My father always reminded me to keep a “cool head and a warm heart.” Today, we are living through one of those moments when it is wise to apply that advice.
First, let us make a few things clear: the United States and Israel have once again violated every conceivable rule by launching their war against Iran. Once again, while negotiations were still underway, they attacked that country, flagrantly violating not only a nation’s sovereignty but also the international legal order. Yet, this should not surprise us if we look at the destruction in Gaza and the history of the United States, a nation so fond of war. We knew this would happen; the question was only when.
What we know so far is that Iran has struck hard against all U.S. military installations in the Persian Gulf. Despite Tehran being subjected to violent bombardment, it has proven capable of responding—and with unusual force. Once again, it seems the Americans underestimated their adversary, a clear sign of their arrogance and ignorance in failing to truly understand their enemy. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, as it had announced it would, and this is hitting the global economy hard. While lives are being lost in Iran, money is being lost in the United States (and a few lives as well). The cost of the war has already surpassed the staggering figure of 10,217,000,000 US dollars (last update 10.03.), and continues to rise every second, as indicated by the Iran War Cost Tracker website.
The battle is also being fought in the corporate media, which are striving to justify and cheer for this war as if it were inevitable. Western media outlets defend the criminal conduct of the aggressors while blaming the attacked party for responding. However, the manufacturing of consent for this war is rather weak. Twenty-two years ago, when the empire was preparing to invade Iraq, it made the effort to invent some excuse. Today, the justifications are ridiculous and reveal how little effort has been made to truly legitimize this war. What is the reason, the excuse, for this war? Regime Change or the Iranian ballistic missile program, or the threat of any use of uranium enrichment, or all of these? Recently, the historian Emmanuel Todd said in an interview: “The Western media system has become an empire of lies, incapable of describing reality.” Ultimately, the truth no longer matters. The empire has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for soft power, for international law, and for any commitment to truth. But when the empire believes its own lies, then you only have hubris.
We also knew who would support this new war and who would oppose it. True, European leaders always manage to surprise us with their extraordinary capacity for servility. This was to be expected from such lamentable figures as Kaja Kallas and Ursula von der Leyen. But not everyone in Europe is willing to twist the truth in the face of the obvious and kneel before Emperor Trump. Spain and Belgium seem to be exceptions, offering some condemnations. Meanwhile, the usual trio—the three stooges, Macron, Merz, and Starmer—compete to see who can demonstrate the greatest willingness to submit. All three leaders are ready to support U.S. logistics by allowing American forces to use military bases on their territory. That turns their countries into legitimate targets—or even makes them enter the war outright. Yet the supposed “unity” of Europe has been exposed as little more than a myth. This is illustrated by Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreeing with Trump that Spain should be punished for daring to contradict the American president’s will. It seems the empire increasingly demands that its vassals commit themselves more fully to its overseas wars. Those who wish to remain on the sidelines—or who still cite rules that this supposedly “civilized” world once claimed to respect—will become pariahs within an increasingly warlike and nihilistic Western alliance.
Western propaganda against Iran has been effective. Without defending the current regime in Tehran, we must reflect that many people accept this war simply because “the Iranian regime is bad.” Those who think this way have simply swallowed the entire narrative of Western propaganda, which absolves the true aggressors. It is as if we were to believe that the bombs now falling on civilians and defenseless children will somehow bring them salvation, freedom, and democracy. Gaza is destroyed with a death toll 50 percent higher than the official figure. Syria is now Balkanized after the overthrow of Assad, led by a former Al-Qaeda figure who now serves as a puppet of imperial power. We should not expect Iran’s story to end very differently if the regime falls.
Consider the project of Greater Israel, which Netanyahu and his band of fanatics are constructing as a colonial project based on dispossession, genocide, and war. We already see this in Israel’s advances into Syrian territory, its incursions into Lebanon, and the looming illegal annexation of the West Bank and Gaza. When the criminals who give these military orders speak of democracy and women’s rights while dropping bombs, remember the million direct and indirect deaths that resulted from the Iraqi invasion. Iraq is a society that could indeed sing a tragic song about that fable of ‘democracy’. For this reason, I believe that those who defend this war care little about the people of Iran. Rather, they ride the wave of their own hatred toward the ayatollahs. That hatred may not be unfounded, but to believe that bombs dropped by an external power will be welcomed as liberation is mistaken. If you think so, then Western propaganda has succeeded, because in the end, we come to accept what should be utterly unacceptable.
Take a brief look at the history of the United States and its interventions, invasions, and regime-change operations around the world. We see that it has always been an empire addicted to war. War is what the empire knows how to do – destroy, deceive, kill, annihilate. That is not the same as winning. Has Israel “won” the war in Gaza? Undoubtedly, it has destroyed it, but it has not won the war. In fact, several analysts already suggest that the empire will lose this war because, for Iran, it is an existential conflict. Whereas for the United States, it is optional—just another war in its long historical repertoire.
Yet there are other issues that should keep us awake at night now that Pandora’s box—already described by some as the beginning of a third world war—has been opened. Strict censorship in Israel prevents the world from seeing how Iran is striking its cities, military, and logistical bases. But once Iran deploys its most modern arsenal and once the anti-aircraft batteries of the United States and Israel begin to run out, Israel may suffer far more severe damage. We should not forget that the political leadership governing “the only democracy in the Middle East” is deeply fanatical and messianic. In their mystical-religious delusion, one may reasonably fear that they might resort to the “Samson Option”. That is the nuclear option. With such individuals at the helm of a genocidal government, the worst can be expected when that wounded animal finds itself cornered.
But this religiosity is not limited to Israel. Political analyst Pascal Lottaz, who runs the discussion platform Neutrality Studies, warns that several members of the Trump administration frame this war in explicitly religious terms. High-ranking officials, such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, are known for their radical Christianity. We know that the United States and fundamentalist Christian evangelicals are among the most openly declared allies of Zionism. They share a messianism and expectations of Armageddon. These Christian fundamentalists appear to conceive of this conflict as a holy war, in which the Armageddon they anticipate would herald the return of Christ.
Last year, political analyst Naomi Klein spoke of “end-times fascism”, referring to the network of bunkers that technology magnates are building around the world. In other words, while these people push the world toward a greater conflagration, they also seek to shield themselves in case things go wrong. What do these ultra-billionaires know that we do not? Klein pointed to the strong alliance between the MAGA sector and the techno-feudalists—figures such as Peter Thiel—who have already demonstrated their contempt for the world and ordinary people. It is as if overnight we had awakened in a dystopian Mad Max world, where two parallel projects appear to converge: the fortified city of the hyper-wealthy and the world outside it. As Klein and Taylor wrote:
“The start-up contingent clearly anticipates a future defined by crisis, scarcity, and collapse. Their high-tech private domains are essentially fortified escape capsules designed so that a small chosen group can enjoy every possible luxury and opportunity for human optimization, giving them and their descendants an advantage in an increasingly barbaric future. Put bluntly, the most powerful people in the world are preparing for the end of the world—an end they themselves are frantically accelerating.” (Klein & Taylor, 2025) These signs should alarm us. When fanatical and radical religious political figures lead what they call a “holy war” against “absolute evil,” we should not be surprised if these leaders are willing to set the entire world ablaze. A glance at the U.S. doctrine of nuclear warfare is enough to confirm that these people genuinely believe that a nuclear war can be won. We can only hope that the costs of this entire campaign become so immense for the political and financial class that these warlords ultimately decide to abort the mission. They will still declare victory, even if, strategically speaking, the United States and Israel have been defeated. Iran’s strategies appear to be effective in targeting both global oil flows and American assets in the region. While Iranians are being sacrificed, the empire collapses under the weight of its own contradictions, its unsustainable militarism, and its enduring arrogance.
