Murder in broad daylight: New normal in foreign relations

• The reality is, the US, is the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons as a tool of war

On 28 February as peace negotiations were ongoing between the US and Iran in a sneak attack the US and its partner Israel, attacked multiple locations in Iran, including the home of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Among other locations targeted by the US and Israel was a girls kindergarten. Over a hundred little children were killed in the attack. 
Ayatollah himself was meeting with a number of military commanders at his residence. The Iranian leader, at least five of his commanders, his daughter, son-in-law, grandchild, and daughter-in-law were also killed in the strikes on his compound. Targeting civilian areas is becoming common practice for the US.
The attack was carried out as we mentioned earlier, while the US was engaged in peace negotiations hosted in Oman. Over the past three years Israel with direct assistance of the US has been attacking civilian targets in Palestine’s Gaza. Over 72,000 have been killed in the Israeli attacks. 
In September 2025 Save the Children reported around 2% of Gaza’s child population had been killed since October 2023 by Israel. At least 1,009 of the children killed were under age one, with nearly half (450) of these babies born and killed during the war. At least 42,011 children have been injured, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reported at least 21,000 children have been left permanently disabled. Thousands more are missing or presumed buried under rubble.  
With no one opposing the committing of these multiple crimes in a practical manner, Israel and the US have now been emboldened to use similar tactics to settle their so-called disagreements with diverse nations using military might. Meanwhile US allies in the West continue to cheer and justify these fascistic policies. 
The nations of the West seem to have forgotten the proverb “what goes around comes around” and their actions and inactions could one day boomerang on them. Trump has already cast his eye on Greenland and Canada suggesting they should become part of the US and is calling for the ‘friendly takeover’ of Cuba while not ruling out the use of military force.  
The US President has also invaded neighbouring Venezuela, kidnapped the President of that country and taken control of its oil resources (the single largest in the world). He is threatening to take over the Panama Canal a part of Panama. 
Today we are witnessing the blatant rise of white imperialism and the re-imposing of the long defunct Monroe doctrine in America’s backyard. One of the more dangerous results of the US-Israeli action is that it is giving legitimacy to a new world order based on ‘might is right’ And capture of weaker states is ok. 
Iran holds some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, ranking third globally with approximately 208–209 billion barrels, representing about 12% of the world’s total. It is also a top owner of crude oil reserves, primarily known for a mix of light, medium, and heavy crude and condensate reserves. 
This is the real reason for the US attempt for regime change in that country to capture its reserves.
While the US President constantly refers to Iran as a terrorist state and says it cannot be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. The reality is, the US is the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons as a tool of war. 
Just as it presently targets civilian areas of Iran today, the US used the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan (two civilian areas) at the end of World War II, when Japan was about to surrender.
Events of the ground today where Iran has struck Israel and US bases in the Gulf region shows Iran cannot be easily quelled as happened during the US adventure in Venezuela. Making regime change in Iran will require ‘boots on the ground’. Iran being diverse with over half the country being mountainous it will draw the US into another debacle as it faced in Afghanistan. 
If the people of the US do not want to be drawn into another long drawn-out round of bloodletting and large numbers of body bags of US personnel returning to their country, the people of the US need to rein their President using the US Constitution to make it a reality.

‘Your Thought’ is a space, a right of the readers to support or contradict and discuss the issues highlighted in the editorial and other articles in the editorial and op-ed pages. Designed as the reader’s editorial; our readers can send in their writings, with a word count not exceeding 200, to ‘Your Thought’, Daily Mirror Political Features Desk, No 8, Hunupitiya Cross Road, Colombo 2 or email to [email protected]