A great effort will be needed to undo the damage once the US president has gone. But with the constitution unable to bring him to order now, that is what we must do
T
he US is extraordinary. One day it goes to the far side of the moon and revives the space age. On the same day, its president is looking to the far side of the Earth and says he will take Iran “back to the stone ages”. It may be a giant leap for mankind, but in what direction?
There can be no point other than prestige in sending humans to the moon, which is why more than 50 years have passed since they last went there. Robots can perform all we need in space. Returning the Iranians to the stone age is a different matter. The last time the US made the same boast was against Vietnam in a typical threat (much misquoted) by Gen Curtis LeMay. Vietnam crushed the US in the ensuing war.
The Iran war has become impossible to read, because it is so clearly the creation of one man driven by personal vanity, who wishes to force the world to dance to his tune. He is joined in his quest for global disorder by a like-minded soul, Vladimir Putin. Such men have often led nations to collective disaster, but that two should do so at the same time is a horrific misfortune. Hence the urgent need to recognise what they are: just two men with access to immense power. They do not represent their respective countries. We can only know that without them, these wars probably would not have begun. The world must react with due realism and proportion.
