Getting under the skin of Trump’s conscience

President Donald Trump must grapple with 
his own conscience  

• Trump, Netanyahu and Iran’s new leader Mojtaba Khamenei can learn valuable lessons if they take a peep into Sri Lanka’s war history
• Going to war -- what a terrible miscalculation by the American leader. Pope Leo XIV stepping in and requesting America, Iran and Israel to end hostilities must be lauded. Religion must also be used to diffuse the charge by angered nations and force parties in conflict to arrive at the negotiating table. Religion has clout,  and the Pope knows that
• Sri Lanka might not be at war at present, but did engage in a war against terrorist rebels in the past. In Sri Lanka,  there has been quite a number of wars that were fought

As the ill effects of the present war still haunt us like memories of a serial killing, we must keep up hope on the thought of achieving permanent peace. This is because even in thought form, peace has the potential to be a healer and make a soldier put his gun away. Right now,  American President Donald Trump believes that he is superior and that other national leaders are lesser human beings. Sadly,  he doesn’t know that wars are often initiated by people who aren’t at peace within. 

 People who are in turmoil choose war over peace. But we have to endure the sounds of guns and bombs till sanity prevails. According to war experts sanity isn’t very long away from now. At the time of writing,  US President Donald Trump has said that there won’t be strikes on Iran’s power plants for a period of five days. 
There is an old saying ‘the grass beneath gets trampled when elephants take to battle’. At the moment in this war,  there is a religious leader on one side of the equation. Iran is at present led by Mojtaba Khamenei, an Iranian Shi’a cleric. When a religious person declares war,  there is a different kind of motivation to troops. Leaders in such situations can turn even the people around and drill into their minds that a holy war is being fought. But for America, it’s a war that’s initiated to massage the ego of just a single individual, Donald John Trump.
The leaders of Iran in the past (Since 1979) have had to deal with people’s uprisings. People of Iran are demanding the freedom that liberal and democratic countries offer their citizens. But Iran’s past religious leaders have ruled their people with iron fists. Many Iranians celebrated the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a joint US-Israel air strike. The protesters who celebrated the death of an Iranian dictator and want a regime change in Iran are feeling the heat of  war. This is a good lesson for the people; don’t invite outsiders to fight battles at home. For the record,  America is a country that believes it can support rebels or rebellions in any country and make  regime change. They did this in Iran prior to the war.
Religion has clout
When past the age of 60, it’s more natural for mature leaders to choose peace over power. At the same time,  the smaller nations would do everything to avoid a war. Even if you aren’t educated, the sixties running up to the eighties is a time for a person to show signs of maturity and intelligence. Sadly,  Trump has neither. Intelligent people believe in the law of karma or that God would punish sinners. Unintelligent people like Trump focus on the capacity to initiate a large-scaled war. He ought to have chosen the field of business to create some chaos in world trade and massage his ego. 
Going to war -- what a terrible miscalculation by the American leader. Pope Leo XIV stepping in and requesting America, Iran and Israel to end hostilities must be lauded. Religion must also be used to diffuse the charge by angered nations and force parties in conflict to arrive at the negotiating table. Religion has clout,  and the Pope knows that. 
The whole of America runs on one slogan: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Peace is included in that equation. Hence,  the Pope is the best choice to play the role of mediator. History has shown us that wars cannot go on forever. Wars end when both sides are sick and tired of fighting,  and leaders realise that there is no end to wars and opt for negotiations. 
Little Sri Lanka was dragged into this war. This happened when the islanders allowed two Iranian ships which were stranded just outside Sri Lankan waters to take shelter in its ports. But Sri Lanka said no to America when the latter requested  permission to land two military aircraft at Mattala Airport. The Sri Lankan president’s stance  takes us to the times of President J.R. Jayewardene (JRJ). The former Sri Lankan president once told invitees at White House, during president Ronald Reagan’s time, that to be a successful president one has to learn two words; yes and no. He reiterated the need to stick by them. President Dissanayake has followed in the footsteps of former president Jayewardene.
Lessons from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka might not be at war at present, but did engage in a war against terrorist rebels in the past. In Sri Lanka,  there has been quite a number of wars that were fought. But no war could divide Sri Lanka. Trump, Netanyahu and Iran’s new leader Mojtaba Khamenei can learn valuable lessons if they take a peep into Sri Lanka’s war history. People of Sri Lanka are familiar with the Elara-Dutugemunu battle. When the two armies stood face to face and were about to fight, both kings decided to battle each other instead and avoid bloodshed. Dutugemunu won. 
That’s how intelligent leaders settle wars with the least destruction. 
War experts and analysts predict that America would eventually have to swallow defeat in the war against Iran. We remember America’s war against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. The US suffered a strategic defeat and withdrew troops from Vietnam. Later, the Americans made a film titled ‘Platoon’ which highlighted the destructiveness, filth and horrors of the war. Many opine that this is America’s way of documenting a war they lose. 
America will make a film about the war against Iran very soon. Trump might direct it himself. Such a film might only look good on Trump’s television set in the living room of his residence. But if this film is made by an independent filmmaker and the production exposes Trump’s  conscience, it might stand a chance of being nominated for an Oscar.