bullshit that is overflowing my country India under the present regime of prime minister Narendra Modi , my age-related problems (I'm about to reach 89) prevent me from coming out in the streets and join my younger comrades who are resisting the flow of that bullshit.
ReplyDeleteSumanta Banerjee
Hyderabad