The Consequences of Infallibility & Incompetence

Deepak Sinha

It cannot be just sheer coincidence that as democracies flounder, the world seems to be becoming an increasingly dangerous and hostile place. The Democracy Index, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, records a sharp decline in the state of democracies. Of the 167 countries assessed in 2024, just 6.6% of the world’s population lives in a full democracy, while a significant number, two in every five, live under authoritarian rule. No wonder then, that three of the current top four largest economies of the world are run by either dictators or wannabe monarchs? As for the fourth, it has yet to fully recover from the trauma of the doings of one Herr Adolf Hitler!

This ofcourse does not change the fact that the true face of evil are not the despots, but those useful idiots who unhesitatingly obey their every command, regardless of however immoral or depraved they may be. They revel in the machismo on display, where personal loyalty is everything, arrogance a way of life, accountability a mere chimera and rules made up along the way, as needed. Every form of dissent, even the slightest, is seen as anti-national, a cancerous tumour that needs to be surgically excised.

As for the leaders themselves, constantly surrounded by yes-men heaping praise and catering to their every whim, they have come to believe in their own infallibility. They are human after all, not really beholden to the masses who voted them in, only to the ones behind the curtains who financed their climb. But at the end of the day, he who pays the piper calls the tune, which explains their penchant for “forever wars”. An old American tradition for keeping corporate coffers filled, while ordinary citizens pay the price, many with their lives. In these circumstances, as is to be expected, our multilateral institutions have become broken, mere talking shops, extinct in all but name. The United Nations Security Council, for example, is busy playing Wordle, while the World literally catches fire and blows up in all our faces.

For instance, take the case of the Israeli-Iranian Conflict that may just spread like wildfire and engulf the region. There is little doubt that the arsonist responsible for the current situation is the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who already has an arrest warrant against his name issued by the International Criminal Court. He faces charges of committing “war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024”. In addition, he also faces criminal charges within Israel for three separate cases of corruption that could put him behind bars for ten years. Once out of his present job, all he can only look forward to, is spending the rest of his life within the confines of a prison, a distinctly unpleasant prospect.

Obviously, under these circumstances, his only chance at redemption and drawing a “get out of jail card” is to take the Iranian regime down, especially if that ensures the termination of their nuclear programme as well. As an added bonus, it would be sufficient distraction to keep the eyes of the international community away from the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where reliable reports suggest that IDF tanks have now taken to firing pot-shots at starving civilians waiting for food trucks killing hundreds daily. Unfortunately for Netanyahu and his cohorts, an effective retaliation by Iran was never envisaged, nor planned for. The path to hell is usually paved with a surfeit of conceit and arrogance.

Now that Israel, especially Tel Aviv and Haifa, have started to resemble Gaza, and the IDF finds itself on the ropes, it seems its time for Plan ‘B’, to call in Uncle Sam’s cavalry. A simple lesson the Israelis, and Ukraine for that matter, seem to have forgotten is that comparative size and population matter greatly. As Napoleon purportedly said, “God is on the side with the best artillery,” and the Israelis are now finding out its certainly not theirs. The only safe haven the Israelis now have is the sea, and it appears quite a few are taking to that option to escape.

But the thing is, America was complicit from the very beginning, when Gaza first faced retaliation for the horrific Hamas attack of 7^th October 2023. Appallingly, they continued to support the Israelis even after they decided to implement Netanyahu’s version of the Final Solution and torch Gaza, to free Palestine of pesky Palestinians demanding freedom from an oppressive occupation. But what is utterly shameful and reprehensible is the manner in which Trump deceived the Iranians with his storied negotiations, enabling them to be caught flat-footed when the Israelis launched their pre-emptive attack. It makes the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour look like a walk in the park.

Unfortunately, negotiating in bad faith has consequences, and while it may have given the Israelis the opening they were looking for, it has destroyed whatever little faith and trust, let alone the Iranians, even the international community has ever reposed in the words of the United States. Reports also suggest that the IAEA too was complicit, as it appears that its Inspectors acted as the eyes and ears for the United States and Israel. Their loss of all credibility is all the more unfortunate as it has made the world a more dangerous place and endangered the very future of this planet.

Presently, it appears that the United States has only provided intelligence and material support to the Israelis. While the Israelis are keen to drag the Americans into the war, and President Trump and some of his advisors appear to be chafing at the bit to jump in, there seems to be a fair bit of opposition towards such a move, even within MAGA. The odd thing here is that it seems Trump is not contemplating boots on the ground, pinning all his hopes on the illusion that bombing 90 million Iranians into the stone-age will halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and lead to regime change. It certainly may in the short term, but will only make matters worse later.

Trump, ofcourse, is unaware that we are in the situation we are because America was primarily responsible, along with the British, for the destruction of Iranian democracy back in 1953. That was when they helped organise a coup to oust the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, after he nationalised the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. They replaced him with their pet poodle, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, The Shah of Iran, and the nominal Head of State at the time. Absolute power led to absolute corruption, with his inept and corrupt reign finally ending in 1979, following the Iranian Revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power. To believe it is feasible to turn back the clock can only be termed as being excessively optimistic.

Coming to the present, the fact of the matter is that the Americans have already given Israel their top-of-the-line armaments, aircraft and weapon systems, which Israel has deployed to the fullest extent. Yet, it finds itself on the back-foot, facing defeat. There is little that America can do to change the situation on the ground. Its involvement, without boots on the ground, will not change anything, other than put their troops deployed in the Middle East in harms way. They must also be fully aware that putting boots on the ground, as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, didn’t exactly go the way they had hoped. The question is will that stop a grifter like Trump, out to make a quick buck? The answer, as Dylan said, “is blowing in the wind”.

Finally, where does all of this leave us? Most likely out in the cold, it seems. It is now quite evident that Mr Modi’s best friend, President Trump, is no longer enamoured with him and has turned his attention elsewhere, on Pakistan’s Field Marshal Munir. That apart, putting all our eggs in the Israeli basket, because some of our corporates have business interests there, does not appear to have been a good idea. Given the level of depravity to which Israel has sunk, our interactions with them are, if nothing else, utterly shameful. In any case how do we ever expect to lead the global South, if we are on the wrong side? Being transactional is all very well, but principles do count for something. Sadly, our lack of them, along with the profit motive, has allowed young Israelis to establish enclaves in Himachal, where Indians and dogs are not welcome. Quite happy to be back in the days of the British Raj, are we? Shame.